Chapter 63: "The Brother They Buried"
Cold steam filled the underground laboratory.
Red warning lights flashed across the frozen chamber.
Arman stood completely still.
His heartbeat slammed violently inside his chest.
Inside the opening chamber…
A man slowly stepped forward through the smoke.
Tall.
Pale skin.
Dark hair.
And those eyes…
Exactly like Arman's.
Cold.
Empty.
Broken.
The stranger looked at him silently for several seconds.
Then again—
"Brother…"
Arman's fingers tightened around his weapon instantly.
"This is impossible."
The man smiled weakly.
But there was no warmth in it.
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
The chamber behind him finally shut down with a loud metallic sound.
Warning sirens slowly faded.
Only silence remained.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Dangerous.
Arman kept staring at him.
Fragments of memories started crashing inside his mind.
A laboratory room.
Two children sitting together silently.
One crying at night.
The other holding his hand.
Then screaming.
Blood.
Doctors pulling them apart.
Arman suddenly stepped backward.
His breathing became unstable.
"No…"
The stranger noticed immediately.
"They erased most of your memories."
His voice sounded calm.
Almost emotionless.
"Just like they erased me."
Arman pointed his gun directly at him.
"Who are you?"
The man looked into his eyes carefully.
Then quietly said—
"My name was Elias."
Silence.
"Subject 001."
The entire laboratory suddenly felt colder.
Arman's heartbeat stopped for a second.
Subject 001.
Alive.
Not dead.
Everything Orion said had been a lie.
Elias slowly walked closer.
But Arman immediately aimed higher.
"Stop."
Elias obeyed instantly.
For a moment…
Both brothers simply stared at each other.
Two weapons created by the same nightmare.
Then Elias spoke softly.
"You still have his eyes."
Arman narrowed his eyes.
"Whose?"
"Our father's."
The word hit Arman like a bullet.
Father.
He barely remembered the meaning of that word.
Project Ashes had erased everything human from his childhood.
"Orion took us when we were children," Elias continued quietly.
"They told us our parents abandoned us."
Another flash hit Arman's mind violently.
A woman crying.
Someone screaming his name.
Small hands pulling him away.
Static exploded inside his head.
Arman grabbed the side of the chamber to steady himself.
Elias watched silently.
"They broke you worse than me."
That sentence carried no mockery.
Only pain.
Suddenly—
A loud metallic click echoed through the facility.
Arman reacted instantly.
Gun raised.
Eyes sharp.
Footsteps approached from deeper inside the laboratory.
Then—
Maya's voice echoed through the corridor.
"Arman!"
He froze.
Seconds later Maya and Kabir entered the chamber room.
Both stopped instantly after seeing Elias.
Shock covered Maya's face.
"Oh my God…"
Kabir's eyes turned dangerous immediately.
His weapon came out instantly.
"Step away from him."
Elias slowly raised both hands.
"I'm not your enemy."
Kabir laughed coldly.
"That's exactly what a lab-created psychopath would say."
Arman remained silent.
Still staring at Elias.
Still trying to understand reality itself.
Maya slowly walked closer to Arman.
"You disappeared."
Then she noticed his expression.
Fear.
Confusion.
Pain.
She had never seen him look this broken before.
"What happened here?"
Arman answered quietly without taking his eyes off Elias.
"He's Subject 001."
Silence consumed the room.
Kabir's face darkened immediately.
"That's impossible."
"He was never dead," Elias said calmly.
"Orion kept me frozen underground for years."
Maya's breathing became heavier.
"Why?"
Elias looked toward the dark ceiling.
"Because I failed."
Kabir narrowed his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
Elias stayed silent for several seconds.
Then finally—
"I refused to become a weapon."
Another painful silence filled the laboratory.
Arman's jaw tightened unconsciously.
Because he knew exactly what came next.
Pain.
Punishment.
Conditioning.
Elias slowly looked toward him again.
"They chose you instead."
Flash.
Young Arman screaming inside a restraint chair.
Doctors injecting chemicals into his veins.
Elena Voss watching emotionlessly behind the glass.
"Pain creates obedience."
Arman suddenly punched the nearby metal wall.
Dhadaam!
Everyone flinched.
His breathing became dangerous.
Rage filled his eyes.
"They turned us into monsters…"
Elias looked at him carefully.
"No."
His voice became firmer.
"They turned you into a survivor."
That sentence hit differently.
For years…
Arman had only seen himself as a weapon.
A killer.
Something broken beyond repair.
But Elias looked at him like a human being.
Like family.
And somehow…
That felt more terrifying than violence.
Suddenly Kabir stepped forward aggressively.
"We don't have time for emotional reunions."
He looked directly at Elias.
"How do we know you're not manipulating us?"
Elias smiled faintly.
"You don't."
Kabir's finger tightened near the trigger.
"But if I wanted you dead…"
His cold eyes shifted toward the blinking security cameras above them.
"…you would already be dead."
Instant tension exploded through the room.
Maya quickly stepped between them.
"Stop!"
Kabir didn't lower his weapon.
Something about Elias deeply disturbed him.
Not because Elias looked dangerous.
But because he looked exactly like Arman.
And one Arman was already dangerous enough.
Suddenly every light inside the facility flickered violently.
The screens across the room activated automatically.
Static filled the laboratory.
Then—
Elena Voss appeared live on every monitor.
Elegant.
Calm.
Deadly.
"Arman."
The room became silent instantly.
Elena looked directly into the camera.
"If you are seeing this, then Subject 001 has awakened."
Elias's expression darkened.
Elena continued calmly—
"You always wanted answers."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"So let me tell you the truth."
The screens behind her activated.
Old laboratory footage appeared.
Two young boys inside Project Ashes.
Elias.
And Arman.
Children.
Terrified.
Broken.
Maya covered her mouth slowly.
Kabir's jaw tightened.
Elena's voice echoed again.
"Subject 001 was unstable."
Elias looked away bitterly.
"He refused conditioning."
The footage suddenly changed.
Young Arman sitting alone inside darkness.
Silent.
Emotionless.
Then another clip played.
A child screaming violently while guards held him down.
Subject 001.
Elias.
"He became emotionally attached to Subject 002."
Elena's tone remained cold.
"And attachment creates weakness."
Arman's breathing slowed dangerously.
He already hated where this was going.
Then the final footage appeared.
A young Elias desperately trying to protect Arman from armed guards.
Screaming his name.
Begging them to stop.
And then—
Gunshots.
Maya gasped softly.
But the footage didn't show Elias dying.
Instead…
Young Arman.
Covered in blood.
Screaming uncontrollably.
The screen froze there.
Elena's voice became softer.
"That was the day Subject 002 truly awakened."
Silence consumed the room.
Arman stared at the frozen image of himself.
That rage.
That pain.
That monster.
It had started there.
Not from evil.
From loss.
From fear.
Elias finally whispered—
"You tried to save me."
Arman slowly looked at him.
Confusion filled his eyes.
"I… don't remember."
"They made sure you wouldn't."
Elena's face appeared again.
"But memories are difficult to bury forever."
Suddenly her expression darkened.
"And now you've become a problem."
Warning alarms instantly activated across the underground facility.
Kabir looked around sharply.
"That's not good."
Computer systems came alive one by one.
Automated defense systems activated.
Red laser dots suddenly appeared across all their bodies.
Maya's face turned pale.
"Oh no…"
Elena spoke one final sentence.
"Goodbye, boys."
Then every turret inside the laboratory activated simultaneously.
Dhak!
Dhak!
Dhak!
Gunfire exploded across the facility.
Kabir immediately tackled Maya behind a metal console.
Arman grabbed Elias and pulled him behind cover seconds before bullets tore through the chamber.
Metal sparks exploded everywhere.
The underground lab became chaos.
Kabir fired back aggressively.
"We're trapped!"
Elias looked toward Arman urgently.
"There's another exit deeper underground!"
"Move!"
They sprinted through the collapsing laboratory corridor while bullets chased them from behind.
Emergency sirens screamed endlessly.
Pipes exploded overhead.
Steam filled the hallways.
Maya struggled to keep up.
"Arman!"
He instantly turned back.
A collapsing metal beam was falling toward her.
Without hesitation—
Arman jumped toward Maya and shoved her away.
Dhadaam!
The beam crashed directly onto his shoulder.
Pain shot through his entire body.
Maya's eyes widened in horror.
"Arman!"
For a second…
Everything became blurry.
Old memories flashed again.
Pain.
Blood.
Screaming.
Then suddenly—
A small memory surfaced clearly for the first time.
A child's voice.
Elias.
"You're not a monster, little brother."
Present time.
Arman slowly lifted the heavy metal beam with trembling strength.
His eyes burned with pain.
But something inside him had changed.
Because for the first time…
Someone from his past had called him human.
Not weapon.
Not ghost.
Not monster.
Brother.
Suddenly the entire facility shook violently.
Kabir looked behind in horror.
"The reactor is going critical!"
Red warning lights flashed faster now.
SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED.
00:59
Maya's heartbeat stopped.
Elias looked toward the dark tunnel ahead.
"There's no time!"
But before they could move—
A massive steel door suddenly slammed shut between Arman and the others.
Dhadaam!
Maya screamed instantly.
"Arman!!"
He ran toward the door immediately.
Locked.
Emergency steel.
Impossible to break quickly.
On the other side, Kabir was already trying to override the controls.
"It's jammed!"
Timer: 00:41
Steam filled the corridor.
The underground facility started collapsing around them.
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
"No… no…"
Arman placed one bloody hand against the steel door.
For the first time in years…
Fear completely consumed him.
Not fear of death.
Fear of being alone again.
And then—
From the darkness behind him…
Slow footsteps echoed.
Arman turned carefully.
A tall shadow emerged through the smoke.
Not human.
Not machine.
Something worse.
Its glowing mechanical eyes locked onto him.
Then a distorted familiar voice whispered—
"Hello… Subject 002."