Ethan moved without hesitation, his steps controlled, his breathing even. Lyra followed, her fingers hovering near her weapon, but she didn't draw. Not yet. The man led them deeper into the abandoned server room, past flickering monitors and outdated machinery that still hummed with activity. Every part of Ethan's instincts screamed that this was a trap, but he ignored it. He needed answers.
The man stopped in front of a reinforced door, a biometric scanner blinking beside it. He pressed his palm against the panel, and the door hissed open. Beyond it, the space was different. Sleek. Modern. Unlike the decayed remnants outside, this was active, functional. Someone had been maintaining it.
Ethan's jaw tightened. "Who are you working for?"
The man stepped inside, waiting for them to follow. "Not everything has an easy answer, Ethan."
Ethan didn't move. "Try me."
The man studied him for a moment, then sighed. "I was part of Project Requiem before it was shut down. When they failed to erase you, I knew they wouldn't stop until they understood why. Someone needed to stay inside, to watch, to make sure when they tried again, you had a chance to fight back."
Lyra's voice was sharp. "So you let them erase him over and over?"
The man's gaze flicked to her. "It wasn't my call. And every time he came back, I was the one making sure he remembered."
Ethan's mind raced, pieces clicking into place. The gaps in his memory, the moments where things didn't line up. The times he felt like he had already lived through something before. It wasn't paranoia. It was real.
His voice was low. "How many times?"
The man hesitated. "Seven."
The number hit harder than Ethan expected. He had died seven times. Erased. Wiped from existence. And yet, somehow, he had returned.
Lyra's fingers curled into fists. "And now what? You want us to trust you?"
The man didn't flinch. "No. I want you to survive."
Ethan exhaled through his nose. "Why now? Why let me remember this time?"
The man's expression darkened. "Because this time, they're not just trying to erase you." He turned toward a central terminal, tapping a few keys. A screen flickered to life, revealing a list of names. Ethan's stomach turned cold.
Lyra's voice was barely a whisper. "These are all… anomalies."
The man nodded. "And they're all scheduled for erasure."
Ethan's name was at the top of the list. But for the first time, he wasn't alone.