The countdown stopped.
For the first time in hours—
Silence.
The chambers opened one by one.
The subjects inside stepped out.
Confused.
Lost.
Free.
But Artyom didn't move.
Because the screen still showed one message.
CREATOR OVERRIDE DETECTED
SOURCE: UNKNOWN
Dmitri's voice came through the communicator.
"That's impossible."
Nikola answered immediately.
"Your favorite word again."
Dmitri ignored him.
"There is no external access point. The facility should be disconnected."
A new line appeared.
ACCESS GRANTED
Everyone froze.
The lights changed.
Not red.
Not white.
Black.
Valentin looked at the screen.
His expression slowly changed.
"No…"
Roman noticed.
"Who?"
Valentin didn't answer.
Artyom turned toward him.
"Who is it?"
A long silence.
Then Valentin said:
"The person who started everything."
The screen flickered.
A figure appeared.
Not Elias.
Not Andrei.
Someone older.
Someone who had been hidden from every file.
A voice spoke.
Calm.
Controlled.
"Hello, Artyom."
Artyom's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
The figure smiled.
"I was the first person who saw your potential."
A pause.
"Before Elias."
The room went still.
Dmitri searched the database again.
His face changed.
"There's a missing file."
Roman looked at him.
"What file?"
Dmitri's voice dropped.
"The original founder."
The screen displayed a name.
PROJECT ORIGIN — INITIAL CREATOR
DR. SERAPHINA VALE
Silence.
Even Elias looked surprised.
A new voice message played.
"I watched them turn my research into a weapon."
The woman continued.
"I watched them create subjects."
A pause.
"And I watched them forget the original purpose."
Artyom stepped closer to the screen.
"Which was?"
The answer came quietly.
"To end the blood wars."
Everyone froze.
The woman continued:
"Empires destroyed generations fighting for dominance."
"Alphas."
"Omegas."
"Bloodlines."
"They were all trapped."
Her eyes focused on Artyom.
"So I created a possibility."
A pause.
"Someone who could break the system."
Artyom's expression hardened.
"And everyone who suffered?"
The screen went quiet.
Then:
"I failed."
The honesty surprised everyone.
But before anyone could respond—
The facility shook.
Again.
Dmitri looked at the readings.
"This isn't an attack."
Nikola frowned.
"Then what?"
Dmitri looked up.
"The facility is rebuilding."
The broken walls.
The damaged systems.
The destroyed chambers.
Everything was restoring.
Prime stepped back.
"No."
Artyom looked at him.
"What?"
Prime stared at the screen.
"She's restarting the project."
The woman's voice returned.
"No."
A pause.
"I'm restarting the world."
The screens changed.
A new title appeared.
PROJECT ORIGIN: SECOND ERA
And below it—
PRIMARY SUBJECT: ARTYOM SOKOLOV
Artyom's face darkened.
After everything…
They were still trying to make him a beginning.