The corridors of the prison were dark and narrow, but Delia Asia Vieira moved through them with ease, leaving no sound behind her. She knew that time was against her, and once she rounded the corner, she would have to decide where to go next. The sound of footsteps could be heard in the distance, and she knew that the Satanists might have already noticed her disappearance.
Looking through the next door, she saw a group of Satanists standing in front of her with guns, their faces filled with concentration, and they had clearly noticed her escape. Delia Asia Vieira quickly hid around the corner, her heart pounding, but her mind clear and focused.
"They can't catch me, they can't be faster," she thought, moving quietly and quickly through the corridors, trying to avoid any signs of pursuit.
She heard the voices of the Satanists getting closer, but she didn't allow herself to panic. She had to remain invisible. She had to find a way out.
Every step she took felt like her last, every turn like a chance to save herself. But Delia Asia Vieira couldn't afford to make a mistake. She couldn't fall into their hands again. The prison was full of dark corridors and old, rusty doors, but she knew that the path to freedom was somewhere ahead. And she was prepared for any encounter with danger. The information she had received was important, and she couldn't let him suffer any longer. She heard his faint cries in the distance, faint but desperate.
Taking a deep breath, Delia Asia Vieira quickened her pace. She passed empty cells, locked doors, and every moment, no matter how hard she tried not to think about it, seemed to bring her closer to disaster. It was truly scary inside the prison. The echoes of footsteps, the rustling sounds, all of it seemed to be watching her. But the thought of Peter kept her on her toes.
Then she heard a familiar voice. It was weak but distinct.
"Please... no... no... no..."
Delia Asia Vieira stood for a moment, listening. The screams were coming from around the corner. She approached cautiously, peering into the darkness.
Suddenly a door with a small grate appeared in front of her. Through it she could see a figure sitting on a chair. Peter. He was tied up, and Richard was standing next to him, saying something.
"You've screwed everything up so badly, Peter." Richard spoke coldly, turning something over in his hands. "Mum said you were supposed to be important, but you don't even know what's going on, do you? I need you alive, and only because I need information about the others. We can't let you get away."
Peter did not answer, only weak sobs came from his lips.
Delia Asia Vieira clenched her fists, unable to bear it. Richard was another in a long line of people who believed they could get away with it. It was too much. He couldn't continue to hurt Peter.
She stood around the corner, slipping behind the cell building. She had to act quickly. Richard was close enough for her to sneak up on, but she had to stay hidden until she got the moment. The sentry and the footsteps at the end of the hallway gave her a chance. Delia quietly found a metal crowbar lying against the wall. This could be her chance.
She waited for the moment when Richard turned and then took a quick step forward, hitting him over the head with the metal crowbar. Richard staggered, his face contorted in pain, and fell to the ground, letting out a weak groan.
"Richard!" Delia Asia Vieira whispered, leaning over him. She took the knife from his belt and cut the ropes that held Peter.
The boy was shaking, his eyes full of fear and pain.
"Are you okay?" Delia Asia Vieira asked, her voice soft and soothing, but her eyes gleaming with determination.
Peter looked at her, breathing heavily. He still couldn't believe that someone had come for him.
"You... you came for me?" His voice was weak, almost inaudible, but there was a spark of hope in it.
"Yes, I'm here, Peter. We're leaving here," Delia Asia Vieira replied, helping him up.
She supported him, feeling his body still shaking from the experience. Having caught her breath after her victory over Richard, the robotess and the boy continued through the dark corridors of the prison. Their goal was clear - they had to find the photographer Jennings, who they knew had been captured and tied to a chair. Every moment spent within these gloomy walls became more sinister, but they could not stop.
"We have to find him," Delia Asia Vieira said, glancing quickly at Peter. "He knows what to do next."
Peter was silent, but his eyes were full of worry. He was weak, his body was shaking, but he knew that Delia Asia Vieira would not leave him in trouble.
Soon they found themselves in a small room, the floor of which was strewn with dust. In the corner stood a chair, and on it was Jennings. He was tied with ropes, and from the back of the chair protruded several knives, like some kind of sinister thorns. His face was pale, and his eyes stared into emptiness. He was conscious, but his body was immobilized, and he was struggling to free himself from the bonds.
Delia Asia Vieira walked up to him and leaned in, her voice soft but firm.
"Jennings, are you okay?"
The photographer winced and looked at her, trying hard to smile.
"I'm not sure I can say fine," he said, but his voice was still as sarcastic as ever. "But if you don't do this soon, I might end up a real piece of trash."
She quickly looked him over, and her gaze fell on the knives sticking out of the chair. Delia Asia Vieira did not hesitate. She held him down with one hand, and with the other, gently but firmly, slapped him. The sound was clear and loud.
The shock in Jennings' eyes turned to instant concentration. He raised the camera, and despite the pain, he fired - click! The photographer snapped the picture in an instant, waiting for his hands to stop shaking. He laughed despite the pain:
"Well, this... will be a good photo for my archive."
Delia Asia Vieira showed no reaction other than to glance towards the knives. She picked up a paper knife from a nearby table, cut the resulting photograph into small pieces and handed them to Jennings.
"Eat. It will save you," she said with cold determination.
Jennings looked at the pieces of the photograph and squinted.
"Are you serious? You want me to... eat this?" His voice was full of confusion, but not this time. He simply nodded, having made up his mind. He reached out and ate a piece of the photograph.
"Damn it, you're crazy," he muttered, but continued eating despite everything. It was strange and unpleasant, but there seemed to be some ironic logic to it.
As Delia Asia Vieira began to untie his hands, she noticed his eyes were strangely clouded, and was surprised to realize that he was starting to turn pale. Then, without warning, he grabbed her arm with such force that she didn't have time to realize what had happened. And before she could do anything, Jennings suddenly leaned forward and something strange happened - his stomach pumped, and the contents of his stomach spurted out all over her skirt.
"Oh, no!" Delia Asia Vieira exclaimed, stepping back and looking at her dress in shock. Jennings looked exhausted, but the embarrassment and apology in his eyes were clear.
"I'm sorry. It's... it's all I can do right now." He exhaled, covering his face with his hand.
Delia Asia Vieira, wasting no time in discontent, wiped her skirt and moved on alone, step by step, through the deserted corridors of the prison. Peter and Jennings were left behind, but she could not afford to stop. She knew that her path led to something important, to a riddle that she had to solve – and it did not matter with whom. This was her task, her path.
She did not feel tired, although every movement was deliberate and careful. This whole prison seemed to her like a huge labyrinth, filled with secrets and evil, but she could not give up.
Suddenly, after a few minutes of walking, her gaze fell on something strange. In one of the corridors stood a door, covered in a layer of dust, as if no one had opened it for many years. Delia Asia Vieira came closer, noticing a small grave, neatly hidden in the corner. On the tombstone was carved only one symbol - a name: Damien Thorn.
Delia Asia Vieira froze. She recognized the name. It had appeared in her thoughts many times, like part of a larger puzzle she had to solve. She had a feeling it was the key to what had happened and what might happen. Damien Thorn's grave held something more.
Deciding not to waste any time, she picked up a shovel and began digging. The ground was hard, but she knew she couldn't stop. After a few minutes, wiping sweat from her forehead, she opened a hole. A small, ominous room, full of dust and shadows, was visible through the earth. Delia Asia Vieira felt her heart skip a beat. This room was familiar.
Carefully, she went down the hole, watching every step until she was inside. Her eyes immediately focused on one detail: Richard, standing opposite Sergeant Neff. They were both in a room that looked like an old study. Richard, with sadness in his eyes, was handing Neff something in his hand. Delia Asia Vieira looked closely at the ring that Neff was accepting. The family ring, it was the ring she had seen before, when Richard had spoken of its value.
Then, right then, Delia Asia Vieira realized that she was not a bystander. This was the key she had to answer. She stepped into the room, her footsteps echoing off the empty walls. Neff turned when he saw her. He looked puzzled, but he didn't look away.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice quiet, almost a whisper.
"I want you to take me for a ride on the lake," Delia Asia Vieira replied, coming closer, her voice calm and confident despite the anxiety inside.
Neff looked puzzled, but didn't refuse. He just narrowed his eyes a little, watching her, but after a few seconds he said:
"The boat is on the lake... It's ready."
Delia Asia Vieira moved closer, feeling the tension in the air grow. She knew this was a crucial moment. The boat, the lake, the dark waters, all connected them to something greater than physical movement. This was the moment when they could make their decisions, or be held captive by unknown forces.
As they walked to the boat, Delia Asia Vieira kept her eyes on Sergeant Neff. She couldn't understand why he was so important, but she knew that his actions in the future could have a decisive impact on everything that happened.
As the boat rocked on the water, she felt her body tense. It was so close. So close to solving it.
"You know we're all connected in some way, right?" Delia Asia Vieira asked, sitting in the boat with her hands folded in her lap.
Neff, looking at the misty lake, did not answer right away. He was obviously thinking about something important. His gaze was not the same as before. He no longer looked like a simple person. There was emptiness in his eyes, but also tension, as if he himself did not know what to do next.
"I don't know what you mean," he finally answered, his voice quiet and sad. "I'm just doing what I'm told. There's too much pain around."
Delia Asia Vieira sighed and looked at his face. She could feel the tension growing between them. His silence was as heavy as the fog that hung around the lake. It was an unusual place to talk, but almost everything in her life had become like that—strange and dangerous.
She began to tease him, her voice sounding slightly mocking, as if this was just another empty conversation and not a moment of life and death.
"You're not telling me that you believe all this yourself, are you?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest and smiling. "You can't just follow someone without questioning yourself, can you? Or can't you think?"
Sergeant Neff, who was sitting opposite her, did not answer right away. He looked nervously at her face, and his eyes did not meet hers, as if he was avoiding something. He felt that Delia Asia Vieira was about to reveal his secrets, and he did not like it at all.
"I...don't want to argue with you," he finally said, his voice strained, as if he were trying to control his emotions. "Sometimes it's better to just do your job without thinking. I...I do as I'm told. All I need is the ring.
Delia Asia Vieira stood up and leaned forward, her gaze sharp as a knife. She noticed the ring Neff held in his hand, and her lips curved into a cheeky smile.
"A ring, huh? You're so proud of it. Do you want me to see it glitter on your hand, Sergeant? Are you sure this ring is yours?"
Sergeant Neff snorted and tightened his grip on the ring, trying to keep it out of her hand.
"This ring has meaning. You don't understand, it's not just a decoration. It's..." he stopped, noticing how Delia Asia Vieira was already reaching for his hand, "it's not for you. Leave him alone!"
But Delia Asia Vieira, sensing his weakness, instantly snatched the ring from his hand. Neff screamed in anger and tried to return the ring, but his movement was clumsy. He stood up in the boat to intercept it, but the boat rocked under him and he lost his balance.
Delia Asia Vieira laughed as she watched him struggle with the boat and himself. She enjoyed his insecurity and his attempts to regain control. Sergeant Neff wasn't as strong as he let on, and that was fine with her.
"Are you in such a hurry to lose everything?" she continued, not hiding her mockery.
Neff, trying to get up again, did not notice how the boat tilted, and the next moment he was falling, struggling with his balance. With an inexpressible cry he fell backwards and hit his head on the side of the boat.
The moment he tried to stand up, his body swayed again, and he lost control and fell into the cold waters of the lake. His strength was exhausted, and he didn't even have time to scream, swallowed by the muddy water.
Delia stood frozen in place, watching Neff disappear into the mist, her gaze turning cold. She didn't move, didn't try to save him. His death was his own fault. She took a step back, looking at the place where he had just been.
The boat, rocking on the water, slowly drifted across the lake. The water was calm, and only light waves touched its side. Delia Asia Vieira sat in silence, her hands clasped around Sergeant Neff's ring, but her eyes were empty. She couldn't get rid of the thoughts about what had happened, about how everything had gone wrong, as she had planned.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud splash of water. The boat rocked, and a figure emerged from the water in front of it - Richard.
He was soaking wet, his face twisted in rage. He grabbed Sergeant Neff's body, pulling him along like a sandbag, and hauled him forcefully onto the side of the boat. He looked up at Delia Asia Vieira, his eyes blazing.
"You couldn't just leave it like that, could you?" Richard hissed, shaking the water off himself. "You always ruin everything, everything! Why did you do it? Why didn't you stop?!"
Delia Asia Vieira stood there, completely still, like a statue, trying to process the words that had been thrown at her. Her eyes were cloudy, her face was blank. She couldn't say a word, she just stared at Richard, as if this moment was too much for her to process with her mind.
Richard grabbed her shoulders with a jerk, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"I chose Neff," he continued, his voice growing more furious. "I knew it would be him! And you ruined everything! Now everything that happens is your fault! You don't realize that you ruined everything! Everyone is suffering because of your mistake! Everyone!"
Every word Richard said was like a hammer blow. He spoke and she was silent, only her eyes never leaving the shadow of shock reflected in her gaze. There were no words, no excuses. Something inside her seemed to break.
"I... I could have saved him," she whispered, her voice barely audible, as if she were talking to herself. "I could have... saved him. It didn't have to end like this..."
Richard pushed her aside, his face twisted in disappointment.
"Save him? He's dead! He drowned! You can't bring him back! And you know it!"
But she didn't listen to him. Her thoughts were confused, the words thrown out by Richard disappeared in her head, and instead one thought came to the fore. I could save him... But how? How could she do it?
Delia Asia Vieira's head was spinning. There was a buzzing in her ears, a knot of anxiety in her stomach. Every time she closed her eyes, she seemed to see Sergeant Neff, still alive, holding that ring in his hands, a small smile on his lips, trying to push her hand away when she snatched the ring from him. I could have saved him, she thought over and over, trying to find an answer.
"He went to war, you understand?" Richard said quietly, his words piercing robotess's consciousness, making her freeze even more. "A lot of people were told that Neff went to war. You were probably told too, right? But no. He was in the hospital. He was in a mental hospital. He wasn't at the front. It wasn't his choice, it was all planned out...
Delia Asia Vieira closed her eyes again, trying to process all of this information. The feeling of being overwhelmed was growing, and Richard's words were echoing in her head, and her consciousness was beginning to crumble under the weight of what had happened.
"Why? Why didn't they tell me? Why didn't they tell me?" she repeated to herself over and over again, ignoring Richard, who seemed to have lost all hope.
"It doesn't matter," he said, sighing heavily, "no matter what you try, it can't be changed now. You missed your chance. He drowned. And now you're left with only this."
She was silent again, her whole being consumed by thoughts of how she could have changed everything. But she hadn't. She hadn't saved him. And she couldn't believe that her decision—that mistake she couldn't fix—had led to these consequences.
Richard, having calmed down a little, sighed, his voice became softer, but still full of despair:
"You can't save everyone. We're all playing someone else's game, and we're not always destined to be the winner."
There was a silence in the air that seemed unbearable. Delia Asia Vieira stood at the edge of the boat, her hands tightly gripping Sergeant Neff's ring, and in front of her, on the shore, stood Richard. He was wet and furious, his face twisted in anger. Every word he said tore through the air, piercing her.
"You don't understand what you've done!" Richard was literally growling, his voice sounding like he was ready to rip her apart. "He was chosen, you ruined it! You ruined it!"
Delia Asia Vieira stood silently, not looking away. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her thoughts were locked in the very point where everything had gone wrong. She felt something inside her click, like a mechanism that could no longer stay in place.
"I can't take this anymore!" Richard moved towards her, the fury in his eyes so strong that she could feel it even from a distance. "You ruined everything, you did this! You don't even understand what happened!"
Delia Asia Vieira took a step back, but her movements were calm, confident. Her gaze was empty, but in the depths of it there was some hidden, invincible fire. She was not going to give up.
Suddenly, Richard jumped on her. He was so fast that Delia Asia Vieira barely had time to react. But at that moment, her body was like a coiled spring mechanism, ready for action.
"You won't win, Richard!" she said, her voice cold but determined. She parried his attack and in an instant was one step ahead. Richard stumbled, and Delia Asia Vieira knocked him down with a few blows.
He found himself on the ground, exhausted, but his eyes still blazed with rage.
"You think you've won, huh?" Richard said through gritted teeth, his breathing heavy. "It's not over yet."
But Delia Asia Vieira did not answer. She stood over him, feeling neither joy nor pity. Something inside her felt shattered. Richard was still alive, but his anger no longer frightened her. She was no longer afraid of what he might do. Her task was accomplished.
She leaned down, reaching for his stomach, and cut it open with the knife. Blood mixed with the water, covering his clothes. Delia's heart skipped a beat as something dark and slimy slid out of his body, a long-forgotten body. The corpse of Sergeant Neff, who had been hidden inside Richard's body, was now on the surface.
She stepped back, feeling cold sweat trickle down her forehead. At first, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. All those moments, all that struggle, all those strange, painful experiences came crashing down on her, and she felt something inside her break. She lowered the knife, barely keeping herself from crying.
Sergeant Neff's corpse lay before her, his face now calm, as if at rest. But there was no peace in the robotess's heart.
She knelt down next to him, her eyes filling with tears.
"Forgive me..." her voice is barely audible. "I could have saved you. I could, but... I couldn't. I did it, but... it wasn't right. Forgive me. Forgive me."
She took his hands, and for a moment regret flashed in her eyes, deep and immeasurable. Everything she had gone through, all that struggle, all those mistakes and senseless actions... it all didn't matter anymore. Sergeant Neff's corpse was before her, and in his dead gaze she felt the weight of her guilt.
She stood up and turned, not looking back at Richard, who was now lying on the ground, almost dead. She no longer cared about him. He was a part of her past, like so many others, but his time was over. She couldn't save him, and now she had to leave him behind.