2026-08-28 07:05:45Chapter 6 — Inside the Tower
Maya was inside the Tower.
Ethan stared at Adrian as if he had just spoken another language.
"That's impossible."
Adrian didn't blink.
"You saw her."
"No."
"You haven't seen her yet."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"Then how do you know she's there?"
"Because she's the reason the Tower activated."
Mia stepped between them.
"Who is Maya?"
Ethan looked at her.
"My wife."
Mia's expression tightened.
"Wife?"
"Ex-wife."
Adrian corrected him.
"Not anymore."
Ethan turned sharply.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your divorce never happened."
Ethan stared.
"What?"
Adrian sighed.
"Your memories of the divorce were implanted."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The black rain continued falling.
The countdown on the Tower continued.
71:28:17
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
"You need to accept it."
"I signed the divorce papers."
"You remember signing them."
"I remember everything."
"No."
Adrian's voice became harder.
"You remember what Helix wanted you to remember."
Ethan felt anger rising inside him.
"Why would they make me believe my own wife betrayed me?"
"Because hatred is easier to control than love."
Mia looked at Adrian.
"And what about me?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Mia's eyes narrowed.
"You said Ethan and I were partners."
"We were."
"Then why doesn't he remember me?"
"Because someone erased you from his life."
"Who?"
Adrian looked toward the Tower.
"She did."
Mia froze.
"Who?"
"Maya."
Ethan stepped forward.
"You're saying Maya erased Mia?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Adrian's face became unreadable.
"Because Maya was protecting you."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"She protected me by making me hate her?"
"Exactly."
"That makes no sense."
"It will."
Adrian looked at the Tower.
"When you enter."
Ethan followed his gaze.
The black structure was enormous.
No visible doors.
No windows.
Yet somehow, he knew there was an entrance.
He had seen it before.
Seven times.
Maybe more.
"How do we get inside?"
Adrian pointed toward the eastern side.
"Walk exactly thirty-seven meters."
"That's it?"
"No."
"What happens then?"
"The Tower decides whether you're allowed in."
Ethan frowned.
"How?"
"You'll find out."
Mia stepped closer.
"I'm coming with you."
Ethan looked at her.
"No."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you don't know what's inside."
"Neither do you."
"I remember some of it."
"Seventeen percent."
Ethan went silent.
Mia crossed her arms.
"If you go in alone, you'll die."
Adrian nodded.
"She's right."
Ethan looked at him.
"You said the Tower needs both of us."
"I said your connection matters."
"Then we're going together."
Adrian shook his head.
"I'm not going."
Ethan stared.
"Why?"
"Because the Tower knows me."
"What does that mean?"
Adrian looked almost afraid.
"It knows what I did."
Before Ethan could ask another question, Adrian turned away.
"Good luck."
Ethan grabbed his arm.
"You're coming."
"No."
"You know more than anyone."
"And that's exactly why I can't enter."
Ethan released him.
"Fine."
He turned toward Mia.
"Stay close."
They walked.
One meter.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
At thirty-seven meters, the air changed.
Mia stopped.
"Ethan."
"What?"
"Look."
The rain wasn't falling anymore.
It stopped in midair.
Every drop hung around them like glass.
Ethan reached toward one.
The droplet touched his finger.
Instantly, the Tower responded.
A deep vibration moved through the ground.
The symbol 72 lit up.
Then a door appeared.
Mia stared.
"How..."
Ethan stepped forward.
The door opened by itself.
Inside was darkness.
Not normal darkness.
Something deeper.
A darkness that seemed to absorb light.
Ethan took out his flashlight.
The beam disappeared after three meters.
Mia whispered:
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I."
They entered.
The door closed behind them.
Silence.
Ethan looked back.
The entrance was gone.
Mia grabbed his arm.
"We're trapped."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Don't panic."
"You always say that when things are about to get worse."
Ethan looked at her.
"Do I?"
She smiled faintly.
"You used to."
That sentence hit him.
Used to.
Before.
There was a life between them.
A real life.
A forgotten life.
Ethan remembered a kitchen.
Mia cooking.
Him stealing food from a plate.
Her laughing.
A small apartment.
Rain against the windows.
Then another memory.
Maya.
Standing in the same kitchen.
Crying.
The memories were overlapping.
Two women.
Two lives.
One truth.
Ethan stopped.
Mia looked at him.
"What?"
"I remember Maya."
"Your wife?"
"Yes."
"What do you remember?"
Ethan closed his eyes.
"She was afraid."
"Of you?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Of something happening to me."
The corridor ahead suddenly illuminated.
A series of doors appeared.
Each one had a number.
01
02
03
...
36
Then one final door.
37
Ethan's heart began pounding.
Mia stared.
"What are these?"
"Survivor rooms."
"Survivor?"
"The thirty-seven."
Ethan approached the first door.
A screen activated.
SURVIVOR 01
STATUS: DECEASED
Second door.
SURVIVOR 02
STATUS: DECEASED
Third.
SURVIVOR 03
STATUS: DECEASED
One after another.
Every survivor Ethan remembered was dead.
Mia looked at him.
"But you said they survived."
"They did."
"Then why are they dead?"
Ethan didn't answer.
He reached door 36.
The screen showed:
SURVIVOR 36
STATUS: ALIVE
Ethan froze.
He knew that survivor.
It was the strongest person he had ever encountered.
The man who had killed dozens of survivors during the final battle.
The man everyone called—
The King of the Wasteland.
Ethan stepped closer.
"Who is Survivor 36?"
Mia asked.
Ethan whispered:
"Me."
The screen changed.
SURVIVOR 36 — ETHAN CARTER
STATUS: TERMINATED
Mia stared.
"But you're alive."
Ethan's face went pale.
The screen continued.
MEMORY RESET: SUCCESSFUL
REINCARNATION CYCLE: 8
CURRENT CYCLE: ACTIVE
Ethan couldn't breathe.
"Cycle eight."
Mia grabbed his arm.
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
Ethan looked at her.
"This isn't my second life."
He swallowed.
"It's my eighth."
A loud mechanical sound came from the end of the corridor.
Door 37 opened.
A woman's voice came from inside.
Soft.
Familiar.
"You're late."
Ethan stopped breathing.
Mia looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Ethan knew the voice.
He had heard it in his memories.
In his dreams.
In the final moments before his death.
The voice belonged to the woman from the laboratory.
The woman who had promised they would meet again.
Ethan stepped toward the door.
"Maya?"
Silence.
Then the woman laughed softly.
"No."
The door opened completely.
A woman stood inside.
Long black hair.
White coat.
Pale skin.
And eyes that seemed to contain the entire night sky.
Ethan stared.
His heart stopped.
Because she wasn't Maya.
She wasn't Mia.
She was someone else.
Someone Ethan had completely forgotten.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"Hello, Ethan."
He couldn't speak.
She touched the glass beside her.
"Do you remember me?"
Ethan shook his head.
The woman smiled sadly.
"I knew you wouldn't."
Mia stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked at her.
Her expression changed.
"You."
Mia froze.
"You were never supposed to survive."
Mia's face went pale.
"What?"
The woman turned back toward Ethan.
"And now that you both remember..."
The lights inside the Tower suddenly turned red.
An alarm began screaming.
WARNING.
CYCLE 8 DESTABILIZATION DETECTED.
SUBJECTS 36 AND 72 HAVE RECONNECTED.
Ethan looked at the screen.
"Subjects 36 and 72?"
The woman nodded.
"You're 36."
She pointed at Mia.
"She's 72."
Ethan stared at Mia.
The woman whispered:
"And Maya..."
She paused.
"...is the one who controls the reset."
The Tower shook violently.
Then every door in the corridor opened at once.
Behind each door stood a person.
Thirty-six people.
Every one of them should have been dead.
Every one of them stared directly at Ethan.
Then they spoke together.
"Welcome back, Subject 36."
The woman in the white coat smiled.
"Now..."
She looked at Ethan.
"...let's see if you can finally survive your eighth life."
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