For an entire hour, Kaisa and Yugo had been sitting in a completely gray room with no windows, only a single door and a table in the center. On the table stood two extinguished lamps, decorated in bronze to resemble old-fashioned lanterns. From behind the door came muffled sounds of footsteps and voices. Kaisa tried to make out anything, but it was useless.
Their hands were tied with a strange bright orange rope that caused a strong burning sensation whenever their wrists moved.
The room was filled with a deathly silence.
While they had been led here blindfolded, Yugo told her to remain silent, no matter where they were taken.
— Why? — she had asked.
But he never answered.
Kaisa once again examined the room. It was extremely dull, except for the lamps.
"Too many things have happened lately. I wonder if I'll get answers to anything at all. There are so many questions… and no answers."
She tried not to dwell on anxious thoughts, but they kept resurfacing, sending chills down her spine.
A clear jingle of keys was heard behind the door.
Kaisa immediately looked at it. Someone was about to enter.
She glanced at Yugo. Earlier, he had seemed calm — his expression confident. But now his face had suddenly changed. His hands clenched into fists, his pupils narrowed. His gaze was fixed on the table.
Kaisa decided to break the silence.
— Yugo, are you okay?
He ignored her.
"Why is he so tense?"
Kaisa began nervously fidgeting with her fingers.
Her eyes were fixed on the door.
The jingling stopped. A key entered the lock and clicked twice.
The door creaked open.
A click — the main light went out.
The lamps on the table lit up with a bright yellow glow, illuminating almost the entire room.
From the shadows stepped out a gray-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard. He looked around forty to forty-five years old. In his hand, he held a brown briefcase.
— Greetings, Yugolus and Kaisa!
The man sat down opposite them and began taking out various documents.
Kaisa glanced at Yugo — he was still staring at the table. She then looked at the man.
He had already closed the briefcase and placed it on the floor.
— Well then, I'll start with this: this entire trip was my little plan… with one exception. The disappearance of the conductor was not my doing.
Yugo clicked his tongue.
— Do you have something to say? — the man asked.
— What are you trying to achieve, father? And why did you need me?
The man shifted his gaze to one of the lamps and then spoke:
— Someone has started killing members of the Council of Twenty-Four. Three deaths have already been confirmed.
— And how is that connected to me?
— We learned that an attack was being prepared on the nineteenth council member. We set up an ambush, but by that time the killer was already there. We found out too late. When we entered the apartment, more than half the people were already dead. Everything happened in just one minute.
When Kaisa heard this, she frowned.
— The council member was found decapitated, — the man continued. — The head was lying in a neighboring apartment.
Kaisa froze.
Everything matched what she had seen that evening.
— That still doesn't answer the question, — Yugo said.
"Why did that killer need me specifically?" Kaisa thought.
— Our agent reported that the killer was leading someone toward the station…
A loud crash interrupted him.
Kaisa snapped out of her thoughts. Everyone looked up.
The ceiling was covered with cracks.
— Damn it! — the man said.
He snapped his fingers. The lamps on the table went out, and fluorescent lights on the ceiling turned on.
He snapped again.
The ropes binding Kaisa and Yugo fell off.
They stood up.
— Father, do you know who this is?
— No idea. But it looks like they came for Kaisa!
— Why would anyone need me?!
— There are a couple of theories, but now is not the time.
An explosion thundered nearby.
— Yugo! Catch the keys and take Kaisa through Exit Five! I'll cover you!
Yugo nodded. The man threw the keys, and he caught them. He grabbed Kaisa's hand and led her to the door.
Finding the right key, he unlocked it, then turned to his father:
— This isn't over. I'll get all the answers.
Then he and Kaisa ran into the corridor.
The corridor was empty.
They ran toward a sign marked with the number five.
— Some of the signs here are fake, so you have to navigate by the floor tiles, — Yugo explained, pointing down.
The tiles were mostly the same color, but near turns there were tiles of different colors.
— The number of marked tiles equals the exit number!
They passed the first sign and kept going.
"Weird… earlier I heard a lot of sounds coming from this corridor," Kaisa noted, but chose not to ask.
They approached an intersection. The sign pointed left.
But counting the orange tiles — there were only three.
Yugo pointed right — there were five tiles, even though the sign showed three.
They turned the correct way and ran further.
Suddenly, the ceiling began collapsing behind them.
They sped up, turned sharply — and fell.
The way back was blocked by concrete slabs. Dust filled the air.
Kaisa started coughing.
Yugo stood up and brushed himself off.
— Come on, we're almost there.
He reached out his hand. She grabbed it, and they continued, now at a steady pace.
— What's your father's name?
— Rhodes Revers.
— So you're Yugolus Revers?
Yugo nodded.
When they reached the door, he pulled out the right key and opened it.
The first thing Kaisa saw was a massive metal gate. On its surface were glowing orange crystals resembling hardened tree resin. Nearby stood a computer with a large screen displaying a command line.
— Why is there a gate here? — Kaisa asked.
— This isn't just a gate. It's a teleportation gate! — Yugo replied.
Kaisa frowned.
— Can you—
An explosion shook the corridor.
— Lock the door! I'll enter the code and we'll get out of here! — Yugo shouted.
Kaisa nodded, slammed the door shut, and locked it.
Meanwhile, Yugo quickly typed something. The crystals began to glow.
Another explosion — a concrete slab flew toward Kaisa.
— Kaisa! Above you! — Yugo shouted.
— Ah—?
Before she could react, she suddenly found herself in Yugo's arms — in a forest.
He looked terrible. His clothes were stained red, his face covered in scratches and cuts. He was still catching his breath.
Realizing she was in his arms, Kaisa quickly jumped down and brushed off her skirt.
— So… where are we?
She looked around. Tall trees covered almost the entire sky, with only a few rays of sunlight breaking through.
— I… I don't know, — Yugo replied.