(LOCATION: The Bottom of Oran. Days after the heroes' arrival.)

(The episode opens with the four heroes in a grimy alley, sharing their last piece of stale bread. Their resources are gone. Oran, despite its apparent cleanliness, is just as unforgiving as Tiaret.)

MERENJI: (Chewing slowly) "Great. We escaped a city where we'd die quickly, only to arrive in a city where we'll die slowly of starvation. A fantastic upgrade."

TAHER: "There must be something. Someplace. The entire city can't be like this."

(Suddenly, they see a strange sight. A long, incredibly organized queue of boys and girls their age, all marching silently towards a massive, grey, fortress-like building.)

[SCENE 2]

(The heroes approach the queue cautiously, trying to understand what's happening.)

MERENJI: (With a naive, hopeful grin) "Look at that line! They must be giving away something good! Maybe free meals from the Middle Class?"

MADDAH: (Squinting, analyzing the building) "The architecture is pre-cataclysm military. Too fortified for a food bank. My guess? A mass recruitment drive for the army. They offer shelter and meals in exchange for your service."

TAHER: (Looking at the order and discipline with hesitant admiration) "An army? That might not be so bad. Training, discipline, a purpose. It's better than this aimlessness."

QASSEM: (Quietly, watching the faces in the line) "They don't look like people going to war. They look like people who have lost all other hope."

[SCENE 3]

(They decide to join the queue, just to see where it leads. No one stops them. They merge with the silent crowd.)

MERENJI: (Whispering to Maddah) "So, what's the plan, genius?"

MADDAH: (With a sarcastic smile and a touch of black comedy) "The plan is simple. We go in, we eat their food, and if they try to hand us a gun, we run. How hard can it be?"

TAHER: (Seriously) "Stop joking. This could be our only real chance. We need to take this seriously."

(Driven by Taher's hope and their own desperation, they decide to see it through, completely unaware of the reality of their choice.)

[SCENE 4]

(LOCATION: Inside the Registration Center. The atmosphere is cold, white, and sterile.)

(A quick, unsettling montage of the inhuman registration process.)

 * The Belongings Station: A guard orders them to dispose of their possessions. Qassem hesitates over the blue embroidered cloth (Haiba's memento), but a sharp glare from a guard forces him to toss it into an incinerator chute. He flinches but remains silent.

 * The Identity Station: A machine scans their faces and fingerprints. A screen in front of them flashes: "PREVIOUS IDENTITY NULLIFIED."

 * The Uniform Station: They are given identical grey jumpsuits. They emerge from the changing room as anonymous, identical figures.

[SCENE 5]

(At the final station, a blank-faced official behind glass takes their thumbprint. A machine then prints a metal card and pushes it through a small slot.)

(Each hero receives his card. It's stamped with only today's date.)

MERENJI: "That's it? No instruction manual? What does this date even mean?"

MADDAH: (Examining his card with curiosity) "It's an identification card, obviously. Stamped with our enlistment date. Very… efficient."

TAHER: (Clutching his card tightly) "Whatever it is, we're in the system now. From here, we can ascend."

[SCENE 6]

(FINAL SHOT: A massive steel door at the end of the hall slides open. Harsh industrial light spills out, along with the faint echo of alarms and muffled screams.)

(A stern-looking proctor stands in the doorway. He looks down at them with contempt.)

PROCTOR: "New batch. You have been registered. Your evaluation begins now. Proceed."

(The four heroes exchange confused and worried glances. "Evaluation? What evaluation?")

(They are pushed forward into the dark entrance of "The Crucible." They have walked willingly into a prison they never knew existed.)

(The screen cuts to black.)

(END OF EPISODE)