The golden eyes of a child marked by hell made me tremble slightly, especially knowing what I was about to do. I picked her up and placed her on my shoulder, carrying her along.

  “We’ll take care of your brother later. For now, follow us.”

  I said this as I moved forward with my allies, who understood that I wanted to avoid showing her what remained of her brother. Given their hair colors, I had assumed he was hers, and even if that wasn’t the case, it wasn’t something a child should have to see.

  With heavy hearts and filled with horror at what lay ahead, we advanced deep into the heart of the laboratory. To our great relief, there was nothing truly horrible or frightening that a child her age shouldn’t witness. The cohort cheerfully tried to learn more about the little girl; she wasn’t very cooperative, but my friends weren’t about to give up.

  “You and your brother… where do you come from?”

  I asked, noticing scales along her neck.

  “My brother and I were living in the slums before the bad people came and took us away,”

  she replied in a flat, monotone voice, devoid of the joy and vitality a child her age should normally have. She was far less energetic than she had been earlier.

  “The bad people?”

  Donavan asked as he approached the girl.

  “Yes. They said that if we worked for them, they would give us food, but… they locked us up here and treated us like circus animals.”

  She trembled like a leaf; her fear and the traumatic memories it had left behind were palpable.

  “Here, take this. It’ll give you some strength,”

  Manu said, handing her a chocolate he seemed to have kept as a snack.

  “Can I?”

  the young girl asked, her eyes shining.

  “Of course. Once we’re out of here, you can eat as much as you want. I’ll take care of you and your brother.”

  The Empress, wearing her warmest smile, tried to give the child hope, even though she knew perfectly well that, for her brother, it would be impossible.

  After walking for a while, the little girl eventually began to speak cheerfully again, despite her flushed complexion—probably due to the cold and the fact that she was no longer entirely human… or perhaps something more.

  “Tell me, Lia, what would you like to do once we’re outside? Do you have a dream?”

  I asked as the girl leaned against me, tired. Until now, she had been sitting on my shoulder, resting lightly against me. Chariot had offered to switch places, but I was firm about keeping her with me.

  “I’d like to have a thousand chocolates,”

  the girl replied innocently. The cohort burst out laughing, embarrassing the child, who was immediately overcome with shame.

  “D-don’t… make fun… of me…”

  the little girl whimpered, on the verge of tears.

  “Hey, hey, let’s not start that again—don’t cry!”

  Donavan quickly added, smiling at her.

  “Besides chocolates, what would you like to do?”

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  Shin finally asked.

  “I want to be with my brother.”

  The child’s innocent answer froze the atmosphere; everyone knew it was impossible.

  “I want us to never have to suffer from hunger again, or not having a bed to sleep in, or… to have parents like the other children,”

  she continued despite the silence, even regaining a bit of energy as she spoke about her beloved older brother.

  At the end of the corridor, our heroes arrived in what looked like a control room, with a massive, state-of-the-art computer at its center. Its cables descended from the ceiling like the branches of an ancient tree. The ultra-futuristic interface showed the scale of what was happening here and just how important Project Télos was to Rubis. But why? The further we went, the more the questions grew—while the answers did not.

  “Wait, I’ll take care of this.”

  Almost bravely, Manu headed toward the terminal, intent on deciphering the information it contained. I took Lia down from my shoulder; unfortunately, it was only then that I noticed one of the giant tubes we had seen earlier, containing embryos in gestation.

  Expecting a horrified reaction from the child, I instead found her frozen, staring at them with empty eyes, swaying on her small legs as I held her hand.

  “Are you okay?”

  I asked, pulling her out of her thoughts and back into the horrific reality of the hostile environment. Suddenly seized by fear, she clung to my leg.

  “She looks scared. Don’t worry, we’ll protect you,”

  Cynthia reassured her, while Donavan tried to take her from me. I stopped him by pushing his hand away, which shocked him—and everyone else. Manu looked the most surprised and curious about my behavior, even though I myself struggled to explain it.

  “I’d rather keep her close to me…”

  I said simply, as the two backed off, noticing my sudden change.

  I couldn’t let them get too close to Lia. After all, I was the one who had promised to take care of her… and her fate had been decided the moment I recognized her. I would save her, even if the method depended on what Manu found.

  “I… I feel… a little weak,”

  the girl muttered before collapsing to the floor. Fortunately, I caught her before her head hit the ground. Her body was burning with fever, and she looked exhausted… as if her vital force was draining away every second. Scales were beginning to appear on her body!? It seemed that, due to her fatigue, the transformation process had accelerated.

  “What’s happening!? She was fine just a moment ago!”

  Cynthia exclaimed as she rushed over.

  Seeing the scales spreading and her canines lengthening, we understood that she was transforming.

  “Wait! I’ll find a solution in the database!”

  Manu said, frantically accelerating his search while the cohort waited, hearts pounding.

  “I found nothing…”

  he finally said, dejected, after exhausting every possible option.

  “There has to be a way!? We’re not just going to let her die like this!”

  Donavan shouted, grabbing Manu by the collar.

  “They injected her with some kind of virus that turns her into a monster by manipulating and altering her genes. The problem is that they wanted to preserve human intelligence during the transformation, so they made it gradual…”

  “What is that supposed to mean, Manu!?”

  the valiant knight roared, beside himself.

  “It means she’s reached the final stage of her transformation—and I don’t know how to save her!”

  Manu snapped, pushing him away.

  “I could try to make a cure, but I don’t have the means or the knowledge. We could use your connections to solve this, but by then, she might already be like her brother!”

  He retorted angrily, before realizing his mistake when he noticed he had said all of this in front of the child.

  Sighing inwardly, I knew this was probably how it would end. Looking at the girl, I smiled and asked her a very important question.

  “Hey… you said you dreamed of living with your brother. I told you that wasn’t possible. Do you have another dream?”

  “I don’t want to become a monster… I want to live as a human, and… I want no one else to go through what my brother and I went through… I want to change the world.”

  That childish desire to change the world, to bend it to our wishes and make it better, was truly a child’s dream. Yet I took it with the utmost seriousness, because we shared the same desire.

  If before I had only fought for myself and my selfish desire to dominate this world, from now on, I would fight for you too, Lia.

  “Then I promise you.”

  I smiled at her as I lifted her into my arms and headed toward her brother, fulfilling her dream, accompanied by my companions—confused by my recent actions, yet following me with worry, curiosity, and above all, compassion for the little girl.