[Present Time]
When Zoren sat down in his office, a faint smile tugged at his lips as he recalled the end of his first life. He had often wondered how he died — or if he even died at all in that timeline. But after the hypnosis, he finally found out the truth: he didn't have to carry that question with him forever.
Haines might've ended him, but in truth, he saved Zoren.
He spared him from enduring an even longer, more hellish life… or from a slow, painful decline. For others, it might've looked like cruelty. But for Zoren, it had been an act of mercy—from a man who had lived long enough to fulfill one final duty before passing himself.
"I wonder…" he whispered, eyes drifting to his phone as Penny's name lit up on the screen. He smiled as he picked it up. "...if it's okay not to tell her this."
Somehow, Zoren wanted to keep this part of his past to himself.
Not dwelling on it any further, he smiled again as the call connected.
"Penny."
---
Hours later...
