Elian. 

I wasn't ready to see someone I knew. Not here. Now. 

Felix, who mopped floors beside me in Sector E. Felix, who joked about food and cheated on cards. Standing right here, in sector B. Inside a restricted room. 

"What the hell?" I almost yelled. "Sector B? Restricted? What are you here? 

He shrugged, leaning against the wall. Casual as ever. "Was about to ask the same thing."

"I wasn't evacuated." I replied. 

He gave a short laugh. Knowing. "Yeah? They do that."

"What?" I asked. Confused. 

He cocked his head, voice in disbelief "Dude, you are just starting to see it?" 

I didn't understand. Not fully. Maybe bits. 

"They left you because you are forgotten" Felix said. "We all are. Gifted, don't give a damn about people like us." He emphasized each word "You clean up after them. They don't even care to check if you are breathing"

"But- they always did-" 

"Yeah? They did? Really?" He said with mockery. "They evacuated the Bound," he continued. "You saw that, right? Scientists, medics. The ones they think are worth guarding."

"I thought we were all part of the same system."

Felix suddenly laughed. "My naive, El. Listen. Let me tell you how that system actually works."

He raised a finger, ticking them off.

"Gifted. Gods in human suits. Especially Tier three, Class S. They get it all. Power, food, literally anything. They hang out in Sectors S and A. Sometimes, in B. The ones dumped in Sector E? That's Tier-less trash. Still better than us, though"

"Bound. Just fancy tools. Build stuff, patch holes, do theories. Useful till they're not. They get saved."

"Then us. Forgotten. Mops. Couriers, ditch-diggers, cleanup crew. We show up when there's blood or garbage. Then poof. Vanish again."

I sank against the wall in realization. Betrayed.

"How are you here?" I asked. "How do you know all this?"

Felix waved it off. "Come on, it doesn't matter. You ever wonder how they make more gifted?" 

His words caught me off guard. "They're born. Right?"

"Some are. The real ones. But they don't rely on luck anymore." I wasn't sure I wanted to hear more. Maybe I wasn't allowed to. 

"Felix, I don't-" 

"El. You can stop here, if you wish. You have seen nothing" His voice wasn't casual now. It was sharp. Certain. "But if you're after truth? Then keep walking"

I am not sure anymore. Fuck it. I followed him. 

He led me deeper inside. The corridor changed. No longer dark and dusty. Bright white lights. Almost blinding. Steel doors with labels I couldn't pronounce. 

He tapped the panel. A heavy metal door opened with a loud noise. 

The smell hit first. Chemical rot. Burnt flesh. And something worse, like decaying corpses. 

Inside, a Hollowed was chained. Alive.

It twitched and shivered. Like it's almost dying. A thick iron chain skewered through its torso, bolted into the floor. Bones out in random places. Black liquids leaked from its veins, sucked through thick tubes.

Its face. If it could be called that. It's just a patch of peeling skin, almost decayed. A pale, mucus-like liquid ran down from its sockets. It had no mouth, but it made sounds. Wet, choking sounds.

I gagged "What the fuck—"

"They catch them," Felix said. I suddenly remembered. The lady from the lab asking for a Hollowed to be captured alive.

"Some Gifted specialize in subduing Hollowed. Bring them here. Restrain them."

"And then?"

"They harness them. Tear it open. Extract their blood. Inject it into people" He said. 

My stomach turned. "People? You mean…They experiment on people?"

"Prisoners. Forgotten, sometimes. Anyone nobody'll cry over."

It was madness. Horror. I'd never liked the Gifted. But now, I could feel something new inside me - disgust.

"This is how they build artificial Gifted," Felix said.

I couldn't look away. The Hollowed's empty gaze locked with mine. "Why are you showing me this?" I asked.

"Just ... .Because, you know" Felix said. He said casually. 

"I didn't ask for this." 

"None of us did" He answered. "But the truth doesn't care." 

"You can go back," Felix said. "Say you got lost. Spotted nothing"

Then he knelt and opened a floor panel. A hatch. A stairwell led down. 

"Or" he added, "You can follow me. See the rest. See how deep this all goes."

My hands shook.

"There's more?" 

He didn't answer right away.

Then, softly "They call it research. But whatever's down there isn't science"