Two years had passed since Youri was thrown into the Institute of Potential. In that time, Knox had performed so many experiments on him that Youri no longer had any tears left to shed. Every week, Knox would grind his tools into some part of his body and leave him unable to move for days afterward. The only thing that kept him sane through all of it were the late-night talks with his old friend Flavio.
Every night, Flavio told him about his adventures in space — the places he had been and the strange wonders the universe kept hidden. He was the first person ever to tell Youri about the Baraka Rings, which he described as relics of no known age, so ancient that myths about their purpose had spread across whole galaxies. Those nights meant everything to Youri. They were tiny sparks of light at the bottom of the pit he lived in, and he kept every word of them, the way he kept everything now.
But luck rarely stays for long. One day, when Andy dragged Flavio back to his cell after another experiment, something was wrong. His head was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, and when he finally came to, he got up slowly, like someone waking into a world he did not recognize.
"Hey, Flavio," Youri called. "Are you all right?"
Flavio jerked back. "Who are you!? Leave me alone!"
Youri froze. "It's me — Youri. Your friend. What happened in there?"
Flavio scratched at his cheek, dazed and unfocused. "I don't know you. Don't bother me." And he turned his back, curled up on the cold floor, and tried to sleep.
Youri sank down onto the ground with a hollow feeling in his chest. His only friend, the one person who had kept him going all this time, didn't know him anymore — and didn't even want to speak to him.
The next day, Andy came for Youri. He strapped him tightly to the metal table and left. A few moments later Knox came in wearing his usual cruel smile.
"You seem upset, my boy," he said. "What's bothering you?"
Youri glared at him. "What did you do to Flavio?"
Knox laughed. "Oh, pure boy. You should be happy for him. I merely unlocked his potential."
"What happened to his head?" Youri spat.
"That," Knox said, "is his true self. I simply switched off the part of him that felt pain. The old fool ought to be grateful."
"You monster!" Youri shouted.
Knox only chuckled as he slid a needle into Youri's arm and pressed down the plunger — one of his clear paralytic sedatives, the kind that dragged Youri down into the dark every time.
But this time, he woke up sooner than he should have. He came to groggily, hanging upside down over Andy's shoulder as he was carried back along the corridor, and through his blurred vision he could see the keys hanging from Andy's belt — not just one key, but all of them, every key to every door in the facility. His mind cleared all at once. This was a chance. This was the slip.
Slowly, painfully, he reached one weak hand down and eased a single key free of the ring. He had just closed his fist around it when Andy dropped him back into his cell. Andy went to lock the door, but the missing key confused him; he scratched his head and muttered to himself. Then he wandered off to look for it, leaving Youri's cell unlocked behind him.
Youri forced himself upright. His legs were trembling and his ribs were burning, but he knew Andy would be back soon, so he had to move now. He limped down the corridor with each step sharp with pain until he saw a metal door ahead of him, and when he pressed the handle, it opened.
Inside was a cramped surveillance room full of glowing monitors, and as he stepped closer to them, he saw on one of the screens that Andy was running down a corridor straight toward this very room. He had realized Youri was gone.
Youri froze for no more than a second before he started searching the room. A locker stood against the wall. Inside it were coils of cable, metal bars and a small, compact device. He picked it up and found a button on its side. When he pressed it, sparks snapped between its two prongs. A taser. He held it tight.
The door burst open. Andy charged in with his chains rattling and lunged to pin him, but as his hands closed around Youri's arms, Youri pressed the taser to his neck and pushed the button. Electricity cracked through the air. Andy collapsed at once, convulsing, then lay still.
Youri rolled out from under him, gasping, and for a moment he was sure he had killed him. But there was no time to dwell on it. He pried the full ring of keys from Andy's belt, got shakily to his feet, and checked the monitors. Knox was nowhere nearby. Good.
He raced back down the corridor unlocking every cell he passed, and the doors swung open one after another. Prisoners stumbled out — some limping, some screaming, some weeping, some with sudden, desperate hope on their faces — until the whole corridor had erupted into chaos.
When he reached Flavio's cell, he opened the door gently. "Come on, Flavio," he said softly. "This is our chance. I found the slip."
Flavio didn't move. He sat crumpled in the corner, hollow-eyed. "Leave me alone."
A single tear slid down Youri's cheek. He knelt beside the old man and wrapped his arms around him in a long, tight hug. "I've always wanted to do this," he whispered. "Thank you, Flavio. Thank you for being the only light in this place." He stood and wiped his face, and his voice broke as he said, "Don't stay here. I'll be outside, waiting."
He ran for the lab — the only exit any of them knew — and pushed open the door. Knox was standing on the other side of it.
Knox froze when he saw him. Confusion flickered across his face and then turned to anger, but before he could say a word, Youri raised the taser and fired. The prongs struck Knox's leg with a snap of electricity. Knox screamed and crashed to the floor. Behind Youri, a wave of freed prisoners was pouring into the doorway, filling it with shouting and staggering bodies.
Youri stepped forward as Knox climbed back to his feet, trembling, but smiling now, and wiping blood from his lip.
"Who is responsible for this?" Knox demanded.
Youri met his eyes without fear. "You."
Knox's left eye twitched, and he lunged. Youri fired the taser again and caught him in the ribs. Knox dropped to one knee, gasping.
"I'm not your toy anymore," Youri said. "And I'm going to show the whole world what kind of monster you really are."
Knox began to laugh — a deep, broken, unhinged laugh that echoed through the lab.
"Monster?" he wheezed. "Oh, my boy… you haven't seen a true monster yet."