Chapter three: Trapped again

The periodic beeping of monitors and the faint chatter of voices echoed nearby. Slowly, he opened his eyes to a room shrouded in darkness.The only source of light came from the glowing monitors. Even though he had just awoken, his body felt unbearably heavy, his limbs weighed down by exhaustion.
Suddenly, the lights flickered on. The room revealed itself to be small, sterile—like one of the infirmary wards from the facility he had escaped.As he tried to sit up, pain surged through his leg. Memories returned: the long fall, the impact, and the dark underground passage where he had landed.
The door slid open with a hiss, revealing a man with grey hair. The upper half of his face was metal, with mechanical eyes glowing faintly in their sockets.He stood at the entrance, silent. For a few moments, they only stared at each other, the monitors filling the silence with steady beeps.
“I guess you’re one of the fortunate ones from Sector E16,” the man finally said as he stepped inside.He leaned over, checking the readings on the monitors to confirm his vitals.
Uyi remained still, his gaze fixed. Part of him wanted to test whether this man was from the same facility. But the mention of E16 stirred memories—the laboratory, the bold black letters painted across the wall.
“You should be fine,” the man continued. “You’ve got varying degrees of frostbite and a few broken bones. Rest.”
He turned toward the door but paused, glancing back.“One more thing. It’ll be in your best interest not to leave this room until I can get you registered. I’ll explain the rest later.”
With that, he stepped out. The lights dimmed, leaving Uyi in darkness again.
Alone, his thoughts drifted to his friends. Were they still alive? The last thing he remembered was Enkari taking Amy. His fists clenched. Frustration churned in his chest. Once again, he had been too weak to protect anyone.
He did not trust the man’s words, but he knew he needed to recover first. If this was another facility, rushing blindly would only get him caught again.

---
Days passed. Uyi’s strength returned slowly. He could stand now, though each step sent pain through his body.The man visited only once a day. His meals arrived on a tray carried by a small service robot. Beyond that, Uyi saw no other humans.
A week later, his bones had healed completely—thanks to his ability.That night, after the man left and the lights shut off, Uyi waited an hour before disconnecting the monitors from his body.
He slipped into the hallway. Empty. A door stood at the far end.His heart raced. I can make it.
But with each step, his body grew heavier. His vision blurred. The hallway stretched longer, the door pulling farther away.Voices seeped into his mind, whispering, echoing. The walls twisted, colors distorting, the corridor spiraling into impossible shapes.Each step felt like a lifetime. His consciousness slipped.
Shapes appeared in the distance—two people, their faces a haze.
“Ah, so! The young ones are always troublesome,” said a woman’s voice.
Then, blackness.

---
The old man approached, a woman at his side. She looked about thirty. Her hair was a strange green, and her glasses reflected the sterile light. At first glance she could be mistaken for human, but her eyes betrayed her—their pupils narrowed into feline slits.
She wore a lab coat. Beneath it, her long legs were visible as she bent down. With one arm she lifted Uyi as if he weighed nothing, an unnatural display of strength.
Together they carried him back to the room. He was set on the bed. Without a word, the old man left, leaving the woman to observe.
After a while, Uyi’s eyes fluttered open.The sight before him made them widen.
He was nearly naked. Worse, the woman sat at his side, her hand pressed against his skin, feeling along his body.
He jolted upright and stumbled into the corner of the room.
“Hm. Strange. I thought you’d be out for at least eight hours,” she said calmly.
At first, he assumed she was human. But when he met her gaze, fear prickled along his spine. Those eyes were not human.
“I’m Han, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
His mind raced. Did she guess that?
“I didn’t guess,” she replied with a smile.
His chest tightened. She was in his head.
“And those eyes…” He swallowed. She’s definitely not human.
“That’s a bit harsh, you know,” she said, almost playfully.
She took a step forward. His heartbeat thundered. He pressed back against the wall, cornered.She closed the distance until her face was level with his, her strange pupils fixed on him.
“Won’t you introduce yourself?” she asked, tapping his cheek lightly.
He froze, holding his breath, half expecting her to strike. His face burned red as he averted his gaze.She tilted her head in confusion at his reaction.
At last he muttered, “Uyi.”
“That’s better. It’s rare to see your kind in this region.”
She stepped away, turning at the door.“Don’t try to leave until you’re registered. Stay put. If they find you, I won’t be able to save you.”
Her footsteps echoed down the hall until silence returned.
Uyi exhaled sharply and collapsed to the floor. His heart still pounded from the encounter.At first, embarrassment lingered—how close she had come—but then another sensation cut through: the stench.
Not sweat, not flesh. The stench of death.
Uyi had learned something long ago—the closer he came to others, the more clearly he could sense it: how many lives they had taken.This woman’s aura was suffocating, sharper even than General Enkari’s.
And yet, even her presence blurred beside another memory: the girl in that room, the one the facility experimented on every day. Gilly.The thought of her made him shiver.
But now, he realized, his situation might be worse.This woman was an adult. And unlike Gilly, there was no one here to restrain her.
His mind raced. He pushed his ability to accelerate his thoughts, turning them over and over, searching for a solution.
Hours passed. Finally, he muttered under his breath, body trembling from the strain:“For this to work, I’ll need more information…”
He did not know that the walls around him were one-way glass.
In the observation chamber, a small crowd had gathered. Among them: the old man with the cyborg face, the green-haired woman with her strange eyes, and others—faces from his past.Including the old man who had once taken Sara.