Malden sat down on the edge of the table close to Youri, where he could study him clearly, and spoke in a voice that was low and precise. "EH36, this DNA structure is exactly like the one I saw that day, fourteen years ago. And do you know what is even more astonishing? This structure is yours."
Youri looked at the image hanging in the air in front of him, and after a moment he turned his head toward Malden. "Is there a particular reason you wanted to show me this?"
Malden smiled faintly and adjusted his glasses. "Of course." He stood and walked back to the wide window. "You, EH36, are a very special specimen. A perfect copy of someone we do not know — when or where he ever existed. Not to mention the vast sea of potential genes inside you. All of that makes you the single most important subject in the history of Altex." He turned back, and a wide smile spread across his face. "You are so young, EH36, and yet you carry yourself like someone who has lived for a century."
He came back to his chair and sat. "I want to know your story. Who is the result of Project Infinity?"
Youri leaned back a little, meeting his eyes. "I expect those books to keep coming."
Malden smiled and laid both hands flat on the table. "I'll make sure of it."
"All right, then," Youri said, and he began to talk.
He told Malden everything. Malden listened intently while names and places came one after another. Moments of loss, survival and brief, fleeting peace unfolded in front of him, and his expression shifted with each of them. To anyone else, the story would have been tragic, even heartbreaking. To Malden, it was something else altogether, and every word only deepened his fascination. When Youri was finished at last, Malden rose and began, slowly, to clap.
"Marvelous," he said. "Now I understand the look on your face during the first test. You truly are a marvelous being." He came around the table and crouched in front of the boy. "Thank you, EH36, for giving me the opportunity to study you."
Youri stood as Jean and Zayn stepped closer. He let out a slow breath. "I hope you keep your end of the bargain."
Malden straightened and nodded. "I may look evil to you, but I cherish my word."
Youri turned and walked out, with the twins close behind him.
Back in the chamber room, another box from Malden was waiting on his bed. He sat down and looked at the books inside it. He was still caged and still trapped, but for the first time, the place felt slightly less suffocating. He had come to understand something by then. No matter how hard he tried to live a normal life, life would always demand payment from him — and he refused to let anyone else pay in his place. If captivity was the price, he would bear it alone.
So life at Altex became routine, and the days turned into months. Every day he was cut, tested and dissected. Every night three new books were waiting for him, until the room was crowded with stacks of them piled high against the walls. And during that time, he discovered a secret. Using the books as steps, he learned that he could reach the vent near the ceiling. Every night, once the lights went out, he climbed up and disappeared into it.
The vents went everywhere: hangars, laboratories, patient wings, corridors he had never seen. Slowly and carefully, he mapped the entire institute. He learned its schedules and its blind spots. He even learned where the food was kept, and stole real meals from the cafeteria whenever the protein mash became unbearable.
One night, as he was moving through the vents above the hangar, he saw a ship docking below him with the Terrian crest on its hull. Someone important. He crept down for a better look. Only two people came out of it: a man in his late thirties, and a girl of about Youri's own age. Youri's eyes went to her at once. Her silver hair shone under the artificial lights of the institute, and something stirred in him that he did not recognize. But before he could linger, Malden appeared to greet them, so Youri slipped back into the vents and followed them from above.
The girl was taken to one of the VIP rooms, and Youri heard Malden speaking to the man outside it. "Don't worry, Sir Kaelthorn. We will do our utmost to have your daughter treated and cured. As you know, our institute specializes in chronic illness."
"I was told she doesn't have long," the man said. "I'm placing my daughter's life in your hands."
"Of course. I promise you, we won't let her die."
When they had gone, Youri hesitated only a moment before he climbed down out of the vent. Curiosity pulled him forward. He stood in front of her door and reached for the handle. He paused, then opened it.
The room was dim. All at once someone grabbed his arm from behind, threw him to the ground and pinned him there.
"Are you here to steal from me?" a girl's voice demanded.
He turned his head slowly and found himself looking into the eyes of the very girl he had seen in the hangar. She studied him for a moment, and then she let him go. "Nah," she said. "You're too weak to steal anything."
Youri got up and brushed himself off.
"Who are you?" she asked.
For a moment he was lost in her eyes, which were a deep obsidian black, and only when she frowned did he come back to himself. He smiled warmly. "I'm EH36. Nice to meet you."
She stared at him, unimpressed. "What kind of weird name is that? Didn't your parents give you a name?"
Youri didn't answer. Her expression softened, and then suddenly she laughed. She took his hand and shook it. "I'm Leonora. Nice to meet you too."
Youri laughed as well, and a memory surfaced from a book he had read long ago. "Leonora," he said, smiling again. "That's a beautiful name. Did you know it means light?"
She laughed. "Who told you that?"
"I read it in a book."
Her eyes widened. "You can read? I never really went to school, so I'm not very good at it yet. My mom reads to me every night. Before I came here, I promised her I would learn."
Something shifted inside Youri.
"Don't worry," he said gently. "I'll teach you."
Her eyes lit up. "Really? Then I can surprise my mom when I get home!"
Youri nodded, smiling. "I promise you, Leonora. I'll make you the best reader in the world."