Chapter 39 - PHASE TWO
Arthur led them deeper into the tunnel.
The concrete passage eventually opened into an enormous underground chamber unlike anything they had seen before.
Rows of abandoned classrooms stretched along one side.
Dormitories occupied another.
At the center stood a circular courtyard where a massive oak tree had somehow survived beneath artificial sunlight.
Alex stopped walking.
His chest tightened.
"I know this place."
Daniel looked at him.
"You remember?"
Alex slowly walked toward the tree.
"I don't remember coming here."
"But..."
He reached out and touched the rough bark.
"...I remember climbing this tree."
Fragments flashed through his mind.
Children laughing.
Someone calling his name.
Running through grass.
A boy with dark hair racing ahead.
"Ethan!"
The voice echoed inside his memory.
Alex stumbled backward.
Bennett caught his arm.
"What happened?"
"My name..."
He looked confused.
"When I heard it..."
"...it didn't feel strange."
Arthur watched quietly.
"The memory barriers are weakening."
Daniel looked at him sharply.
"You mean they intentionally erased his childhood?"
Arthur nodded.
"Only part of it."
"Enough to keep him alive."
Alex looked up.
"Alive from what?"
Arthur answered with visible regret.
"From the people who believed children could be trained into something far more valuable than ordinary human beings."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Orion."
Arthur nodded once.
"Orion was never a school."
"It was never a charity."
"It wasn't even a research project."
He looked directly into Alex's eyes.
"It was a selection program."
Before anyone could ask another question, alarms suddenly erupted throughout the underground complex.
Red warning lights flooded the chamber.
A computerized voice echoed from hidden speakers.
Security breach confirmed.
May you like
Primary Subject located.
Elias Voss has entered Level D.
