The door closed behind Sergei.
The sound echoed through the chamber.
Like a warning.
Artyom stared at him.
The man who had been his father.
The man who had hidden the truth.
The man who had returned every time Artyom thought he was finally free.
Beside him stood Subject Prime.
Calm.
Silent.
Watching.
Viktor's expression turned cold.
"You brought him here."
Sergei looked at him.
"I brought the truth."
Roman stepped forward.
"After everything, you still believe you have the right to decide?"
Sergei's eyes moved toward him.
"You all did."
A pause.
"You just hid it better."
Nobody answered.
Because that was the part nobody could deny.
Artyom looked at Subject Prime.
"You're working with him?"
Prime tilted his head.
A familiar movement.
Like all the subjects shared the same language.
"I'm not working with anyone."
A pause.
"I'm completing what was started."
The woman beside Valentin tightened her grip on the file.
"Prime, you don't understand what they made you."
Prime smiled faintly.
"And you do?"
The tension snapped.
Dmitri quietly moved toward the central console.
Nikola noticed.
"What are you doing?"
"Finding a way to shut this down."
Sergei noticed too.
"Don't."
Everyone turned.
His voice was serious.
For once, not manipulative.
"If you destroy this system now, the entire facility collapses."
A pause.
"And everyone inside dies."
Silence.
Mikhail's eyes narrowed.
"You expect us to believe you?"
Sergei looked at him.
"No."
Then his gaze moved to Artyom.
"But he will."
Artyom hated that he was right.
Not because Sergei was trustworthy.
Because Sergei knew him.
"You always do this."
Artyom's voice was quiet.
"You give pieces of the truth and expect me to understand."
Sergei looked away for a moment.
Then said:
"I was trying to keep you alive."
Artyom's expression hardened.
"You don't get to call it protection when you're the reason I needed protecting."
The room went silent.
Even Sergei.
For the first time—
He had no answer.
Then—
The chamber lights flashed.
A warning appeared.
SUCCESSOR CONFLICT DETECTED
RESOLUTION REQUIRED
Dmitri looked at the screen.
"What does that mean?"
The woman answered quietly.
"The system wants a final choice."
Everyone looked at Artyom.
A new message appeared.
CHOOSE THE NEW ORDER
BLOODLINE CONTROL
OR
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
No one spoke.
Because the choices were not simple.
Subject Prime stepped forward.
"Choose bloodline."
Artyom looked at him.
"Why?"
Prime's eyes darkened.
"Because freedom creates weakness."
Viktor's gaze sharpened.
"And control creates cages."
Prime looked at him.
"You would say that."
A pause.
"You got the life I was denied."
For the first time—
Artyom saw it.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Pain.
Prime wasn't trying to win.
He was trying to prove his suffering meant something.
Artyom stepped forward.
Everyone watched.
"I won't choose either."
The room froze.
The system flashed.
INVALID RESPONSE
Artyom looked at the screen.
"No."
A pause.
"I'm not choosing the options you created."
His voice became stronger.
"I'm making my own."
The machines started reacting.
Alarms.
Warnings.
Lights.
Dmitri stared.
"He's overriding the system."
The woman looked shocked.
"How?"
Valentin answered softly.
"Because he was never meant to obey it."
The facility shook.
Hard.
Subject Prime stared at Artyom.
And for the first time—
He looked uncertain.
Artyom looked at him.
"You weren't a failure."
A pause.
"You were someone they never let choose."
Prime's expression changed.
Then the entire facility went dark.
A final message appeared.
Not from the system.
From someone else.
ORIGIN PROJECT TERMINATED.
CREATOR ACCESS: REVOKED.
Everyone froze.
Because only one person could do that.
Andrei Morozov.