The circular chamber at the summit of the Command Tower glowed with moonlight slipping through tall windows of black crystal, casting ghostly shapes across the polished walls. Tiflos sat opposite Cain on chairs of fine black leather. Between them rested a black glass table, reflecting their distorted images—a symbol of the transformation unfolding deep within Tiflos. The heavy scent of incense filled the air, mingling with the aroma of rare wine Cain sipped slowly.
"I see the shadows playing in your eyes," Cain began, his voice soft as silk—wrapping around the mind, numbing it. "You wonder in silence whether the price you're paying is worth what you gain."
Tiflos stared at his warped reflection on the tabletop, as if searching for remnants of the man he once was. "The price… and the benefit. Didn't you say that everything in this life is a mathematical equation? Taking and giving. Killing and saving."
"Exactly." Cain smiled like a teacher pleased with a gifted student. "And you've become adept at solving these equations. You protect Noor and Orion… and you pay for their safety with the blood of others. A simple, straightforward equation—but one that requires a strength of will few possess."
The dim light formed a demonic halo around Cain, making him appear like a mythic being weaving fate's threads with cold wisdom. His hands were folded in his lap, yet his golden eyes behind thick lenses watched Tiflos with intense focus.
"Let's play a mental game today," Cain suggested, lifting his dark wine. "Imagine you're a doctor in an overcrowded hospital. You must choose whom to save: one child with a rare illness… or ten elderly patients suffering from chronic diseases. What do you choose?"
Tiflos didn't hesitate for a second. "The child."
"Why? What logic drives your choice?"
"Because the child has a full life ahead of them, while the elderly have already lived most of theirs. It's a matter of efficiency in the use of resources."
Cain leaned in. "Isn't the doctor who chooses to save the child… also a killer of the ten elderly?"
"But he didn't kill them with his own hands—"
Cain interrupted, "To refrain from acting when you have the power to act… isn't that a form of killing as well?"
Tiflos fell silent.
Cain laughed then—a deep, unsettling sound. "And that is how human morality is forged. You choose whom to save and whom to let die based on reasonable calculations. The difference between you and me is that I declare this principle openly, while you still pretend—deep down—that there is a 'morally correct' choice."
Silence settled between them, broken only by raindrops beginning to strike the tall windows like the tolling of a mournful bell. Tiflos felt as though each drop washed away another fragment of his remaining humanity.
---
In the secret hideout beneath the ruins of the Nissan factory on the city's edge, the Resistance leadership gathered under crushing tension. Liam stood pale as he placed recording devices on the shaky wooden table.
He inserted the first flash drive. Footage appeared—Noor in several Resistance safehouses.
"Are these really from the organization's cameras?" Noor trembled, a chill running down her spine. Cain's shadow had never left her. Even within the Resistance, she realized she had always been within his reach.
"This changes everything," Liam said, his voice unsteady as his hands shook while preparing the second drive. "A leak from one of Lina's agents… inside Cain's own office."
The small screen displayed the second recording. It was clearly secret, unmistakably inside Cain's office. The image was horrifying in its clarity: Tiflos sat opposite Cain, trembling, his eyes heavy with silent pain and shattered pride.
"They've escaped," Cain said without lifting his eyes from the papers scattered before him. "Noor, Elias, Lina… all of them joined the Resistance. But we can bring them back—or at least ensure they cause us no trouble."
Tiflos clenched his hands. Sweat beaded on his brow as he spoke in fear, "What do you mean, Cain?"
"Oh, Tiflos," Cain replied smoothly. "You know better than anyone that I can kill them whenever I wish. The reason is simple: I'm stronger than them—and stronger than you. Did you really think I didn't know what you were doing, or who Noor was?" Cain's eerie laughter echoed in the recording. "What matters is that Orion will soon begin with you in the Insight Division."
Tiflos shuddered as if an electric shock had pierced his bones, a cold deeper than anything he had ever known flooding him. "What do you want exactly?"
Cain's voice thundered through the recording: "Absolute obedience. No questions. No hesitation. No emotions. In return, I guarantee Noor's safety. I will not send anyone after her—even if we capture members of the Resistance, she will not be touched, and she will be released. And I will never allow Orion to participate in assassination missions. He will receive standard training and academic education."
After a brief silence, Tiflos's broken voice emerged, bowed in surrender: "Agreed."
---
The silence that followed in the Resistance room was heavy as tons of iron.
Then Noor broke down, silent tears filling her eyes as her hands pressed against her chest, as if trying to keep her heart from bursting.
"He was protecting me…" she whispered through tears, her voice nearly choking. "Protecting his brother… All that blood… all those lives he took… were the price of keeping us safe."
Elias placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes filled with deep sorrow. "That doesn't justify what he did, Noor. Good cannot be born from evil."
"No!" Noor cried, her eyes flashing with a mix of anger and understanding. "But it makes it understandable! Put yourself in his place—Cain threatened Orion. What would you have done? Would you risk the life of someone you love?"
The silence in the room was their unspoken answer. Each of them wondered what they would have done in Tiflos's place.
All except Liam.
His expression was unusually calm, as if he were not surprised at all. In his gloomy eyes lay a secret—one that justified Tiflos's choices. But he remained silent, saying nothing to anyone.