"Huh... honestly, that I could tell much..."

The more Blake thought about it, the more his fingers tingled.

Originally, he had planned to gather information through files alone.

But somewhere along the way, Blake had gotten creative and started paying closer attention to the prisoners instead.

Of course, that wasn’t actually intentional. The truth was far less impressive: he simply had no idea where the files were. None of the blueprints showed a room that could hold records.

At first, he assumed there had to be something like prisoner profiles somewhere in the facility, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

So this had become a desperate backup plan he never expected to succeed.

And yet, now that it was working so well, he almost felt afraid of learning too much too quickly.

"You’re telling me AL-TECH brought these people here even though they were never criminals to begin with? Why?"

The man stayed silent, one hand covering his mouth.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Something wet hit the floor beneath him.

The man looked down before touching the substance with shaky fingers.

"See this?"

"Uh... yeah."

"It’s not saliva. Well, technically it is. But it’s not human."

Blake’s eyebrows pulled together as he crouched lower.

"Not human?"

Immediately, several deeply unpleasant thoughts surfaced in his head.

The plot. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget it.

Especially not the hero’s obsession.

Color slowly drained from Blake’s face as his heartbeat began pounding louder and louder inside his chest.

"Are aliens involved?"

The man frowned sharply.

"You said you knew nothing."

"No, I mean, I saw one before, that’s why—"

"Where?!"

"I told you, my lover is UD! I don’t know how he got ahold of that thing, though I assumed he stole it from here."

A sudden laugh burst from the prisoner.

"Ah! So he was the one behind that mess!"

"Mess? What mess?"

At this point, Blake didn’t even know what question he should prioritize anymore.

"He saved one, just like you said. Wasn’t that long ago either. Soldiers were furious because an entire building got destroyed during it."

’A building... wait, he means that one?’

The pieces were finally beginning to connect.

That incident on the news, the one where Myles destroyed a building. At the time, Blake never understood what had really happened there.

"But you said he saved it? Why? Isn’t he torturing it?"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Blake flinched at the sudden outburst, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You said you’re lovers, and yet you assume so easily he’d torture it?"

"Look, just answer the questions..."

"Of course he’s not torturing it. You’ve got everything backwards. It’s the opposite."

"The opposite...?"

The man let out a heavy sigh before suddenly coughing violently.

Blood splattered from his mouth.

"Are you—"

"Listen," the prisoner interrupted hoarsely. "I’ll tell you everything. But you have to promise me something first. Since you’re that boy’s lover, I’ll trust you."

Blake glanced away. This wasn’t really his place to make promises but, at the same time, he couldn’t leave now.

Not after getting this far.

After a long pause, he looked back up.

"What is it?"

The man gritted his teeth so hard his jaw trembled. His fists clenched violently at his sides, eyes bloodshot and unfocused.

"You need to make sure this world ends."

"Huh?"

"This world can’t continue. Promise me."

Unfortunately, Blake’s actual goal was the complete opposite.

But there was no room for hesitation now.

The man looked moments away from collapsing into madness.

And Blake wasn’t about to start explaining why he had to save the world instead.

Not here.

Not now.

It was a perfect opportunity.

"I promise," Blake said quietly. "This world will end."

The same man who looked ready to tear him apart suddenly smiled.

Tears slid down his face.

"Then tell me," Blake demanded immediately. "Tell me what the aliens are for. Tell me what AL-TECH really does. Tell me what the generations mean!"

The man lowered his gaze for a moment before finally speaking.

"Around eighty years ago or more... governments across the world got their hands on something humanity had never seen before."

His voice was weak, but steady enough to continue.

"In the media, they’re called aliens. That’s the easiest word people came up with."

Blake stayed completely still.

"At first, the research focused entirely on their bodies. Their organs. Their structure. Scientists wanted to know how similar they were to humans."

The prisoner let out a dry laugh.

"And they were very similar. Too similar."

Blake’s throat tightened.

"They discovered the creatures possessed highly enhanced DNA. Stronger adaptability, aster regeneration and higher resistance. Their biological structure was absurd."

Blake slowly nodded before asking quietly,

"How did they even get one in the first place?"

The man shook his head.

"That part, I don’t know. Maybe even from most governments themselves. I don’t know."

Then he continued.

"Not long after that, AL-TECH was founded."

Blake frowned slightly.

"To the public, the name was just ’ALL TECH’ written together. People assumed it was some advanced technology company."

The man looked down blankly at the blood drying around his lips.

"But that was never what it meant."

His eyes slowly lifted.

"It stood for Alien Technologies."

Silence settled heavily between them.

"They extracted DNA from the creatures and started using it to create advanced equipment. Weapons. Medicine. Machinery. Enhancements. Every technological leap people praised over the decades..."

His smile twisted weakly.

"...came from them." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Blake felt cold.

"But eventually," the man whispered, "they started wondering what would happen if humans were exposed to that DNA directly."

Footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Blake froze instantly.

Metal boots, soldiers were coming.

His body reacted before his thoughts did. He stood up abruptly and backed away from the bars of the cell.

The prisoner continued speaking anyway.

"First generation," he muttered, "means the people who were tricked into becoming experimental subjects."

Blake lowered his head.

His breathing became uneven almost immediately.

He didn’t dare look toward the surrounding cells anymore.

The implications were horrifying.

If that was first generation...

Then, the footsteps grew louder.

Blake looked toward the dark hallway.

"Second generation..." he started quietly. "Those are people born from first generations, right?"

The man nodded slowly.

"Yes."

Blake swallowed hard.

"Then what about the underground system? The blueprints I found are old. Really old. What was this place originally meant for?"

The prisoner coughed again before answering.

"AL-TECH originally used underground facilities for alien experimentation. Over time, they expanded them into entire systems. What you have could be an early sketch from before everything was completed. Some parts might not even match, so be careful."

The footsteps stopped too close.

Blake immediately knew someone was there, but before the shot even rang out.

Bang!

The bullet slammed almost into his abdomen.

Pain burst through his stomach, sharp enough to force the air from his lungs, but the bullet bounced off.

It actually never hit him.

The defense buff, even so, the impact still burned viciously.

Blake staggered backward before immediately pulling out his gun.

Two soldiers stood further down the hall, and they had been listening.

Without wasting another second, Blake ran forward.

One of the soldiers barely raised his weapon before Blake slammed him into the wall.

Crack.

Blake’s fist came down immediately afterward, smashing directly into the helmet hard enough to fracture it apart.

The second soldier grabbed Blake from behind and hurled him onto the ground.

Another shot fired directly toward his face.

Clang!

The bullet ricocheted away harmlessly, and the soldier froze for half a second in shock.

Blake used that opening instantly.

His leg shot out, kicking the man’s ankle hard enough to throw him off balance.

The soldier crashed onto the floor.

At the same time, the first soldier stumbled toward the prisoner’s cell.

"No!" Blake shouted.

Then the man inside suddenly screamed,

"This UD, he’s the son of a Delgada! The nephew of—"

The soldier unlocked the cell.

Blake ran toward them immediately, only for the other soldier to grab his ankle from behind, so he crashed hard against the floor.

"Fuck!"

He kicked backward violently until the grip loosened before forcing himself upright again.

By the time he reached the cell—

Bang!

The soldier shot the prisoner directly through the chest.

Blake’s entire body locked.

A horrible sound tore from his throat.

"No—!"

He shoved the soldier away violently before firing directly into the man’s leg.

The soldier collapsed screaming.

Blake ignored him completely.

Instead, he dropped beside the prisoner.

Blood poured endlessly from the wound.

"No, no, no..."

His hands shook as he grabbed the man carefully.

"What’s your name?" Blake asked desperately. "Tell me your name!"

The prisoner’s breathing rattled painfully.

"Freddie..." he whispered weakly. "Freddie Epent..."

Blake’s vision blurred, he was crying before he even realized it.

Watching someone die right in front of him like this, and that person being the only person he found with answers, it felt unbearable.

Blake leaned down closer, gripping Freddie tighter.

"I lied," he admitted shakily. "I’m not going to let UD destroy the world."

Freddie slowly looked up at him, but there was nothing left in his eyes anymore.

He was already dead.

Silence swallowed the hallway.

Blake stayed frozen for only a second longer before standing abruptly.

Blood covered his hands.

His clothes.

The floor.

Everything smelled metallic.

So disgusting that he felt his capillaries bursting.

The two soldiers behind him groaned in pain, but Blake didn’t even look at them again.

Instead, he walked out of the cell.

Then faster.

Then faster still.

Until he was practically running through the underground halls.

What was this feeling twisting inside him?

Before, it had only been disgust.

Now rage was beginning to mix with it slowly.