The hum of the van's engine faded into the distance of his fading thoughts.His eyelids grew heavy. Before he could ask another question, darkness swallowed him whole.
When he opened his eyes again, the world had changed.He was lying on an old leather sofa in a dim, crumbling room.The air smelled of rust and dust. A flickering bulb hung from the ceiling, throwing shadows across cracked walls.
He sat up slowly, groaning as pain shot through his arm and leg. The wounds hadn't healed, but at least he could move.Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself to his feet and limped toward the doorway.
Outside, the corridor was narrow and poorly lit. He could hear faint voices, machinery humming somewhere deep within the building.Then — a familiar voice.
"You're awake," said the woman who had saved him.She leaned against a metal railing, arms crossed, the glow of a nearby lamp catching her hair.
"How's the memory loss?" she asked, eyes studying him closely. "And the pain — better?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Still hurts a bit… and, uh, where am I?"
"This," she said, gesturing around, "is our base. The headquarters of our organization."Then she stepped forward and extended a hand. "Jane Melfors. Subject 39."
He blinked. "Subject… 39?"
"Yeah." She gave a faint smile. "That's what they called me. Guess it stuck."
He hesitated. "Then what about me? What happened to me? Was I in a coma or something?"
Jane's expression darkened. She took off her hood, revealing a young woman — maybe twenty — pale skin, long blonde hair, and sharp blue eyes that looked almost unnaturally clear.
"You really don't remember?" she said softly. "You weren't in a coma, 99. You died."
The words hit him like ice water.He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Dead…?" he whispered at last. "No. That can't be right. I just— I woke up in a hospital—"
"That hospital wasn't real," Jane said. "It's part of the system — a manufactured space used by the government to control people like us."
He stared at her, still dazed. "People like us?"
"Subjects," she said simply. "Artificial humans. Test units. Weapons. Whatever they want to call us."
She turned away, signaling him to follow. "Come on. It's easier to show you than to explain."
He followed her down a narrow staircase into a larger chamber — a hidden base beneath the old building.Dim lights lined the ceiling, illuminating rows of computers, weapons, and seven other people who turned as they entered.
Each one bore the same strange mark somewhere on their body — the insignia of a number.Some were repairing equipment, others training, but all of them looked… wrong. Too still. Too pale. Like him.
Jane motioned around. "These are the others. Our resistance unit. All of us are Subjects who escaped."
"Resistance?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah," she said. "The Anti-Regime Force. We fight the government — or what's left of it."Her tone hardened. "Because what rules the world now isn't a government at all. It's a system built to harvest human lives, memories, and turn people into tools."
He remembered the black-cloaked creature that had tried to kill him."That thing back in the hospital… it was sent by them, wasn't it?"
Jane nodded. "The Reaper Class. Their job is to erase broken Subjects — and you, Subject 99, were supposed to be erased a long time ago."
He felt his chest tighten. "Then why am I still alive?"
She looked at him, a faint shadow crossing her face. "That's the question everyone here wants to know."
The room fell quiet for a moment — only the hum of the machines filled the air.He could feel every pair of eyes on him, weighing, wondering, afraid.
Jane turned back toward him and said, "For now, you'll stay here. Rest. We'll figure out the rest when you're ready."
He nodded slowly, still overwhelmed, every breath heavy with uncertainty.
As he looked around the dim, underground base, one thought echoed in his mind —
If I really died... then what am I now?
Thus ends Chapter 3rd.