The holographic projection flickered, its soft blue-white glow casting shifting patterns on the cold, tallic walls of the underground hideout. Shadows danced and twisted in its light, distorting the confined space as if the walls were breathing.
The room was silent, save for the faint hum of the recording system and the sound of Alex’s heartbeat, a slow, pounding rhythm echoing in his ears.
Alex sat motionless, his breath shallow. His hands gripped his knees so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His muscles were locked, and tension coiling in his limbs like a caged beast ready to spring.
His eyes remained fixed on the wavering figure before him—the woman who had given him life, the mother he had lost. Yet, here she was, her image frozen in ti, speaking across the void of the past.
Then, her voice filled the space again—gentle yet firm, tinged with the weight of decisions made long ago. It was the voice that had soothed him as a child, the voice that had guided him through his first steps, the voice that had been torn from his world far too soon.
"I’m sure you’re wondering why we didn’t try again. Why didn’t we take another risk, open another portal, search for another world."
Her expression in the hologram was calm, but her eyes betrayed her—holding sothing deeper, sothing layered with exhaustion, regret, and unwavering resolve. They were the eyes of soone who had fought battles unseen, carried burdens no one else could comprehend, and made choices that no mother should ever have to make.
Alex swallowed hard. The lump in his throat felt like a boulder, immovable, suffocating.
"Maybe the next world could’ve been a paradise."
A pause. A breath. The silence between her words pressed down on him, heavy with unspoken possibilities.
"Maybe we could have found salvation sowhere else. A ho. A place where you, your siblings, and everyone we love could live without fear."
Sothing flickered in his chest for a fleeting mont,—hope, fragile and treacherous. He could almost see it—another world, untouched by war, where his family still lived, where they laughed, where they were safe.
But her voice cut through before he could grasp it, stripping the illusion away.
"Yes, Alex, we could have tried again."
The weight in her tone made his stomach clench. He could already sense the ’but’ coming, lurking in the space between her sentences like a shadow waiting to consu the light.
"But we couldn’t afford to be greedy. We had already put this world in danger once. The risk was too great."
His fingers curled into fists, nails pressing into his palms, grounding him in the present. The truth of her words was undeniable, yet it didn’t stop the resentnt from bubbling beneath his skin.
"The next world we breached might have been different," she continued, her voice asured, as if forcing herself to remain composed. "It could have been less hostile. Maybe the people there would have welcod us. Maybe they wouldn’t have even advanced to our level yet."
She exhaled—a slow, almost imperceptible sound that carried the weight of a civilization’s survival.
"But the sa way it could be a blessing..." her voice grew quieter, tinged with sothing darker, "it could also be a curse."
A cold shiver ran down Alex’s spine. He knew where this was going.
"What if the next world was one where an entirely different species ruled? What if it was a world where the beasts won the war, where humanity no longer existed?"
His mind conjured nightmarish visions—skies filled with monstrous creatures, lands dominated by beings devoid of empathy for humankind, and an endless, savage existence where they were nothing more than prey.
"What if it was just like Eloria?" she pressed, her eyes narrowing slightly. "An advanced world. One far beyond our understanding. One that would see us as nothing more than intruders to be conquered, just like they did with others before us."
Alex clenched his jaw, inhaling slowly and asuredly through his nose. He already knew what had happened when his father stepped into that world. He had barely made it back alive.
"We didn’t have the luxury to gamble with the lives of everyone on this planet," she said. "So, we made a choice."
For the first ti, her voice wavered. The firm, unshakable presence that had always been his foundation faltered.
"I chose to live the rest of my life to the fullest. To cherish my ti while making sure you and your siblings survived."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then, her voice softened, but the weight behind it was unbearable.
"You seeing this video ans..."
Alex’s breath hitched. His pulse pounded in his ears, drowning out everything else.
"...you were the only one who survived."
The words struck like a blade, sharp and rciless, carving deep into his chest. His mind went blank. His body felt hollow as if sothing vital had been torn from him.
His siblings—his family—were gone.
The realization settled over him like a thick and inescapable storm cloud. The hideout, once a refuge, now felt like a tomb—a grave built for the remnants of his past.
The hologram of his mother remained before him, her face forever captured in this single mont, this final ssage. He stared at her, morizing every detail—her warm eyes, the way her hair frad her face, the soft curve of her lips as she spoke. But she was only a ghost now, a whisper of what once was.
His throat constricted, his chest tightening to the point of pain. A part of him wanted to deny it, to rage against the truth, to destroy the screen and erase the ssage before him. Because if he did, maybe—just maybe—he could pretend they were still out sowhere, waiting for him to find them.
But the world had already taken everything from him.
And now, he had to decide what to do with what was left.
Slowly, his trembling hand reached out—just barely—before his fingers curled into his palm, and his hand dropped back to his lap.
There was no one left to save.
Only himself.
Only the path ahead.
A path that was going to lead to bloodshed and destruction.
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