Chapter 54: Memories

The plane touched down with a heavy shudder.

Felix Ainst didn’t move immediately.

He sat there, still, as the vibrations settled, as the roar of the engines slowly faded into a low hum. Around him, passengers began unbuckling, stretching, talking, living normal lives.

’Normal...’ he thought.

Felix exhaled slowly, ’That word does not apply to me anymore.’ he realized, ’Not even close.’

When he finally stood, there was no hesitation in his movement. No uncertainty at all just purpose. He stepped into the aisle, grabbed nothing, carried nothing, and walked off the plane like a man who had left everything behind...because he had.

The airport was loud, crowded and messy.

Perfect to him as there where no surveillance grids he could feel. No controlled patterns that he noticed, no invisible pressure watching his every move.

Just people going on with their lives.

Felix stepped outside the terminal. The air hit differently, it was much more warmer...raw and everything about it was real.

He took a breath. Then another but this time it was longer. Like he was confirming something.

"...Yeah," he muttered under his breath.

He walked a few steps forward, stopping near a quiet corner away from the main flow of people. His hand slipped into his pocket, pulling out a small device...something he had taken during the escape.

A temporary and disposable burner phone.

He dialed.

The line rang once...rang twice then, "...Hello?"

Felix didn’t waste time, "Abel," he said.

A pause.

"...Felix?" Abel said.

"I’m back."

Silence followed by a quiet exhale from the other end, "...You disappeared."

"Not anymore." Felix replied.

Abel didn’t respond immediately but Felix could hear it.

Relief from Abel that was buried under caution.

"Where are you now?" Abel asked.

"That does not matter," Felix replied. "What matters is I’m out."

"...Out of what?" Abel asked.

Felix’s eyes narrowed slightly, "You don’t want that answer over the phone."

Another pause.

"...Yeah," Abel said quietly. "I figured."

Felix shifted slightly, scanning his surroundings out of habit.

"We’re not done," he said.

"No," Abel replied. "Doesn’t sound like it."

Felix ended the call without another word...with no goodbyes, no reassurances. It was just silence because whatever came next...It for sure wasn’t going to be simple.

Back in the unforgiving cold and silent russia

The facility stood isolated, surrounded by endless white, its structure cutting through the snow like a scar carved into the earth. This wasn’t the Cain Foundation.

This was something else. Which is less refined, more brutal and right now...It was the one watching.

"They’ve arrived."

The voice echoed through the observation room.

Behind reinforced glass, Damian and the others stood within a large containment chamber. Unlike the previous environments, this one was stripped down to its essentials.

No comfort, no distractions...it was just space and observation.

"Subjects classified as ’potentially immune,’" another voice added. "Testing will confirm viability."

Darius glanced around, his breath visible in the cold air.

"...This doesn’t feel like testing," he muttered under his breath.

"It isn’t," one of the others replied quietly. It was judgment for them.

The process began without warning.

A low hum filled the room it was subtle. Then not so subtle as it grew larger.

The temperature dropped further. Darius frowned. "What’s happening..."

He didn’t finish that sentences because it started.

One of them...Ethan...froze mid-step. Not metaphorically but physically. His body stiffened. Then cracks began to spread...they were, thin at first running along his skin like fractures in glass.

"...No," Lena whispered.

Ethan’s eyes widened, "I can’t..."

The words broke apart as his body began to change. It was hardening and crystallizing.

It spread fast it started from his hands spreading towards his chest and within seconds, his entire form was locked in place, transformed into a jagged, translucent structure that barely resembled a human being.

Silence followed. Then panic, "What is this?!" someone shouted.

"It’s reacting...!"Another one dropped.

Then another One by one, the process repeated.

They would start cracking up then spread on their entire body...

Silence.

Darius stepped back, his heart racing, "No, no, no—this isn’t right—"

He turned slightly and froze, not because of the process that was affecting everyone but because it wasn’t happening to him.

Everyone else was changing, breaking into pieces becoming something else entirely.

Except him. Everyone around him was slowly crystallising...dying but not him.

"...Why?" he whispered.

The last one fell....he was a crystallized shell or what he used to be.

The chamber fell silent, only one person remained standing.

It was Darius, he was alone. His breath was shaking his eyes widened.

"Subject stability confirmed," a voice echoed, "Isolate him."

The doors opened, guards entered.

Darius didn’t resist as he was frozen mid motion. He didn’t move, didn’t speak because he couldn’t process it.

Because one thought had already taken root, ’Why me?’

He was transferred again into a much smaller containment room.

Similar to the one before but only emptier because this time...He was alone.

The door sealed and the silence hit harder than anything else.

Darius sank slowly to the floor, his back against the wall, eyes unfocused.

"They’re gone..." he muttered.

No response, no movement.

Nothing except for the faint echo in the room. It was just him.

"...They’re all gone."

His hands trembled slightly then stilled slightly because there was no one to see it, no one to hear it, no one who cared and that...That was worse than the fear.

In the Cain Foundation training never stopped.

Markus stood in the center of the chamber, breathing steady, muscles tense. Around him, reinforced walls bore the marks of repeated impact.

This wasn’t casual practice, this was control or at least an attempt at it.

"Again," his father said from the observation deck.

Markus clenched his jaw slightly. He moved faster this time...with much more stronger force.

His strike landed against the reinforced surface...A sharp impact echoed through the room.

The wall held on but only barely. Markus stepped back, breathing heavier now.

"...I’m controlling it," he said.

"I know...," his father replied calmly.

Markus looked up at him, "What do you want then?"

"Precision," came the answer.

Markus exhaled sharply, "I’m not a machine."

"No," his father said, "You’re worse than one at least machines can follow instructions, you are just..."

Markus’s expression hardened slightly.

Above, his father continued, "The Mark 8 abilities are unstable," he said. "Unrefined... But that doesn’t mean they’re uncontrollable."

Markus didn’t respond because part of him knew he was right.

"I want you to understand them," his father continued. "Not fear them....when you got infected your physical stats all increased...we know to which extent too we are just trying to see if we can increase that strength."

Markus flexed his hand slightly, "...And if I do?"

"Then you stop being as much of a liability as you already are."

That one landed hard. Markus looked away slightly, "...Great motivation."

The doors opened suddenly.

Markus turned instinctively and froze, "...Mom?"

She stood there, smiling like none of this was strange. Like this wasn’t a reinforced training chamber in a high-security facility.

Like this was normal.

"Happy birthday, Markus!" she said brightly.

Markus blinked, "...What?"

"Happy 24th birthday," she repeated, stepping forward.

Markus looked between her and his father, "...You’re serious right now?"

His father didn’t respond, which was an answer enough in itself.

Markus ran a hand through his hair, "Why are we doing this here?"

"Because you’re here," she said simply.

Markus scoffed lightly, "This is not exactly a birthday setting."

"You survived did you not," she replied softly.

That stopped him just for a second, "...That’s not really something to celebrate."

"It is to me." She continued.

Silence settled between them.

His father finally spoke, "This is unnecessary."

She glanced up at him. "No," she said calmly, "It’s not."

Markus looked away slightly, uncomfortable now, "...You didn’t have to bring this here."

"I wanted to," she said.

A small box appeared in her hands. It was not extravagant, not flashy or dramatic just simple.

Markus stared at it, "...What is that?"

"Open it." She said.

He hesitated for a moment then took it.

Opened it slowly and inside was a small, worn out pendant.

Nothing special..except it was familiar.

"...This is..."

"You used to carry it everywhere," she said. "Before all of this."

Marcus’s expression shifted slightly, "...I forgot about it."

"I didn’t though." she confirmed.

Silence again.

Different this time..it was quieter. Less tense.

His father watched from above unmoving. With a slight displeased expression but not interrupting.

"...Thanks," Marcus muttered.

She smiled, "That’s all I wanted to hear."

Markus closed the box slowly.

"...This doesn’t change anything." Victor said.

"I know," Markus’s mother replied. "But it matters anyway." Markus interrupted.

Later, when she was gone, the room felt different.

Markus stood alone again. Pendant in hand the training paused for once.

His father’s voice came again, "Sentiment won’t help you control your abilities."

Markus didn’t look up, "...Didn’t think it would."

"Then don’t rely on it." Victor pressed.

Markus clenched the pendant slightly, "...I’m not."

But his voice didn’t sound as certain as before.

—

Somewhere far away

Felix Ainst walked forward into a world that didn’t know what he was going to become.

Somewhere colder... Darius sat alone, surrounded by silence and the remains of something he didn’t understand.

And here Markus stood between control and collapse.

Three paths, three outcomes.

All connected...whether they knew it or not. Everything was already moving toward something bigger.

Something inevitable and none of them..were ready for it.