The screen stayed frozen.
AUTHORIZED USER: ANDREI MOROZOV
REQUEST: OPEN THE FINAL ARCHIVE
Nobody spoke.
Because after everything they had discovered…
Andrei was still hiding something.
Artyom stared at the message.
The person he spent years believing abandoned him.
The person who claimed he protected him.
The person who always seemed to know more than everyone else.
"Open it."
His voice was quiet.
But firm.
Viktor looked at him.
"Artyom."
"I need to know."
And Viktor understood.
Not because he liked it.
Because stopping him would only prove the same thing everyone else had done.
Trying to choose for him.
Dmitri entered the command.
The system scanned.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED
MOROZOV ACCESS ACCEPTED
The final archive opened.
A video appeared.
Andrei.
Years younger.
Standing inside the facility.
Holding a small child.
Artyom froze.
The child was him.
The room disappeared.
The voices disappeared.
Only the recording remained.
Young Andrei looked exhausted.
But he was holding Artyom carefully.
Protectively.
"I know you will hate me one day."
The recording said.
Artyom's breath caught.
Andrei continued:
"But if you remember nothing else…"
A pause.
"Remember this."
The younger Andrei looked down at the child.
"You were never a project."
Silence.
"You were my son."
The recording shifted.
Another person entered.
Sergei.
Everyone went still.
Young Sergei looked different.
Less cold.
Less distant.
"You cannot take him."
Andrei's voice was sharp.
"I can't leave him here."
Sergei replied:
"You think taking him away protects him?"
A pause.
"You don't understand what they'll do."
Andrei looked at the child.
"I understand."
His voice broke slightly.
"I just don't care anymore."
The recording glitched.
Then another voice appeared.
Elias.
The room became cold.
"You both made the same mistake."
Young Andrei turned.
"What?"
Elias smiled.
"You loved him."
A pause.
"And love creates weakness."
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Artyom stood completely still.
Because the truth hurt in a different way.
He wasn't abandoned.
He was protected.
But protection still meant someone chose a life for him without asking.
Sergei finally spoke.
"I tried to stop him."
Artyom looked at him.
"You?"
Sergei looked away.
"I was afraid."
The words shocked everyone.
Because Sergei Sokolov admitting fear felt impossible.
"Afraid of what?"
Artyom asked.
Sergei answered:
"That if you disappeared…"
A pause.
"The project would continue."
His eyes met Artyom's.
"And if they couldn't control you…"
"They would destroy you."
Silence.
Then—
The facility reacted.
A new message appeared.
FINAL ARCHIVE COMPLETE
SECOND SECRET REVEALED
Dmitri frowned.
"There's another file."
The screen opened.
A name appeared.
SUBJECT: ARTYOM SOKOLOV
ORIGINAL STATUS: REJECTED
Everyone froze.
Rejected?
Then the next line appeared.
UPDATED STATUS: CHOSEN
Artyom stared.
The system had changed his fate twice.
First it rejected him.
Then it chose him.
But why?
The final line appeared.
REASON: UNEXPECTED EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Dmitri went silent.
Viktor looked at Artyom.
The project didn't choose him because he was perfect.
It chose him because he became something it could not create.
Human.
Then—
A final message appeared.
Not from the system.
From Andrei.
"Artyom, if you see this…"
A pause.
"I am already gone."
The room froze.
Because everyone understood.
Andrei Morozov had known this day would come.
And he had prepared one final sacrifice.