October 1, 2053 – 00:55 a.m.

All the young people involved in the mission head towards one of the tunnels that leads from the basement of the base to the sewers. 

Jin is bringing up the rear when, while waiting his turn to enter the narrow passage, he hears Keina shouting. "Jin! Jin!"

"Oh... Leader Keina."

"Leader? It feels strange to hear you call me that. You've really settled in now."

"Well, yes... I've been here quite a while now. I have no idea how I got here, but you're good people, and even though I may not fully understand your cause, I've decided to embrace it."

"I'm glad to hear you say that."

"Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Just to be careful. I know you want to take on the Gotha, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's all a game."

"Of course... I'll be careful."

"Good, then I'll wait for your return as always."

"Yes, I'm going now... the others are waiting for me."

In the background, you can hear the voices of his mission companions calling him.

"Come on Jin, hurry up!"

"You're the only one missing!"

"We have to close the passage, hurry up!"

Jin walks away and enters the passageway, saying goodbye to Keina. "See you later then!"

Keina responds with a wave.

As always, the Resistance group is led by Mitsuo, with loyal Gaho on his right and Jin on his left. As soon as the team reaches the area where they had carried out their vandalism the previous day, they begin to recreate the graffiti.

"Come on, guys... let's get to work!" Mitsuo orders his men, who immediately begin to daub the walls with the spray cans made by Jin. Jin himself is also working directly, creating a graffiti that reads: Gotha ≠ freedom. The silence of the city is broken only by the sound of the spray cans spraying paint. At a certain point, however, this quiet is interrupted by a scream from Ren, one of the boys in the Resistance group. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

This immediately catches Mitsuo's attention, who, visibly concerned, moves towards the screams to understand what is happening, even though he can already imagine it. In fact, when he arrives at the scene, he sees Fausto on the ground, while two men in black uniforms are behind him with strange guns, very different from those used in Jin's era.

Mitsuo, witnessing the scene, can only raise the alarm. "It's the Gotha! Retreat, guys!"

The group begins to flee while the two men chase after the members of the Resistance. Meanwhile, Ren, motionless on the ground, continues to scream for help, but is ignored by the rest of his companions, who run away as fast as they can. "Someone save me! I can't move!"

Jin notices what is happening and, without stopping to escape from his pursuers, turns to Mitsuo. "What are we doing?! One of our own has been captured, we have to help him!"

"It would be too risky! These are the rules of the Resistance... if someone gets caught, they won't be saved."

"But he's one of us! That must mean something, and besides, there are many of us and only two of them."

"Unlike us, they are armed. See those guns? They're called Stop-guns and they act directly on the nervous system. Basically, if you're hit with one, you won't be able to move your arms and legs for tens of minutes. We can't risk losing so many men to save just one. Anyone who joins the Resistance and takes part in missions knows what they're getting into."

Jin turns and sees Ren in tears. "Please help me!!!"

"Listen, Jin... that boy is scared now, he knows his life is in danger, but if the tables were turned, he would have made the same choice as us. We are soldiers of the Resistance and we must behave as such."

For a few moments, silence reigns between Jin and Mitsuo, interrupted only by the shouts of their pursuers. 

"Hey, you! Stop in the name of Gotha!"

Suddenly, Jin, with his head down, stops running. Mitsuo, surprised and angry, turns to him. 

"Jin?! What are you thinking now?!"

"I'm going to save him."

"No! You won't! We have a goal to achieve! Ren will be remembered as our martyr. The Resistance will always be devoted to him and his sacrifice."

"I don't care about the Resistance or Gotha... I won't leave someone who needs help behind."

Jin turns and starts running towards the immobilized boy, heading straight for the Gotha men.

"Shit!" Mitsuo yells as he watches Jin walk away from him.

"Leader Mitsuo... what are you going to do?" asks Gaho, who witnessed the scene.

"I have men to protect, and even if that idiot doesn't understand, we have no hope of getting out of here alive if we go back to face them. Let's continue our retreat."

"You want to abandon Jin? They'll catch him for sure that way."

"I can't put you all in danger. Even without him, we can take down Gotha... Let's continue our retreat to the base!" Mitsuo gives the order and everyone runs towards the base. Gaho, however, remains motionless, watching Jin run towards the two Gotha police officers. Jin is now just a few meters away from his enemies, his decision to interrupt the escape surprising even his pursuers.

"What a pleasure... one of them has decided to surrender," says one of the two policemen.

"We always yell at criminals to stop, but come to think of it, this is the first time one has actually stopped," replies the other, laughing.

The two Gotha police officers seem very confident, but Jin clearly states his intentions. "I have no intention of surrendering. On the contrary, I will save my companion."

Ren, hearing these words, smiles hopefully. Meanwhile, Jin raises his fist and seems to want to throw it at one of the two policemen, but before he can even get close enough, the policeman fires a shot from his gun, emitting an electric shock that immobilizes Jin on the ground.

"There you go" says the Gotha cop who fired the shot smugly.

"Two arrests among the Resistance... I'd say we're good for today, unless there are other weaklings like this one who decide to take us on" adds the other.

Jin is motionless on the ground and unable to move. "Hey, what's going on? Help! Someone help me! I can't move!"

Ren lets out a comment, disconsolate at the turn of events. "And I thought he could save me..."

Not too far away, Mitsuo continues to shout at Gaho, who had stayed behind to watch Jin's attempt to save his companion. "Gaho, move! That's an order!"

"I always believed you were our only hope, but once again your selflessness will condemn us all," Gaho says under his breath, continuing to look in Jin's direction and turning his back on Mitsuo's group, who had started to walk away again.

"Did you hear me? I said hurry up!" Mitsuo shouts again, so Gaho turns around and starts running back towards the base, catching up with the rest of the group with long strides.

"Here I am, leader!"

"Good... I was starting to think you wanted to disobey orders too."

"Of course not, I'm loyal to the rules of the Resistance. Anyway... how do you think leader Keina will take the news of Jin's capture?"

Mitsuo lowers his gaze. "I tremble at the mere thought of having to tell her..."

Meanwhile, Gotha's men load Jin and Ren onto their shoulders and walk away.

"The others have decided to flee."

"They seem to be wiser than this one."

The two start laughing, while Jin protests.

"Hey, you two! Stop making fun of me, mine was a heroic gesture!"

"Okay, hero, we won't say anything else" replies one of them, prompting laughter from his colleague.

"There's one thing I'd really like to know... where the hell are you taking us?" Jin asks.

"Don't you know? Where have you been living?" says one of the two men.

"We're taking you to court" adds the other.