Before Timothy's betrayal, Jonathan was in the dimly lit database room, intensely focused on the glowing computer terminal in front of him. He, who initiated the meltdown protocol, now hurriedly attempts to transfer all critical data from the laboratory to his hidden computer located in a secure, sealed room, where Aaron, Noah, and Amy are rushing to seek refuge.
"So, here you are, Jonathan, starting the meltdown protocol to erase all data of the Android project," said the man in a pristine lab coat, as he entered the room accompanied by a squad of heavily armed soldiers, their weapons ready and aimed directly at Jonathan.
"So this is your decision, huh? Gregory," Jonathan replied, his voice steady despite the tension.
"Turn yourself in, Jonathan, while you still have a chance," Gregory urged, his tone calm but commanding.
"You can help me achieve my goal. Together, we can still change the corruptions plaguing humanity." Gregory continued, trying to persuade him.
"I'm not turning myself in," Jonathan stated with firm conviction.
"I see..." Gregory said, disappointment flickering across his face.
"I hope your plan succeeds," Jonathan added, as he swiftly pressed the key, successfully initiating the data transfer.
ratatatat!~
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire at Jonathan, who then collapsed lifeless, as a gunshot had struck him. Gregory hurriedly rushed toward the computer, but to his frustration, he saw that the data had already been fully transferred.
"Damn it, haven't we gotten anything?" Gregory demanded, turning to the comms.
The soldier quickly responded through the comms, "Sir, the prototype and the physical research data are still in the lab..."
"We don't have much time; the meltdown activation will commence shortly," Gregory interrupted.
"Let's evacuate," he ordered the soldiers.
"Yes, sir!" the soldiers replied in unison.
Gregory and his team hurriedly ran out of the room. As he ran, Gregory murmured,
"I'm sorry, my friend."
A few minutes later, the wall of the database chamber cracked and bent under intense pressure; A portal materialized, glitching and flickering as if its existence was unstable. Out stepped a hooded man, who gazed upon Jonathan's lifeless body, intensely.
______
In the present, an explosion erupts as the meltdown protocol reaches activation. Nearby buildings are shattered, and the land beneath collapses, burying everything, including the sealed room where Aaron and Noah had. Despite the tremors signaling an earthquake, they are too overwhelmed by grief at Amy's death to notice.
After an hour, Noah, exhausted from crying over Amy's body, lies beside her, holding her tenderly in his arms as he sleeps. Aaron observes Noah's sobs, even in unconsciousness, and tears well up in his eyes. Gently, he lifts Noah and places him on a nearby bed, and then he covers Amy's corpse with care.
He notices the switch to turn on the room's lights, flips it, and the vast space, around 1000 square meters with a ceiling height of 300 meters, is illuminated. Looking at the equipment and things in the room, he spots on the north side the same Creatium ore tablet engraved with mysterious scripture close to the door, positioned on the west side of the room, there is a laboratory with many pieces of equipment, where Noah is sleeping in the bed, and on the east side the chamber he entered last time on the right. On the south side stands a five-glass capsule filled with blue liquid, each containing an unconscious girl, labeled accordingly.
"War Frame Android Unit..."
(Another Android set? Dad, what are you really preparing for?)
"If I had been fully prepared like you, none of this would have happened..."
He approaches the laboratory documents and notices that the War Frame Android Unit was created after Aaron first entered the chamber. He realizes his father anticipated the seriousness of the situation and prepared accordingly, while he, Aaron, had only lived in the moment, unaware that he was less prepared and driven by selfish desires to experience family.
"I'm such an idiot..." Aaron whispers, tears streaming down his face.
He considers ending his life, feeling he's only wasting time and accomplishing nothing. He wonders if he should have shed emotions altogether, contemplating whether indifference to anything might have yielded a better outcome. As he wrestles with grief and regret, his gaze falls on a gun on the desk. He picks it up, disengages the safety, and points it at his temple with resolve.
Just as he is about to pull the trigger, a hand suddenly appears, knocking the gun from his grasp.
"Stop it," a mysterious child commanded, suddenly in front of Aaron, not emitting a presence, just there appearing.
Aaron looks at the kid's face and notices they resemble him, except that his sclera is black.
"Who are you?"
"You don't know anything! I don't want to be killed and reset again!" the mysterious kid shouted, his voice trembling with terror and rage.
"What are you talking—" Aaron begins, but is cut off.
"Shut up! I said I don't want to go back!" the kid yelled, pounding his fists on the ground.
"I don't want to feel pain and despair!" he cried, tears welling in his eyes.
"KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!! KILLED, RESET!!"
"...I'm tired, you know," he whispered, voice cracking under the weight of exhaustion.
"You've been going on, but what are you really talking—" Aaron tries again, concern etched on his face.
"How about I make you remember what you are really?" the kid sneered, suddenly hostile.
"I said what—" Aaron stops mid-sentence as the kid's hand suddenly touches his forehead.
Unknown memories flooded Aaron's mind—disturbing visions of his death, each more tragic than the last: being riddled with bullets, slicing through his own wrists in despair, only to wake five minutes earlier in the same nightmare loop.
"AAHHHH—" Aaron screams, clutching his head.
"HAHAHAHA, serve you right! HAHAHAHA!" the kid mocked, a sinister edge in his laughter.
"Hey, how does it feel? To experience our feelings?" the kid taunted, eyes gleaming with malice.
"Stop it, past. You make your statement clear to him now," a commanding voice echoes through the room as a glitching portal flickers into view. A hooded man steps out just before the portal distorts and collapses.
"You are?" the mysterious kid from the past asks hesitantly.
"Future."
"Well then, this idiot plans to restart the cycle again. I don't want to go back to that hellish time," the past version of Aaron observes, his gaze fixed on Aaron, still wracked with pain from relentless memories.
"No, he's just trying to commit suicide," the future version interjects, voice stern and unwavering.
The hooded man gazes intently at Aaron. "Leave this to me," he states seriously.
The past eyes the future sharply. "Make sure he doesn't go back there, or else..."
The future nods solemnly as the past begins to fade, and he slowly dissolves into nothingness. Minutes pass. Aaron gradually calms, accepting the unbearable truths he witnessed—though grief and despair become much larger than ever.
"Well, how does it feel?" the future voice continues coldly. "The pain of dying—waking at the scene where brother Henry was murdered, discovering the five-minute time loop, exploiting it, taking revenge on Dr. Timothy, getting shot, dying again, reset the cycle, abusing the loop once more, killing soldiers, finding dad, confronting Gregory, another death, again, and again —each death, each cycle, repeating over and over..."
"...to 742,860,221 tries," the future voice concludes.
Aaron reaches for the gun, trembling, and puts it to his head. But the future's hand swiftly snatches the weapon away.
"Stop it. It's not worth it," the future says, exhausted.
"What do you mean? Not worth it?!" Aaron yells, uncontrollable rage in his voice.
"My parents were killed right in front of me—how can it not be worth it to try again?!"
"Yeah! It's not worth it! You need to break this time paradox and let time flow naturally," the future insists.
"Or what? You've been programmed to keep going like this?"
"No! I do this because I have free will. And no matter what you say or how many times I try again, I'll always save my family!" Aaron retorts.
"Then you can't be stuck here forever, and be defeated countless times!" the future states grimly.
"You know what Gregory can do with armed soldiers. No matter how many attempts you make, despair is all you'll see without your powers."
"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Aaron asks desperately.
"I don't know," the future replies, turning away.
"Then why are you here for?!" Aaron demands.
"Cutting ties and regrets," the future responds softly as he lifts Amy's body. A portal opens behind him.
"Where are you taking Mom's body?" Aaron asks, voice trembling.
"You don't need to know. Focus on the present first," the future says, glancing back at Aaron.
"One last thing. I know, you will eventually learn this, so I'll tell you now."
"Go to the lab's computer —The password is 'father'. Look for the video called 'Last Will'." The hooded man steps into the portal.
"Wait—" Aaron begins, but the portal flickers erratically before disappearing entirely.
Aaron does as Future instructed; he opens the computer with the password given, and finds the video, which he plays. His eyes fixed on the screen as he saw Jonathan carefully examine the diagnosis data, War Frame Android, on the interface.
"Hello, Aaron, Noah, if you entered the password 'father' and watch this, then it means the worst has happened —your mom and I are dead," Jonathan says, as his gaze steady look directly into the camera.
"I did everything I could without others knowing —especially to keep this to you all."
"You all don't need to know my fears, maybe this is my paranoia, after all."
"Now, it's occurred; let's look at the future, and resist taking revenge on us."
"I know who betrayed us, but that doesn't mean I have to despise him."
We, five heads of Ilybria Laboratory vow to each other —we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of progress..."
His gaze was softly at the camera, and a faint smile was on his lips. "Even I said that, yet you are still seeking revenge, don't you?"
"Then go on, my sons. If that's what you want, it's a kind of pursuing progress too."
"Also, I slowly stole all data from our Android project and Ilybria —including research files, inventions, and future projects of other department heads."
"I'm confident they'll notice it too late."
Take these files, use them for whatever purpose you see fit —this is my last will."
"Always remember, I will support whatever you two decide to do —goodbye."
Aaron watched it until the very last, helplessly, as the tears welled up in his eyes, choking on crying.
"Sob...sob...sob, Dad..."