There was no night inside the Vasena underground facility. There was no morning either. Only a cycle of white lights shifting in slow gradients, trying to imitate the passing of time yet failing to create any true sense of it.
Ryu opened his eyes on the thin bed in his room. The space felt like a medical isolation box, too clean, too silent, too sterile. The white walls rejected shadows, as if the room denied the existence of darkness. He sat up slowly, letting his feet touch the cold floor. His mind still felt hollow from the events of the previous night.
Sector D Three. The words circled his thoughts like an unfamiliar fingerprint. Before he could settle into the feeling, the door slid open without a knock. Without waiting. It moved with precise timing, like everything in Vasena.
Arvis stood in the doorway. His face remained still, yet a thin tension pressed at the edges of his expression. "Ryu. Today you begin full orientation." Ryu nodded once. "Alright." "And before you ask," Arvis continued while stepping into the hall, "yes. There will be follow up examinations regarding last night."
Ryu tried to steady his breath. "Was the machine supposed to display text during the evaluation." Arvis stopped and turned his head slightly. "No." His tone was flat and sharp. "The machine is not designed to display any text during the spiral test. Especially not personal text." "Then why did it happen." "Because something is present that should not exist," Arvis said, meeting Ryu's eyes. "And there are only two possible triggers."
Ryu waited. "First, a system error. Extremely unlikely." "And the second." Arvis lowered his gaze a fraction. "A subject whose brain pattern does not match the machine's design."
Ryu felt his body tense. "As if the machine cannot read me." "No," Arvis said. "As if you are reading the machine." Silence formed between them like a barrier. Arvis turned away. "Follow me. Your schedule is waiting."
They entered a large room filled with neatly arranged tables and chairs. Eight children sat inside, all around Ryu's age. Their heads turned the moment he walked in. Only for a second. But long enough for Ryu to understand that the name Alverion had already traveled through the facility.
A pale blond boy whispered to his friend. "That is him. The official's son." His friend hissed softly. "Do not say that out loud."
Another child stared too long before looking away with an expression that mixed fear and curiosity.
Ryu lowered his eyes. He wanted no trouble. In the corner, Aki, the boy he had seen before, gave a small nod. It was neither friendly nor warm, yet it felt like someone offering a stable foothold during an earthquake.
Ryu returned the gesture. Arvis moved to the center of the room. "Listen," he said. "You are no longer district students. You are candidates for a national project. Every action will be recorded, analyzed, and reported."
The children remained silent. "From today, you will be trained by seven top tier instructors hired directly by the dominion."
A boy raised his hand. "Which instructor first." Arvis looked at him. "The one in charge of mental stability." Ryu already knew the answer. "Me," Arvis said. "Upstairs."
The second floor was colder and quieter. Cameras watched from every corner. Arvis opened a circular room with smooth white walls marked by thin pulse like lines. Two chairs sat in the center. One for Ryu. One for Arvis.
"Sit." Ryu sat. Arvis sat across from him and rested a small tablet on his knee. "Ryu, do you know what abnormal calmness means. The term the system mentioned last night."
"No."
"It means your body does not respond to threat the way a normal human body does."
"Because of shock." "No," Arvis said. "Shock causes trembling, panic, loss of control. You experienced none of that."
Ryu lowered his head. He did not know what he was supposed to feel. When he remembered last night, he only remembered emptiness.
"Children who lose a parent usually break down," Arvis said. Ryu gripped the fabric of his pants. "I could not cry." "That is not your fault," Arvis replied. "Your brain processes danger and emotion differently."
He tapped the tablet. Images of human expressions appeared. "Identify the emotions." "Sad," Ryu said. "Angry." "Happy." He paused at the fourth image. A woman looking sideways with a guarded expression. "She is hiding something."
Arvis stopped typing. "That is not a common answer." "It is what I see." Arvis leaned in slightly. "That is meta level observation. Most people cannot detect masking behavior."
He dimmed the lights until only a circle of brightness remained. "Now for instinct. I will make sounds from four directions. Identify the source." Arvis knocked. "Front right."
He pressed the chair. "Rear left." He slid a table. "Front left."
Arvis watched him closely. "You did not turn your head or shift your eyes. You reacted with your hand only."
Ryu heard no admiration in the voice. Only caution. Then Arvis asked, "Ryu, have you ever sensed something before it happened."
Ryu froze. "No. What do you mean." "Think."
Ryu remembered the heaviness he felt before he found his father. The sense that something was wrong before he touched the door.
"You possess predictive instinct," Arvis said. "Not a prophecy. A pattern recognition ahead of awareness." Ryu whispered, "I did not know." "You would not," Arvis replied. "You were born with it." "Did my father know." "Yes. And that is why he was afraid."
The session ended. Ryu waited alone in the hallway. The ceiling light flickered softly. In the short flicker he saw a hooded figure standing at the far end of the hall. Still. Watching.
The light steadied. The figure vanished.
"Ryu." Arvis approached. "No," Ryu said quickly. "No one was here." Arvis studied his expression but said nothing.
Arvis brought up a three dimensional map of the Vasena facility. Sectors A, B, C, D, and E appeared in clean geometric form. Except one.
"Sectors are complete," Arvis said.
Ryu pointed. "Sector D Three is missing."
Arvis lowered his voice. "It was erased five years ago. On the same day a major incident occurred."
A cold shiver climbed Ryu's spine. "What does it have to do with me." Arvis held his gaze. "The message last night did not come from Vasena. It came from someone who should not exist." A large screen lit up without command. Text appeared in clean white letters. Ryu Alverion. We are not finished. N V
Ryu stopped breathing for a moment. Arvis stepped back, his face pale. "This is impossible." Ryu turned to him. "Arvis. Who is N V." Arvis closed his eyes briefly before answering.
"That name is sealed by the government."
Ryu steadied his voice. "Did he kill my father." "No," Arvis said. "He is more dangerous than that." "How dangerous." Arvis moved closer. "N V worked with your father. And he was the only person with clearance for Sector D Three."
Ryu fell silent. His heartbeat filled his ears.
The ceiling lights flickered again. In that split second, a hooded figure appeared behind Arvis. When the lights steadied, the figure was gone.
Arvis turned quickly. Nothing. He looked at Ryu with a grave expression. "Ryu. You have drawn the attention of someone who should not exist."