The underground facility trembled violently.
Red warning lights spun across endless steel corridors while sirens screamed like dying ghosts throughout LEVEL ZERO.
WARNING. KILL MODE ACTIVATED.
And suddenly—
the children attacked.
BOOOOM!!
A tiny boy slammed into Kabir with monstrous force, sending him crashing through broken laboratory glass.
"AAAGH—!"
Kabir rolled across the floor just as another child lunged toward his throat with metal claws extending from her fingers.
"These kids are insane!"
"They're being controlled!" Maya screamed.
She refused to fight back.
That hesitation nearly killed her.
SHINK!!
A hidden blade shot from a little girl's wrist straight toward Maya's chest—
—but Arman caught it instantly.
Blood dripped slowly from his hand.
The little girl froze.
Her glowing red eyes flickered weakly.
"...big brother?"
Arman's breathing stopped.
FLASH.
A dark laboratory cell.
Tiny children huddled together in fear.
Young Arman standing in front of them protectively while scientists watched through glass.
"They're scared of you," one child whispered.
Young Arman quietly answered—
"Good."
FLASH END.
Arman staggered backward.
Pain exploded through his skull.
WARNING. MEMORY SUPPRESSION FAILING.
Director Vale smiled from the shadows.
"Excellent."
His cold voice echoed softly.
"The memories are returning."
Kabir smashed a metal pipe into a charging soldier.
"Can somebody kill this psycho already?!"
Gunfire exploded instantly.
RATATATAT!!
Orion soldiers flooded the corridor from both sides.
Bullets tore through steel walls.
Maya shielded the children instinctively.
Elias dragged Kabir behind overturned machinery.
But Arman never moved.
Because Vale's eyes remained locked on him.
Like a creator admiring his masterpiece.
"You protected them once," Vale said calmly.
"Before we perfected you."
Arman's voice trembled dangerously.
"...you tortured children."
Vale adjusted his gloves without emotion.
"No."
"I evolved humanity."
Eren suddenly stepped forward.
His black armor crackled violently with unstable energy.
"...liar."
Vale's expression shifted slightly.
"Prototype 001."
For the first time—
his smile became genuine.
"A failure who learned emotions."
Eren's fists shook.
The small boy beside him held his armored hand softly.
"They hurt us every day…"
CRACK.
A fracture spread across Eren's visor.
Then another.
Then another.
Inside the darkness of the armor—
someone was breaking free.
The child looked up at him carefully.
"Does it still hurt?"
Silence.
Then Eren whispered—
"...every second."
BOOOOOOM!!
A massive shockwave erupted from his body.
The corridor lights exploded instantly.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Two burning red eyes opened slowly inside the black smoke.
Then—
for the first time—
they heard his real voice.
Not mechanical.
Human.
Broken.
"My name…"
His voice trembled painfully.
"...is Ethan."
Everyone froze.
Kabir blinked.
"Wait WHAT?!"
Maya stared in shock.
Even Elias looked speechless.
The children surrounding Ethan suddenly stopped attacking.
Because they recognized that voice.
One little girl began crying immediately.
"Ethan…?"
Tears rolled beneath Ethan's shattered visor.
"They turned us into monsters…"
Director Vale sighed softly.
"So disappointing."
Then—
CLICK.
A horrible frequency screamed across the facility.
SCREEEEEEEECH!!
Every child collapsed instantly.
Blood poured from their noses.
The children screamed in agony while clutching their heads desperately.
Maya panicked.
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Elias looked horrified.
"The obedience signal!"
Vale watched calmly.
"Pain maintains discipline."
Kabir looked ready to murder someone.
"You are actually evil."
Vale ignored him completely.
His attention remained on Arman.
Because Arman's body was changing.
Black-red energy slowly spread across his skin like living fire.
WARNING. HADES CORE OVERDRIVE.
Arman dropped to one knee screaming.
AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
Maya rushed toward him instantly.
"Arman!"
But he shoved her away accidentally.
Not out of hate.
Out of fear.
Because his power was becoming unstable.
FLASH!
Children hiding behind young Arman during experiments.
Scientists dragging crying kids away.
Young Arman screaming violently against restraints.
"STOP HURTING THEM!"
FLASH END.
Arman looked up slowly.
Tears mixed with rage in his glowing eyes.
"...they trusted me."
The little girl from earlier smiled weakly despite the pain.
"You always protected us…"
Something inside Arman shattered completely.
Not into darkness.
Into fury.
PURE fury.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!
An explosion of black-red energy ripped through LEVEL ZERO.
Steel walls bent outward.
Laboratory windows shattered instantly.
Orion soldiers were launched across the corridor like broken dolls.
Even Director Vale took a step backward.
For the first time—
he looked surprised.
Arman slowly stood.
Smoke curled around his body.
His eyes no longer looked empty.
They looked alive.
Terrifyingly alive.
WARNING. EMOTIONAL EVOLUTION DETECTED.
Elias whispered in disbelief.
"The HADES Core is adapting…"
Kabir stared.
"Is that bad?!"
"...I don't know."
Vale slowly smiled again.
But this time—
even his smile looked nervous.
"Magnificent."
Arman's voice came out low and deadly.
"You called them survivors."
Another shockwave pulsed from his body.
"But survivors…"
The underground city trembled violently.
"...don't torture children."
Then suddenly—
far below LEVEL ZERO—
something massive awakened.
THOOOOOOM.
The entire facility shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The children stopped crying instantly.
Fear filled their glowing eyes.
Even Ethan froze.
"...no."
Maya looked toward him quickly.
"What is it?"
Ethan's voice trembled.
"The final prototype…"
Another earth-shaking impact echoed from the darkness below.
THOOOOM!!
Massive metal doors deep underground slowly began opening.
Director Vale smiled proudly.
"At last."
His cold eyes glowed with excitement.
"Humanity's perfect evolution."
Kabir looked absolutely exhausted.
"WHY is there always a bigger nightmare in this place?!"
Then—
from the endless darkness beneath the facility—
two gigantic burning red eyes opened slowly.
And the entire underground city began to shake.
The burning red eyes deep beneath the underground city slowly blinked open.
THOOOOOOOM.
Another impact shook LEVEL ZERO violently.
Cracks spread across the ceiling while rust and dust rained over the ruined corridor.
The children immediately backed away in fear.
Even the controlled ones.
Their glowing red eyes flickered with terror.
Maya noticed it instantly.
"They're scared…"
Ethan's shattered visor trembled.
His breathing became unstable again.
"That thing shouldn't exist…"
Kabir looked between everyone in disbelief.
"Oh great." "So now even the child experiments are afraid of something."
Nobody laughed.
Because the sound coming from below—
didn't sound alive.
It sounded hungry.
SKRRRRRRRRR…
Somewhere in the darkness beneath the facility, gigantic metal doors were slowly dragging open.
Director Vale stepped forward proudly.
His silver hair reflected the flashing emergency lights while chaos unfolded around him.
"Do you hear it?"
His voice almost sounded emotional.
"Perfection."
Arman's eyes burned with hatred.
"You're calling that perfection?"
Vale looked toward the terrified children surrounding the corridor.
"No fear." "No weakness." "No humanity to hold them back."
His smile deepened.
"The next stage of evolution."
Maya felt disgust rise in her chest.
"You didn't save them."
Her voice shook angrily.
"You destroyed their lives."
For a brief second—
Vale's expression darkened.
Then he calmly answered—
"Humanity destroys weak children every day."
He gestured toward the underground city around them.
"Orphans." "Runaways." "Abandoned test subjects."
His cold eyes narrowed.
"I simply gave them purpose."
Kabir snapped instantly.
"YOU TORTURED THEM!"
BOOOOM!!
He slammed an Orion soldier into the wall with pure rage.
The soldier collapsed unconscious immediately.
Kabir pointed furiously at the crying children.
"They're not weapons!" "They're kids!"
Silence filled the corridor.
The children stared at Kabir strangely.
Like nobody had called them children in a very long time.
One small boy slowly whispered—
"...kids…?"
Maya's eyes filled with tears instantly.
Because the boy sounded confused by the word itself.
Like he had forgotten what normal felt like.
Ethan clenched his fists violently.
His voice cracked beneath the broken armor.
"They made us forget our names first."
Everyone froze.
Ethan slowly looked toward the children.
"Then they erased everything else."
FLASH.
A young Ethan strapped to an operating table screaming while scientists injected black liquid into his veins.
FLASH.
Children crying behind glass walls.
FLASH.
Director Vale calmly observing them all like broken machines.
FLASH END.
Ethan grabbed his head painfully.
"They said emotions were diseases."
The little boy beside him quietly held his hand again.
"But you remembered."
Ethan froze.
The child smiled weakly through tears.
"So maybe we can too."
That single sentence shattered something inside the corridor.
Even Kabir looked away emotionally.
Arman stood silent.
But his chest hurt.
Because deep inside—
he remembered protecting these children once.
Before HADES turned him into a monster.
Before Orion erased who he was.
The little girl holding Maya's sleeve suddenly looked toward Arman carefully.
"Big brother…"
Arman slowly looked down at her.
Her small face was covered in scars and surgical marks.
But despite everything—
she smiled softly.
"You came back."
That hurt more than any weapon.
Arman's breathing became unstable again.
Because he didn't deserve that trust.
Not after failing them.
Suddenly—
WARNING. CORE SYNCHRONIZATION DESTABILIZING.
Black-red energy burst violently across Arman's arms.
The floor beneath him cracked instantly.
Maya immediately stepped closer.
"Arman, calm down."
"I can't."
His voice trembled.
"They suffered because of me."
"No."
Maya grabbed his hand firmly despite the dangerous energy.
"They suffered because of monsters like Vale."
Her warmth hit him harder than violence ever could.
Because nobody had touched him without fear before.
Director Vale watched carefully.
Then smiled knowingly.
"Fascinating."
Kabir frowned.
"What now?"
Vale looked directly at Maya.
"Do you know why Subject 002 became unstable?"
Maya instinctively stepped protectively in front of Arman.
Vale answered anyway.
"Because emotions corrupt the HADES Core."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"And you…"
He pointed calmly toward Maya.
"...are making him human again."
Silence.
Arman's heartbeat shook violently.
WARNING. EMOTIONAL SURGE DETECTED.
Vale sighed almost regretfully.
"Such wasted potential."
Then suddenly—
he pressed another switch hidden inside his glove.
CLICK.
The entire underground city went dark.
Absolute darkness swallowed everything.
Maya stopped breathing.
Kabir cursed immediately.
"Oh I REALLY hate underground labs."
Then—
deep below them—
a horrifying mechanical roar echoed upward.
RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!
The sound didn't resemble an animal.
Or a machine.
It sounded like suffering itself.
The children screamed in terror.
Ethan immediately turned toward the darkness.
"No… it's awake!"
Massive footsteps began shaking the facility.
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
Closer.
Closer.
Emergency backup lights suddenly flickered on.
And everyone froze.
Far down the endless corridor—
something gigantic was crawling toward them through the shadows.
Not fully human.
Not fully mechanical.
Its massive body scraped against the steel walls while dozens of glowing red eyes opened across its flesh.
Kabir's soul nearly left his body.
"...absolutely not."
Maya covered the little girl's eyes instantly.
Elias looked horrified beyond words.
"The Titan Prototype…"
Director Vale smiled proudly.
"Subject Zero."
The creature slowly lifted its massive head.
Its face—
looked horribly unfinished.
Like multiple humans had been fused together into one living nightmare.
And then—
it looked directly at Arman.
WARNING. GENETIC MATCH DETECTED.
The monster suddenly stopped moving.
Then slowly—
it smiled.