I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. The revelation that I was the mastermind behind Project Elysium was crushing. I stumbled backward, my mind reeling with questions and emotions.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as the weight of my reality settled in. I thought about all the lives I'd manipulated, all the suffering I'd caused. The sadness was overwhelming, threatening to consume me.
I remembered the faces of the patients, the ones I'd "treated" with cruel experiments. Their screams echoed in my mind, haunting me. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of guilt and regret.
My older self stood before me, a mixture of sadness and pity in their eyes. "I'm sorry," they said, their voice barely above a whisper. "I never wanted it to come to this."
I shook my head, unable to process the enormity of my actions. "Why?" I whispered, my voice cracking with emotion. "Why did I do this?"
My older self's expression was a mask of sorrow. "You were trying to find a way out, a way to break free from the cycle. But you got lost in the process."
The sadness in their eyes was palpable, and for a moment, I felt a pang of sympathy for the person I used to be. But it was overshadowed by the crushing weight of my guilt.
I felt like I was staring into the abyss, with no safety net to catch me. The truth was too much to bear. I was the monster I'd been trying to escape.
As the reality of my situation sunk in, I felt myself slipping away, consumed by the darkness that had driven me for so long. The last thing I remembered was the sound of my own screams, echoing through the empty halls of my mind.