"R-308… so it's you."
Victor stood frozen in the middle of the chaotic room. The pistol in his hand trembled slightly, his eyes fixed on the red mask covering the face of the man before him. Dim industrial lights cast long shadows across the metal walls, while the wind outside slipped through the cracks with a hollow whistle.
"But… how can you speak like a human?" Victor asked, his voice carrying both astonishment and caution.
The man—R-308—slowly lifted his head. His voice was calm, deep, disturbingly human.
"I am not the one asking questions here. Nor am I someone who enjoys answering them. But I speak… isn't that the right of every human? What a strange question."
"A right?" Victor replied with bitter sarcasm. "Do you even have rights in this era? You… the Synced… you're nothing but programmed machines."
R-308 stepped forward once. His movement was fluid—nothing mechanical about it.
"And who told you I belong to this era? If there are no rights in this time… then how do you even know about them?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Victor, isn't that your name? Focus with me. Does a word called 'rights' even exist in this time? And if it does… does it mean the same thing you think it does?"
Victor fell silent, puzzled. The words settled strangely easily in his mind, as if his thoughts accepted them without resistance.
For a moment he drifted.
He looked at his trembling hands and wondered silently:
How did I get here? What am I doing in this place?
Then he raised his eyes again.
"What are you trying to say? How do you know my name? You probably won't answer…"
"So many questions," R-308 murmured.
The moment Victor lifted his head to reply—
A sudden punch shot toward his face.
He dodged it.
With uncanny skill—instinctive, almost unnatural. His body moved before his mind could give permission. He slipped across the room, away from his opponent and the pistol lying on the table.
R-308 advanced again.
And the fight began.
Another punch—Victor blocked it with both hands.
A low kick—Victor ducked beneath it.
A rising strike—Victor caught it with his right hand, pulling it away from his jaw. He seized the entire arm at the shoulder, pivoted quickly, planted his foot before the opponent's leg—
And executed a powerful aerial throw.
R-308's body slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash.
No one else had done it.
Victor himself had.
He leapt forward, pinned him down, straddling his chest, reaching to remove the mask.
At that exact moment—
R-308 grabbed the pistol from the floor and aimed it at Victor.
Victor jumped back, narrowly avoiding the first shot.
The second shot found its mark.
It struck his left shoulder.
Burning pain spread through his body like fire. He staggered upright, blood flowing from the wound and dripping slowly onto the floor.
Directly before him stood R-308, watching him from behind the red stripe of his mask.
That gaze stirred something lost.
Faces from the past.
R-308 chuckled softly.
"My apologies for my lack of manners… I only shot your shoulder. You're welcome to return the favor."
He slid the pistol across the floor toward Victor.
Victor picked it up cautiously, studying his opponent's calm composure.
"Return the favor? What makes you think I won't kill you?"
"I know you," R-308 replied. "I know you better than your current self does."
"My current self? What do you know about me?"
"Truthfully… not much. You were very secretive. I only lived with you for a short time… before you left us."
"Stop… don't continue," Victor said, his voice trembling. "Show me your face."
"At last…" R-308 replied softly. "You've arrived. And I've finally found you. I can see you with these eyes."
---
Outside the building…
Louis stood watching the man standing before the door, motionless like a statue.
"What's wrong with him? He looks frozen. Fine… I'll wait until he moves. Maybe he's pretending."
Ilio arrived beside him, slightly out of breath.
"You seem to have quite a resilient body."
"And you don't look tired at all," Louis replied. "But that doesn't matter now. Look at him. Do you have a plan?"
"I've been thinking about something," Louis said. "I think he's human… pretending to obey. I don't think he wants us to enter, but he doesn't seem to care about us either."
"Did you try speaking to him?"
"I was waiting for you. I thought you'd have a solution. You're better at negotiations than I am. Hmm… what are you doing?"
Ilio drew his pistol and aimed it at the standing dog.
"You're threatening him?" Louis asked.
"No," Ilio replied calmly.
"I'm going to kill him."
One shot.
Straight through the heart—
the heart of a Synced.
"What did you just do?!" Louis shouted. "Why did you kill him?!"
"So we can pass. Didn't you see he was armed?"
"Yes… you're right. But it was sudden. And you… killing someone? I'm not used to carrying a gun and killing a human being. Even I can't kill someone I know nothing about."
"Is that what you think?" Ilio replied coldly. "Perhaps you're right. But I'm skilled with a gun. As for killing humans… that requires a sound mind."
Louis sighed.
"That really was sudden. Anyway… what now?"
"We go inside. Victor is in there… and the special case as well. I saw him when I was observing. You still have unfinished business with him."
"He's inside… good. Then let's go in… and destroy him with my own hands."
---
Inside the building…
Victor stood watching carefully, noting every movement.
"You can see me… what exactly do you mean by that?"
"You wouldn't understand yet," R-308 replied.
He slowly removed his mask.
Victor looked—
And froze.
The face wasn't unfamiliar.
It carried his own genes—features strikingly similar, like a younger version of himself by several years.
"It's been a long time… Father," the young man said calmly.
Victor trembled. His mouth hung open in shock.
Only one word escaped him.
"My… son?"
"Yes. I am your son… Robert. And you are my father—Victor Noctis."
"That's impossible… impossible." Victor shook his head violently. "You look almost my age."
"Yes. You are twenty-five now… and I am twenty."
"Then how could you possibly be my son?"
"I'll explain," Robert said calmly. "But not now. Someone is coming here. Come, Father… we must leave."
"No!" Victor shouted. "You call me your father and expect me to go with you just like that? Explain yourself! I don't understand anything!"
"I'm not lying," Robert replied quietly. "Do you know how much I've suffered? How many times I repeated everything… just to find you? I saw my mother's corpse countless times. What you left behind may have been dangerous… but I learned to use it. And if you return with me… the three of us will live together again… just like we dreamed."
"My wife… what was her name?"
"Her name was May. I know you don't remember much… but you don't have to. We can start again."
Victor shouted,
"Stop! Don't play games with me! How can I believe a killer? Answer me—who sent you? Why are you chasing me?!"
"Father… please… not you too. Don't call me a killer. Everything I did was for you… for Mother… for our family. I just want to live with my family."
---
Behind the door, Ilio and Louis had been listening.
Suddenly Ilio stepped in, pointing his gun at Victor.
"Victor… are you with us… or with them?"
Robert turned toward Ilio with blazing anger.
"How dare you interrupt us? Do you want to die, you piece of filth?"
"Death… not today," Ilio replied calmly. "I know when my time will come."
"How amusing," Robert said coldly. "Then you can join your siblings."
He pulled out a long pistol and aimed it at Ilio.
"So… you're the one who killed them."
"Them?" Ilio replied. "You mean that miserable couple? They're dead. Want to join them?"
Louis shouted,
"Go to hell, you disgrace!"
Ilio raised a hand to stop him.
"Don't listen to him. He's provoking you. Don't respond. It seems he wants us to shoot him."
"You're perceptive," Robert said. "You weren't affected by anything I said. Weren't you connected to them?"
"Now I'm certain," Ilio replied. "Your armor is bulletproof… that's why you're provoking me. But what about your head?"
Robert turned back toward Victor.
"Father… let's go. I'll explain everything once we leave this place."
Inside his mind Ilio began counting.
One…
"Come on, Father… let's go."
Two…
"When I saw your name…"
Three…
"I'll shoot," Ilio whispered.
Nothing.
A piercing silence filled the room.
Finally Ilio lowered the gun.
"I can't kill you. You're an important source of information. Louis… we're withdrawing. This isn't in our favor right now."
"What?!" Louis shouted. "He killed them! How— and Victor?!"
Suddenly—
Robert threw a smoke grenade.
Thick smoke spread rapidly through the room.
Ilio and Louis lost sight of him.
Robert rushed toward Victor.
But then—
A gunshot.
A bullet passed through someone's head.
It was Robert.
He collapsed to the ground.
Blood began spreading across the floor.
Who fired?
Shock filled the room.
It was Victor.
He stood stunned, his hands trembling, the pistol slipping from his fingers.
"I cannot raise a son to become a killer…"
Robert lay on the ground, dying, his trembling hand still aiming his gun toward Ilio and Louis.
Louis stared at Victor in disbelief.
Another shot—
fired by Robert.
Ilio shoved Louis out of the room, and the two of them tumbled down the stairs, narrowly avoiding the bullet.
Victor stood there, frozen, unable to move.
And he heard Robert's dying words.
"Why… why… when I finally found you… you didn't believe me… and I couldn't force you… that's exactly what I'd expect from the owner of Noctis Hall…"
Tears gathered in Robert's eyes. Between them remained the fatal gap Victor had created.
"Well… it seems fate wants you to fix things… yourself…"
The light faded from his eyes.
And then—
He died.
Victor collapsed to the floor.
He had killed him.
The second person he had ever killed… after that old woman.
"Did I do the right thing? Was killing him necessary…? Is this acceptable?"
Then he noticed something.
In Robert's hand—
a small black capsule.
Victor slowly crawled toward it.
Suddenly—
A massive explosion outside.
Ilio burst into the room, shouting:
"Victor! We have to leave! Government forces have arrived… and they're after something dangerous!"
To be continued…