The underground lab was dimly lit, the hum of machines filling the silence. A large monitor flickered with NASA's archived data, and Dr. Voss stood in front of it, explaining something to Kai.
Kai, leaning on the desk, furrowed his brows. "So, if the Initiative used quantum entanglement to manipulate planetary signals, they could technically—"
"—Override NASA's detection systems and make an artificial signal seem extraterrestrial," Voss finished. He adjusted his glasses, his voice calm but firm. "Which means they could fake an alien invasion if they had the right technology."
Kai let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's terrifying."
Across the room, Zane was slouched on a chair, snoring lightly. Ezra and Mira sat nearby, deep in conversation about something unrelated.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Elias sat on the floor, his back against the cold steel wall. His body still felt heavy, his mind clouded with everything that had happened.
Sienna sat beside him, close enough that their arms almost touched. Her gaze was soft, but her voice carried a quiet weight.
"I lost my parents to the Initiative's invasion," she said, breaking the silence.
Elias turned to her, surprised.
She let out a small sigh, her fingers tracing invisible patterns on the floor. "It wasn't real aliens. The Initiative made it happen. They wiped out entire cities just to gain control. My mom and dad were in one of those cities."
Elias swallowed. "I'm sorry."
Sienna glanced at him, her expression unreadable. "What about you?"
He hesitated before answering. "I never really had a mom. She died in a car accident when I was a kid. But my dad and I survived."
Sienna tilted her head slightly. "He must've been strong, raising you alone."
Elias gave a weak smile. "Yeah. He was." But something in his chest twisted, like a memory just out of reach.
"You know Sienna, i've been thinking about something"
"Go ahead, Elias."
"Why have you been so kind to me since the very beginning ?"
"What do you mean, Elias?"
"It's just that… you remember when i got transported to your room outta nowhere"
"Haha, yes why wouldn't I. You looked so cute while you were shocked"
"WERE YOU EVEN ABLE TO SEE MY EXPRESSION I WOKE UP AND GOT SHOCKED BEFORE YOU WOKE UP, I EVEN RAN"
"I KNOW RIGHT, BUT I SAW YOUR CUTE EXPRESSION, IT WAS SO CUTE."
"OKAY, NOW THIS IS GETTING EMBARRASSING, Ima get straight to the point, why didn't you like suspect me or like feel uncomfortable around me like i was a stranger to you right? NOW DON'T TELL ME THAT YOU ARE OK WITH STRANGERS IN YOUR BE-"
"LMAO ELIAS NO- CHILL, ITS ACTUALLY… UMM HOW DO I SAY IT"
"SAY WHAT SIENNA, SAY IT QUICK"
"It's just that… I felt like home when I was with you."
"What… I mean how and why?"
"I don't know honestly… but those 5 seconds when I saw you in bed with me… They felt more real to me then my entire life before i met you"
"Sienna.. You know what"
"Yes, Elias ?" she said as her heartbeats increased.
"No matter how many worlds I stand between, you will always be the one… I belong to."
"Elias… "
"Sienna.. I-"
Sienna leaned towards Elias…
That's when Zane suddenly woke up with a loud groan.
"Ugh—OH MY GOD," he dramatically pointed at Sienna and Elias. "LOVELY-DOVEY BIRDS IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS?!"
Ezra rolled his eyes. "Zane, shut up."
Everyone laughed.
As the laughter died down, Elias suddenly sat up straighter. His expression turned serious.
"Okay," he said. "Let's stop and figure out what's actually happening here."
Everyone turned toward him.
"I'm from 2030," he continued. "And the year in this world is 2030 too. So, I'm not from the past. Which means… either I'm from a different universe or a different timeline."
Dr. Voss nodded, intrigued. "We'll need to run a full body scan. If you were from another universe, your atomic structure would show distortions. If you're from another timeline, the results will be different."
"Different how?" Kai asked.
Voss adjusted his glasses. "If he's from another timeline but still in the same world, his body should still match the quantum frequency of this Earth, which actually does as per the the records from the Initiative's HQ but still we would just do it to confirm everything."
Elias took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do it."
Voss gestured toward a sleek metallic tube across the room.
"Lay down in there."
Elias hesitated but then walked over and stepped inside. The tube slid shut with a soft hiss.
Three hours later, the machine beeped.
Voss stepped forward, analyzing the results. His expression remained calm at first—but then his eyebrows furrowed.
He stared at the screen for a long moment.
"Well?" Elias asked, sitting up.
Voss exhaled. "Your body is definitely in the same universe but in a different timeline."
Elias frowned. "Huff, alright at least we got that clear."
Voss muttered "Your body also seems to… draw power from both the past and future at the same time. That's something I can't explain yet. And not even just the past and future, it kinda does from every string in this universe too."
But then his gaze darkened.
"And there's one more thing."
Elias tensed. "…What?"
Voss turned to him. "Elias, how old did you say you were?"
Elias blinked. "Uh. Seventeen."
Voss stared at him. "Try again."
Elias hesitated. "…Okay, fine. I faked my age to get into the school. I'm actually twenty o—"
Voss suddenly turned the monitor toward him.
The data on the screen showed one single number.
∞
Infinity.
The room went silent.
"What… the fuck?" Zane whispered.
Elias' stomach turned. "That… has to be a mistake."
Voss shook his head. "The system can't be wrong."
Kai swallowed. "Does that mean… you don't have an age or something?"
Elias felt his hands tremble. "No. That's impossible."
But no matter how much he denied it—
The machine said what it said.
Elias took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's focus on what we can control."
"If both this world and my world are the same, then the event that made this timeline go bad was three years ago—the alien invasion caused by the Initiative."
Voss nodded. "Which means, if we stop it—"
"We stop the Initiative from ever taking over," Elias finished.
Everyone exchanged looks.
Mira crossed her arms. "But how the hell are we gonna time travel?"
Voss turned to Elias. "With your abilities and our technology combined… we can build a time machine."
Zane let out a breath. "We're actually doing this?"
Kai grinned. "Hell yeah, we are."
Voss nodded. "We'll need three days to complete it."
Elias clenched his fists. "Then let's do it."
Day One of the Plan.
Elias stood in front of the holographic blueprint of the Initiative's main facility. A massive underground fortress, hidden beneath an abandoned metropolis. The time machine they needed to build wasn't going to work unless they had one key component—the Quantum Anchor Core.
And it was locked deep inside the Initiative's most secure vault.
Voss zoomed in on the hologram. "The security here is insane. Infrared sensors, biometric locks, AI surveillance drones… And let's not forget the squad of augmented super-soldiers patrolling every entrance."
Zane whistled. "So we're breaking into the sci-fi version of Fort Knox?"
"Essentially," Voss muttered.
Mira leaned back against the table, crossing her arms. "And how the hell are we supposed to pull this off?"
Elias stepped forward, his voice steady. "We have three days before the Initiative launches their final phase. That means we have one shot to steal the Quantum Anchor Core, build the machine, and fix this whole mess."
Ezra frowned. "And if we fail?"
Elias exhaled. "Then this timeline is locked forever. No more second chances."
Silence.
Then Kai grinned. "Well, shit. Guess we better not fail, huh?"
Step One: Getting Inside the Facility
The first problem? The Initiative's outer defenses.
The facility was surrounded by a 30-foot reinforced concrete wall, covered in motion sensors, laser turrets, and AI-controlled guard towers.
Elias, Kai, Zane, and Sienna crouched behind an abandoned train station a few hundred yards away, watching through binoculars. The night air was cold, and the smell of rust filled the air.
"We need a way past that wall," Elias muttered.
Sienna pointed. "There. Underground tunnels. If we follow the old sewer system, we can get inside without setting off any alarms."
Zane grimaced. "Ugh. We're really gonna crawl through a sewer?"
Kai smirked. "What, scared of a little shit, Zane?"
"I'm scared of drowning in it, dumbass."
Elias ignored them. "Alright. We go in through the tunnels. Once we're inside, we need to move fast."
Ezra's voice crackled through their earpieces. "Heads up, guys. I hacked into the Initiative's patrol routes. You have a five-minute window before the next drone sweep."
Elias nodded. "Then let's move."
They sprinted toward the tunnel entrance, disappearing into the darkness.
Step Two: The Underground Gauntlet
The tunnels were worse than expected. Flooded, rusted, and crawling with bio-mechanical drones.
The first few hundred feet were manageable—just tight corridors and the occasional rat. But soon, they encountered the Initiative's subterranean security system.
Sienna froze. "Tripwires. Laser-triggered. One wrong step and we're dead."
Zane sighed. "I fucking hate this place."
Kai smirked. "Good thing I came prepared." He pulled out a small device, flicking a switch. A faint electromagnetic pulse pulsed through the tunnel, deactivating the sensors for exactly three seconds.
"Move. Now," Elias ordered.
They bolted.
The moment they crossed the line, the lasers flickered back on.
Zane let out a breath. "Holy shit, that was close."
But before they could relax—
CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.
The sound of heavy metal footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
Sienna whispered, "Drones incoming."
A mechanical hunter-bot crawled into view, its glowing red eye scanning the darkness. It was shaped like a human torso fused with a spider, its limbs twitching unnaturally.
It stopped.
Turned its head toward them.
And screeched.
"RUN!" Elias yelled.
They sprinted through the tunnels as the drone unleashed a barrage of energy rounds, blasting through concrete like paper.
Zane yanked a flash grenade from his belt and hurled it backward. BOOM!
The explosion sent the drone crashing into the wall, giving them just enough time to slide into a maintenance hatch.
They slammed the door shut, panting.
Kai grinned. "Well. That was fun."
Elias shot him a glare. "Shut the fuck up, Kai."
Step Three: Reaching the Vault
After navigating the tunnels, they finally reached the main underground chamber—a vast, open space filled with Initiative tech, towering storage crates, and heavily armed guards.
And at the center of it all?
A reinforced steel vault, marked with the symbol of the Initiative.
Inside was their target.
Elias pulled out his earpiece. "Ezra, we're in position."
Ezra's voice crackled through. "Copy that. I'm disabling the security grid now. You'll have sixty seconds before the failsafe kicks in."
Elias nodded. "Let's move."
They darted across the room, using the shadows for cover. The guards patrolled in synchronized patterns—one mistake, and they'd be surrounded.
Sienna pulled out a tranquilizer gun, silently taking out two guards.
Zane and Kai dragged the unconscious bodies into a storage crate.
Elias reached the vault door and placed the hacking device on the panel.
"40 seconds," Ezra warned.
The device blinked red, then yellow—then green.
"20 seconds."
The vault clicked.
Elias swung the door open—and there it was.
The Quantum Anchor Core.
A glowing, crystalline structure, pulsing with unstable energy.
"We got it," Elias whispered.
But before they could grab it—
ALARM TRIGGERED.
Red warning lights flooded the vault, painting everything in eerie crimson. The air was suddenly thick with a mechanical whirring—defense turrets emerging from the ceiling, locking onto their targets.
"Shit—GET DOWN!" Elias yelled.
A rain of bullets and energy rounds tore through the air.
Zane dove behind a crate. "WELL, THAT DIDN'T GO AS PLANNED."
Sienna hissed, pressing her back against the vault. "What the hell triggered the failsafe? Ezra, I thought you disabled it!"
Ezra's voice crackled in through their earpieces, filled with static.
"Something's wrong—there's a secondary security system I couldn't access. It manually reboots when the vault is opened. I can shut down the outer alarms, but you've got company incoming."
Footsteps. Heavy boots.
The sound of dozens of guards storming toward them.
Elias' mind raced. They couldn't get trapped here.
He turned to Kai. "Grab the Quantum Anchor. We're fighting our way out."
Kai hesitated. "You mean while dodging a literal army?"
Elias pulled his weapon from his belt. His eyes were cold.
"Exactly."
The first wave of Initiative guards flooded the chamber, rifles raised.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER."
"Yeah, how about NO?" Kai smirked—and flung a flashbang.
BOOM! White light exploded through the vault, sending the guards stumbling back.
Elias and Sienna rushed forward.
Sienna: A spinning kick to one guard's face—he went down instantly.
Elias: A gunshot to another's knee—down but not dead.
Kai: Dual-wielding plasma daggers, slicing through the chaos.
Zane: He just straight-up tackled a guy into a metal panel.
The second wave poured in.
Too many.
Elias gritted his teeth.
And then—
The walls began to shake.
A deep, inhuman growl echoed through the facility.
Zane stopped mid-punch. "Uh. What was that?"
Elias turned just in time to see—
A steel containment door in the vault cracking open.
The temperature dropped. The air felt charged.
And then—
It stepped out.
It was massive.
The same monster who attacked Elias in the cafeteria, who was later captured by the initiatives.
Metal-plated arms with hydraulic strength.
Glowing veins, pulsing with raw energy.
Eyes—empty, yet filled with rage.
A weaponized monster.
And it was staring right at Elias.
For a moment, the two just looked at each other.
Elias didn't hesitate. He tossed his gun to the ground and took a step forward.
The monster snarled, raising a massive claw.
Kai flinched. "Elias. Buddy. Bad idea—"
But Elias spoke, his voice calm.
"They did this to you, didn't they?"
The monster froze.
Something in Elias' words hit deep.
The guards hesitated, unsure whether to attack.
And then—
Elias extended his hand.
"Help us take them down."
The monster's fingers twitched.
And then—it turned.
And attacked the guards instead.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
The Initiative guards opened fire on both Elias' team and the monster.
But the monster moved like a force of nature.
It ripped through the enemies—smashing them into walls, hurling them like ragdolls.
Elias and the others took the chance to fight their way out.
Zane grinned. "I LOVE THIS THING."
Kai slashed through another enemy. "LET'S GO, LET'S GO!"
Sienna grabbed the Quantum Anchor.
The entire chamber was collapsing from the sheer destruction.
Ezra's voice screamed through their comms: "YOU NEED TO GET OUT, NOW!"
Elias turned back—to see the monster still fighting.
He yelled, "Come with us!"
But the monster hesitated.
And then—it ran in the opposite direction.
Straight toward another corridor.
Straight toward freedom.
For the first time in who knows how long—it was running for itself.
Elias felt a pang of something in his chest.
But they didn't have time.
Dr. Voss' voice came in through the earpiece.
"Teleportation in 5 seconds. Get ready."
The world around them blurred.
The last thing Elias saw—
Was the monster vanishing into the shadows.
And then—
A figure stepped into the ruined battlefield.
Dressed in black tactical gear. A sleek, futuristic mask covering their face.
The Hidden Phoenix.
They stood still, watching the destruction.
And then—they turned.
To the monster.
The monster had barely made it to the next room before it stopped.
Frozen.
It sensed something.
Something more terrifying than the Initiative.
The Hidden Phoenix raised their hand—
And energy chains erupted from their fingertips.
The monster struggled—but it was over.
Dr. Voss' voice echoed through the comms.
"Target secured. Returning to base."
The screen flickered again—
And then—
They were gone.
After they went back to Dr. Voss's main lab, they handed the anchor over to him and then they proceeded to build the Time Machine.
March 19, 2030 – The Night Before the Mission
Inside the underground lab, the atmosphere was tense but electric with anticipation. The hum of machines filled the air as holograms flickered across multiple floating screens.
Dr. Voss, standing in the center of the lab, turned toward Elias. His sharp, calculating eyes reflected the data scrolling in front of him.
"Tomorrow, we execute the most dangerous mission of our lives." His voice was steady, but the weight of his words settled over everyone like a storm.
Zane scoffed, leaning against a metal console. "'Most dangerous?' Man, everything we do is dangerous."
Kai sat on a nearby table, flipping a combat knife between his fingers. "Yeah, but this time, we're literally breaking into the heart of the Ascendancy Initiative… three years in the past. Not exactly a casual heist."
Elias exhaled slowly, gripping the edge of the table.
"We have no choice." His voice was firm. "We need to know exactly how this all started. If we don't—"
Dr. Voss interrupted, nodding. "The world stays in chains."
The room fell into a brief silence.
Then, the fifth member of their team spoke up.
A man in his mid-thirties, wearing a slightly wrinkled lab coat, adjusted his glasses. He had messy dark brown hair and tired green eyes, clearly someone who had spent more time around quantum calculations than actual people.
"Time travel is an insanely delicate thing," he muttered, rubbing his temples. "If we screw up even a fraction of a second, we could cause an anomaly so catastrophic it would erase us before we even realize what happened."
Dr. Voss turned toward Elias. "That's why we're using you."
Elias tensed slightly. "Because of my power."
The scientist with glasses—Dr. Callum Richter—nodded. "Your body is already 'traveling' through time second by second like every human being. But you… You have something different."
Kai smirked. "He can skip through time like a playlist."
Callum shot him a glare. "It's more complex than that." He turned back to Elias. "Your natural time progression is… adaptable. And by studying how your body moves through time, we've created a stabilization algorithm."
Zane whistled. "In other words… you're our anchor."
Elias clenched his fists. "And we're aiming for March 20, 2027. The day before the apocalypse begins."
Dr. Voss crossed his arms. "The exact day the Ascendancy Initiative finalized its control over the world."
Kai's expression darkened. "And the day everything went to hell."
The weight of it settled over them again.
Elias looked at all of them—his team, his only real family in this broken world.
Then he took a deep breath.
"We leave at dawn."
6:03 A.M. – Underground Lab, Teleportation Chamber
Elias stepped onto the circular platform, the metallic surface buzzing faintly under his feet. The entire time machine structure was wired into the underground lab's systems, glowing with an eerie blue-white energy.
Callum checked his tablet, muttering to himself as numbers flickered across the screen. "Coordinates locked. Time vector stabilized. Tachyon displacement at 0.002%—acceptable margin."
Dr. Voss adjusted his wrist device. "We'll have exactly 2 hours in the past before the system forces us back. No second chances."
Zane cracked his knuckles. "Then we better make it count."
Kai smirked, rolling his shoulders. "Can't wait to steal from the past."
Elias just focused. His heart pounded in his chest. Three years ago. He had to see it for himself.
"Engaging sequence."
The room shook as the time machine roared to life. The lights flickered, and a powerful gravitational force pulled at Elias' body—
Then—
A blinding flash.
6:04 A.M. – March 20, 2027 – The Initiative HQ
The five of them materialized inside a maintenance tunnel.
The first thing Elias noticed was the air. It was different. Cleaner. Less heavy. Like the weight of the apocalypse hadn't settled over the world yet.
Dr. Voss checked his device. "We're in. Systems say we're exactly where we planned."
Zane grinned. "Damn. Time travel's kinda fun."
Kai elbowed him. "Don't jinx it."
Elias took a deep breath. "Alright. Everyone knows their roles." He turned to each of them.
Voss and Callum → Secure the data logs from the Initiative's servers.
Zane and Kai → Infiltrate the weapons research sector.
Elias → Locate classified government files.
They all nodded. No words were needed.
The mission had begun.
Till now they all just saw the map of this whole place which they got through the spy, but now they were in that place.
Elias in the search of the files, found a room where there were a lots of data stored which wasnt written in a human language and in that room he heard a roar and felt a hard wind blow, there he saw a huge chamber too.
But he preferred not focussing on that room much since it could have creatures which he would'nt want to see.
They all kept looking for what they came here to get.
But,
6:39 A.M. – March 20, 2027 – Initiative HQ, Control Room
The Hidden Phoenix sat slumped in his chair, his breaths slow and strained. Sweat dripped from his forehead, staining the pristine white fabric of his uniform. His body was heavy, his limbs sluggish.
The exhaustion was beyond physical—it was absolute.
His head throbbed. His muscles ached like his very bones were rejecting him. He could barely move.
He had pushed himself too far. Again.
Yet, his mind never stopped working. Never.
His half-lidded eyes flickered over the holographic screens before him. Security feeds showed the Initiative's pristine halls, the clean, white corridors stretching into endless symmetry.
For now, all was calm.
Then—
An alert flashed red.
⚠ UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED – WEST WING MAINTENANCE TUNNELS
His breath hitched.
His fingers trembled as he pressed a command on the interface. Surveillance feed – ON.
The screen flickered.
Five figures moved in perfect coordination, slipping through the shadows. The moment he saw them, his body went cold.
Voss.
Callum Richter.
Zane Calloway.
Kai Mercer.
And in the lead—
Elias Moreau.
The screen blurred for a second. His vision was fading again. His body was rejecting him—screaming at him to stop.
But he couldn't stop.
His fingers clenched into fists.
"They're here."
He forced himself upright, his body screaming in protest.
⚠ ALERT LEVEL: MAXIMUM SECURITY
⚠ ALL UNITS, FIND THEM NOW.
The loudspeakers crackled to life.
His voice came through the entire facility, low, strained, and filled with quiet fury.
"We have intruders. Secure every sector. Now."
6:45 A.M. – Initiative HQ, Lower Levels
Elias heard the alarm before he saw the flashing red lights.
"Shit."
Dr. Voss's voice crackled through their earpieces. "They know. Get what you need, then get out. No hesitation."
Zane cursed. "We're moving."
Elias ran.
The hallways stretched before him in a blur of white walls, metallic doors, and red emergency strobes. His breath was steady, his movements calculated. He had done too many missions like this to make mistakes.
But something was wrong.
A presence.
A predator.
Elias skidded to a stop, pressing his back against the wall. His instincts screamed. He wasn't alone.
Then, from the far end of the hall—
A shadow moved.
Slow. Unsteady. Almost limping.
Elias' eyes widened slightly. He knew that posture. That presence.
Then—
The Hidden Phoenix stepped into the light.
And Elias felt his blood run cold.
He looked horrible.
His usually perfectly controlled stance was slightly unbalanced. His face was pale, his body barely holding itself together.
Yet—
His eyes burned with unrelenting fire.
For a moment, they just stared at each other.
"…You."
Elias barely breathed the word.
The Hidden Phoenix's eyes flickered, a strange emotion passing through them.
Then—
He moved.
Faster than exhaustion should have allowed.
Faster than logic.
Elias barely had time to react before the Hidden Phoenix was on him.
6:50 A.M. – Initiative HQ, Central Research Sector
Elias crashed through a glass window, rolling onto the cold steel floor of the research lab. Pain exploded through his body, but he didn't stop moving.
The Hidden Phoenix stepped through the shattered glass with slow, precise movements. His exhaustion was still there—Elias could see it.
But the man refused to fall.
"You don't understand what you're doing." The Hidden Phoenix's voice was low, ragged.
Elias gritted his teeth. "I understand enough."
A flicker of something unreadable passed through the Hidden Phoenix's expression.
Then—
The floor beneath Elias shifted.
A metallic panel opened beneath him, and before he could react—
A machine rose from the ground.
A massive circular construct, made of dark, pulsing energy. A gravitational field twisted the air around it.
Elias' stomach dropped.
He had no idea what this thing was.
A scientist—a stranger in a lab coat—rose from the hidden compartment below, standing on a hovering platform.
And then, the machine started pulling him in.
A void.
A vortex.
Elias fought it.
He dug his fingers into the metal floor, gritting his teeth.
The Hidden Phoenix moved instantly.
A blur.
His hand shot out—
He almost grabbed Elias' wrist.
Their eyes met.
And in that split second, Elias finally saw it.
The look in his eyes.
The exhaustion.
The desperation.
The fear.
"D—Dad?"
And then—
He lost his grip.
The vortex swallowed him whole.
The last thing he heard was the Hidden Phoenix's voice.
A single, ragged, broken word—
"NO."
Elias was falling.
Falling into nothing.
The world around him wasn't black. It wasn't even a color. It was an absence. A place where time bled, where light curled and twisted before vanishing into itself.
The void screamed.
Not with sound, but with memories.
His past. His present. His possible futures. They flickered in and out of existence—thousands, millions, infinite possibilities collapsing and reforming in an endless cycle.
And then—
His body shattered.
Not his flesh. Something deeper.
His soul.
It tore apart like fragile glass, splitting into three, each fragment spiraling into a different timeline.
And as he broke—
He forgot.
March 21, 2027 – Another timeline, Military Base.
The first fragment fell into fire.
He hit the ground hard, his body slamming against cracked pavement. Smoke choked the air, and distant gunfire echoed across the ruined cityscape.
Men in military uniforms surrounded him, their rifles raised.
One of them, a commander with a scar across his jaw, stepped forward. His expression was cold, assessing.
"Who the hell are you?"
Elias tried to speak. But—
His mind was blank. Who was he?
He knew… nothing.
His memories were gone.
The commander narrowed his eyes. "No ID. No tags. You're either a survivor… or a spy."
The soldier next to him, a younger man with tired blue eyes, scoffed. "Doubt he's a spy. He looks like he barely knows where he is."
The commander didn't lower his weapon. "What's your name, kid?"
Elias opened his mouth—nothing came out.
He didn't know.
The soldier sighed. "He needs a name, doesn't he?"
The commander hesitated. Then he nodded. "Fine."
Later.
"What's your name?" Reis asked as they moved towards the armored trucks.
The boy hesitated, as if the question was foreign to him. "I don't know," he admitted.
"Then I'll call you Felix," Reis decided, gripping his shoulder.
"Let's survive together."
And just like that—
Elias Moreau was gone.
Only Felix remained.
March 21, 2027 – Another Timeline, in an ally.
The second fragment fell into warmth.
He woke up in a storm, in an allay, the scent of rain filling the air.
A boy—with sharp yet tired eyes—stood over him, arms crossed. His gaze was wary but not unkind.
"…You good?"
Elias blinked slowly. His head throbbed. Where was he?
The boy sighed. "You are passed out in an alley. I ain't gonna leave you there. But I'm not running a charity either."
Elias tried to sit up, but his body was too weak.
The boy studied him for a moment, then muttered, "My name is Ren Nakamura, what's yours ?"
He paused.
Then, with an almost reluctant softness, he said—
"El-"
"Who am I"
"Is your name Elio?"
And once again—
Elias Moreau was no more.
Only Elio remained.
March 23, 2027 – Another Timeline, Inside a hospital.
The final fragment fell into silence.
He woke up on a cold, metallic floor.
His vision swam as he struggled to sit up, every part of his body aching. Something felt wrong.
Then—
A shadow moved.
A man stood over him, tall and worn by time. His face was eerily familiar—older, sharper.
His eyes held guilt.
Deep, unbearable guilt.
Elias' breath hitched as the man spoke.
"…I'm sorry."
The voice sent a chill down his spine.
It was his own.
Older. More tired. More broken.
"…Your mother didn't make it, Elias."
"Dad..?"
And for the third and final time—
Elias Moreau forgot who he was.
But this time—
He didn't become someone else.
He became a mystery.
He became Elias.
End of Chapter 4-CD.