00:00Rain always falls when I go out to carry out a mission.
00:03As if the sky knows I am going to kill.
00:07After this, I'm free.
00:10That's what they told me.
00:13The objective is simple.
00:15Kill the alien queen.
00:17Steal the core she carries.
00:20Return.
00:23Simple.
00:24But when I reach the deck,
00:27there are already screams.
00:30There is already blood on the wet wood.
00:32The bipedal monsters got here before me.
00:36They are slaughtering the guards.
00:38They are here for the same thing I am.
00:41For the core.
00:43It doesn't matter.
00:45I draw my twin blades and move forward.
01:15The corridors are full of smoke and fire.
01:18I step over the bodies of fallen guards.
01:21Some of them are still moving.
01:24Not my problem.
01:26I keep going.
01:28I reach the central corridor.
01:31The last guards are defending a door.
01:34Five.
01:35Maybe six.
01:37They are wounded.
01:38But still holding.
01:39The guards see me.
01:42They raise their weapons.
01:43They do not let me pass.
01:46I don't have time for this.
01:57The guards are still moving.
01:58The guards are still moving.
02:03The guards are still moving.
02:05They are still moving.
02:06The guards are still moving.
02:07The guards are still moving.
02:07The guards are still moving.
02:07The guards are still moving.
02:08The guards are still moving.
02:09The guards are still moving.
02:28I don't know.
02:58I don't know.
03:18I don't know.
03:19She is healing me.
03:21She sees me wake up.
03:23She immediately pulls back.
03:26She puts distance between us.
03:28We look at each other in silence.
03:31She is exhausted.
03:33I can see it in the way she trembles.
03:36Then her eyes close.
03:38She falls to one side, unconscious on the sand.
03:42I force myself to my feet.
03:45The pain protests, but I ignore it.
03:48I've had worse wounds.
03:50I walk toward her.
03:53She is unconscious.
03:54Completely vulnerable.
03:57I draw one of my blades.
03:59The metal shines under the gray light.
04:02It's simple.
04:04I finish the mission here.
04:06I take the core.
04:08I return to the master.
04:10Simple.
04:11I raise the weapon.
04:13But something stops me.
04:15It isn't compassion.
04:17I don't know what it is.
04:19I only know that my hand does not move.
04:22The blade stays in the air.
04:25Motionless.
04:26She saved me.
04:28When she could have left me to die on the beach.
04:30She saved me.
04:31Why?
04:33It makes no sense.
04:37I look around.
04:39Small island.
04:40Dense vegetation.
04:43Narrow beach.
04:44No sign of civilization.
04:46I move away from her and explore.
04:54I move away from her and explore.
05:19I move away from her and explore.
05:19I move away from her and explore.
05:22I move away from her and explore.
05:38Faces appear in the dark.
05:40All the ones I have killed over the years.
05:43Hundreds.
05:44Maybe thousands.
05:46I do not keep count.
05:47The master always said counting his weakness.
06:11I have lived my whole life in the dark.
06:14But tonight, for the first time, I feel something like a faint light.
06:21I don't know what it is.
06:23I only know it makes me uncomfortable.
06:26The next few days pass slowly.
06:52What starts to say?
06:58That night I stare at the fire and understand something unsettling.
07:03I no longer want to finish this mission.
07:05Something is changing inside me.
07:08And I do not know if I can stop it.
07:48I do not know if I can stop it.
08:16I do not know if I can stop it.
08:48I do not know if I can stop it.
09:19I do not know if I can stop it.
09:48I do not know if I can stop it.
10:02I do not know if I can stop it.
10:31She cries harder as she does it.
10:33I can hear the desperation in her voice.
10:37But it is not enough.
10:39Her power is not enough this time.
10:42No.
10:44I can't.
10:46Her voice is barely a broken whisper.
10:49It is the first time I hear her speak my language.
10:56I do not know if I can stop it.
11:22I do not know if I can stop it.
11:25I do not know if I can stop it.
11:28I do not know if I can stop it.
11:42I do not know if I can stop it.
11:43I do not know if I can stop it.
11:43I do not know if I can stop it.
11:43I do not know if I can stop it.
11:45I do not know if I can stop it.
11:46I do not know if I can stop it.
12:09Oh, shit.
12:52I wake. The core is no longer in her hands. It is inside me. I feel it beating beside my
13:01heart. Strange. Alive. Powerful.
13:07She is there. Exhausted. Looking at me with eyes that no longer cry, but still carry the full weight of
13:16her dead world.
13:17I do not cry. I was never taught how, but I slowly raise my hand. It takes time to obey.
13:27Trembling, I gently touch her cheek. It is the first time I have ever touched someone with tenderness.
13:33I did not know I knew how. She closes her eyes. A tear falls. We say nothing. The boat keeps
13:44floating on the calm sea. The rain has stopped.
13:50We reach another shore at dawn. She is sleeping, exhausted, at the bottom of the boat. I do not wake
13:58her.
13:58I anchor the boat and go out to explore. Rocky coast. Sparse vegetation. Fresh water about a hundred meters inland.
14:08Enough.
14:10I catch a fish among the rocks. It is not big, but it will do. I start a fire. I
14:19cook it in silence while the sun rises.
14:23A voice behind me. Cook another one. I do not flinch. I would know that voice anywhere.
14:33The master is there, sitting on a rock as if nothing is wrong, as if he had not crossed half
14:39the ocean to find me.
14:42He does not ask what happened. He does not ask about the mission. He only watches.
14:48I sit down. I prepare another fish. I place it over the fire. We eat in silence. The master never
14:59speaks without reason.
15:00I wait. Finally, I can feel the core. It is inside you. I nod. You completed half the mission.
15:12He tilts his head toward the boat. Toward where she is sleeping. Now kill the queen. Extract the core. Come
15:22back with me.
15:23I shake my head. No. The word comes out firm. Without doubt. The master watches me for a long time.
15:33Not with surprise. Not with surprise. With something more complex. I get to my feet. I draw my blades. I
15:42point them at him.
15:44For the first time in my life, I aim my weapons at the master. He does not move. I see
15:51disappointment in his eyes.
15:53But also something strange. Something that could be satisfaction.
15:58He rises slowly. He draws his own weapons. Then this is a real fight, he says.
16:08We fight.
16:38At last he stops. He lowers his weapon. He looks at me. When I pulled you out of that pool
16:46of blood, your eyes were empty.
16:50He steps closer. Now I see light. Another step. Even if I am not the one who gave it to
17:00you.
17:01He puts away his weapons. He turns around. He walks toward the shadows between the rocks.
17:09Before he disappears completely, he says without looking back,
17:13In three days, they will come. He leaves. I do not stop him. She wakes shortly after.
17:22She heard everything. Or at least enough.
17:26She walks over slowly. She looks at me.
17:30Do you regret it?
17:33Her voice is soft. Careful. I look at her.
17:39No. She stands. She looks toward the horizon.
17:44Then I have to return to the ruins.
17:47I have to gather my people. What is left of them.
17:55I nod. I understand what she does not say.
18:00The spiritual remains of her people are still waiting.
18:04Let's go, I say.
18:07We prepare the boat.
18:08We set sail for the ruins.
18:11Toward the place where she lost everything.
18:18We sail back for a day and a night.
18:21The water darkens as we get closer.
18:24It is not dirt.
18:25It is something deeper.
18:27As if the sea itself were morning.
18:32In the distance, I see the ruins.
18:36What used to be a floating settlement is now a field of broken structures.
18:40Some still float.
18:42Half sunken.
18:44Others are completely destroyed.
18:46We arrive.
18:48I anchor the boat at what remains of a dock.
18:51I step ashore first.
18:53My boots touch rotten wood.
18:55It creaks, but it holds.
18:58The silence is heavy.
19:01Oppressive.
19:02There are no birds.
19:04No wind.
19:06Only silence.
19:08I walk among the remains.
19:11Dry blood on the walls still standing.
19:14Deep claw marks carved into the stone.
19:16So deep the monsters must have attacked with absolute fury.
19:23Bones among the wreckage.
19:25Some large.
19:27Others small.
19:28She walks past me.
19:31She does not look at the bones.
19:33She does not look at the blood.
19:35She walks straight toward the center of the ruins.
19:38There is a platform there.
19:41Half sunken, but still stable.
19:44It must have been important once.
19:47Maybe a gathering place.
19:49Maybe something sacred.
19:52She kneels.
19:53She places her hands on the shattered ground.
19:56She closes her eyes.
19:58She begins to make a low sound.
20:01It is not song.
20:03It is not language.
20:05It is something older.
20:07A call.
20:09Faint lights begin to appear around us.
20:13First one.
20:14Then another.
20:16Translucent figures.
20:18Barely visible against the gray sky.
20:22They are the spiritual remains of her people.
20:26Slowly, one by one,
20:28the spiritual remains gather in her palm.
20:30In her outstretched hand.
20:35Faint lights floating over her skin like stars trapped there.
20:40The core inside my chest beats harder.
20:43I can feel it.
20:45As if it recognizes its own.
20:48As if it wants to join them.
20:54She opens her eyes.
20:56She looks at me with a hand full of lights.
20:59They are here now.
21:00Her voice is soft, but firm.
21:05I look toward the horizon.
21:07The sky darkens.
21:09It is not night.
21:11It is something else.
21:13Like a shadow moving closer.
21:16The others are coming too.
21:19She nods.
21:20She says nothing else.
21:22She doesn't need to.
21:24I draw my blades.
21:27I wait.
21:37The sky darkens.
21:39The sky darkens.
21:42The sky darkens.
21:45The sky darkens.
21:48The sky darkens.
21:48The sky darkens.
21:48The sky darkens.
21:48The sky darkens.
21:49The sky darkens.
21:49The sky darkens.
21:50The sky darkens.
21:51The sky darkens.
21:53The sky darkens.
21:53I don't know.
22:24I don't know.
23:00I don't know.
23:26I don't know.
23:53I don't know.
23:55I don't know.
24:01I don't know.
24:03I don't know.
24:16I don't know.
24:47I don't know.
24:51I don't know.
25:02I don't know.
25:39I don't know.
26:13I don't know.
26:42I don't know.
26:46I don't know.
27:24I don't know.
27:47I don't know.
28:21I don't know.
28:24I don't know.
28:26I don't know.
28:32I don't know.
28:42I don't know.
28:52I don't know.
28:54I don't know.
29:07I have seen.
29:33I don't know.
29:37I don't know.
29:39I don't know.
29:44I don't know.
