Flavio's story hit Youri harder than he expected. He listened all the way to the end, absorbing every detail, until the question slipped from his mouth before he could stop it."Did you ever find out what happened to your wife and child?"
Flavio's expression collapsed, his eyes dropping to the floor."After I woke up," he said quietly, "I found myself strapped to a lab table like some chained mutt. Knox walked in, acting like he owned the world. Told me this place would be where I spent whatever time I had left. Blabbered on about genes, mutations—same crap he always spews. So I asked him." Flavio's jaw tightened. "I looked him dead in the eyes and said, 'Do you know what happened to my wife and child?'"
He paused."Then, with a straight face, he said they were long dead."Flavio's voice thinned. "My only reason to push forward… vanished that moment. Along with the last piece of my spirit."
Youri regretted asking."Sorry, Flavio… I didn't mean—"
Flavio smirked weakly. "Don't worry, kid. Not like any of this is your fault."
Before Youri could say anything more, the distant clatter of chains scraped along the corridor—slow, dragging, unmistakable. Both of them turned toward the sound.Andy emerged from the shadows, chains hanging from his arms and shoulders, scraping the floor as he walked. Without a word, he stopped in front of Flavio's cell. He pulled out a key, slid it into the lock, and pushed the door open. Grabbing Flavio by the arm, he yanked him out.
"I guess it's my turn then," Flavio muttered, giving Youri one last glance before Andy marched him away.
Youri sank back against the wall, eventually sliding down until he sat on the cold floor. Hours crawled by. Nothing moved. No footsteps, no voices—just silence thick enough to smother thought. He stayed like that, half awake, half drifting, until the sound of those same chains tore the quiet apart again.
Youri jolted upright.
Down the corridor, Andy appeared once more, but this time he was carrying Flavio over his shoulder. Flavio's body hung limp, unconscious. Knox walked behind them, hands clasped behind his back, strolling as if returning from a pleasant evening walk.
When they reached the cell, Andy unlocked the door and tossed Flavio inside like a sack of grain. He slammed the door shut and turned away. Knox remained in the center of the corridor—standing between Flavio's cell and Youri's.
Smiling.
"Youri, my boy," he said pleasantly, as if greeting an old friend. "How are you adapting to the place? Are you enjoying it?"
Youri stared at him, silent, refusing to give him even a word.
Knox chuckled and turned briefly toward Flavio's cell."His potential is remarkable," he said, then shifted his gaze back to Youri. "But you… you are something else entirely."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice, almost admiring.
"Do you know you possess a rare talent? Perfect recall—super memory. If you see something, read something, experience something… you never forget it. People like you are almost extinct in this age."
Knox's smile widened, cold and satisfied."And that gift, my boy, is only the beginning. There are many others buried deep inside you."
Youri's stomach twisted. He didn't answer. Knox seemed pleased by the silence.
He stepped closer to the bars of Youri's cell, folding his hands behind his back. "Flavio here… he was interesting once. Now?" Knox glanced over his shoulder at the unconscious old man sprawled on the floor. "A fading ember. Unreliable. Delicate. His genotype was promising, but time has thinned it. You, however—"
He leaned forward, smile widening.
"You are a miracle."
Youri pressed back against the wall, Knox chuckled. "Still scared. That's fine. Fear sharpens the mind. Fear makes memory cling harder." He straightened and tapped the bars twice with a gloved finger. "You will understand with time."
Andy, still holding the end of his chain, grunted impatiently.
"Yes, yes, we're finished," Knox said, waving him off. "Bring Flavio food later. Something mild. He'll be useless for a day or two."
Andy nodded, then looked at Youri for a moment — blank, empty expression as always — before dragging himself away, chains rasping in rhythm with his steps. Knox followed behind him, shoes clicking sharply against the floor until the sounds faded completely.
Silence returned to the corridor like a heavy suffocating cloth.
Youri watched Flavio's still form through the dim, flickering light. For a moment he wondered if he was dead, but then he saw a faint rise and fall in the man's chest.
Relief washed over him — then quickly turned into dread. If this was what Knox did regularly, how long before Youri was dragged out next?
Minutes passed. Maybe hours. It was impossible to tell in the cold and the dark. Eventually Flavio stirred, a low groan scraping out of his throat as he rolled to his side.
Youri rushed to the bars, gripping them despite the sting of his wounded hands. "Flavio! Are you okay?"
The old man breathed raggedly, then forced out a whisper. "Still alive… unfortunately."
Youri didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Flavio slowly pushed himself up, wincing at every movement until he leaned against the wall, breath uneven. "They're testing you," he said quietly, eyes half-lidded but alert. "Trying to see how you react. Knox is… calculating. Sick, but calculating."
Youri swallowed hard. "Why does he want me so much?"
Flavio cracked a grim smile. "Because you're valuable. People like us — gifted, cursed, whatever you want to call it — are nothing but trophies to him. Experiments. Proof of his own genius."
Youri lowered his head. "I don't want any of this."
"No one does, boy." Flavio shifted to get comfortable, failing miserably. "But you stay alive. That's the only rule down here. Stay alive, and wait for the slip. Everyone slips eventually. Even Knox."
Youri stared at him. "You really think he can slip?"
Flavio's eyes hardened — the most fire Youri had seen in them yet. "Every man can slip. Even the smartest bastard in the galaxy bleeds red."
A distant clang echoed somewhere deeper in the facility, followed by a faint mechanical hum rising through the walls.
Flavio sighed. "Night cycle. We won't see anyone for a while."
Youri slumped down, exhaustion dragging at every limb. His hands throbbed, bandages stiff with half-dried blood. His body begged for sleep, but his mind refused to calm.
Flavio's voice drifted through the darkness. "Try to rest. Tomorrow might be worse."
Youri curled against the cold stone, shivering. His breathing slowed, eyes drifting shut.
But before he fully slipped away, he heard Flavio speak again — softer, almost to himself.
"Hold on, kid… Don't let this place take you."
And then silence swallowed the cell block once more