"But what if your current general believes that wiping out a huge portion of humanity is the only way to control the spread of the Lost?" Medeia asked in such a sharp tone. "Would you just stand by and let him go through with something that extreme?"
Max opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue, but he couldn’t find a way to refute her words.
Lucian leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Tell me, what kind of survivors were you ordered to eliminate?"
Medeia found it hard to believe that they had wiped out an entire city. After all, most cities had already turned into ghost towns, filled with nothing but decayed corpses and scattered bones.
Ethan hesitated before answering, "They ... they were just a group of scientists." He swallowed. "There are four of them, three men and one woman. At first, our general asked them to join the military base, but they refused without a second thought."
"To this day, I still don’t understand, how did the general even know they were scientists?" Max asked, clearly baffled. "They just looked like homeless people when we first brought them in."
"Wait, brought them in?" Ren chimed in, still munching on a raw cucumber. "So you actually took them into your military base ... and then they ran away?"
That was incredible, how a group of scientists managed to escape from a base filled with highly trained soldiers.
Ethan nodded, his expression darkening. "That’s exactly what happened. Our job was to rescue any survivors we found and bring them in."
"We thought they were just regular people trying to survive, but the second the general saw their faces, he ordered us to take them somewhere more ... private."
The details of their conversation remained a mystery, but in the end, the General gave a simple order, locking them up in the basement.
However, before they could be thrown inside, the scientists tossed sleeping powder at the guards.
The soldiers barely had time to react before their bodies slumped to the ground, unconscious. And just like that, the scientists vanished, slipping through a crack in the base’s walls.
When the General found out, his fury was immediate. He didn’t just order their capture, but he demanded their execution.
"He told us it was our responsibility," Ethan said. "Since we were the ones who brought them into the base, we had to be the ones to clean up the mess."
Ethan gripped the edge of the table. "The General said they were a group of dangerous scientists, monsters in disguise. He swore they were a threat to humanity’s future and that we had to eliminate them before they could do any real damage." He let out a slow breath. "And at first ... I believed him."
Medeia leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Then?" she asked, her voice filled with curiosity. "What changed? What made you and your comrades turn your backs on the military?"
"The scientists ..." Ethan hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully. "They told us they used to be military researchers from Country B. But after the former general died, they tried to escape. They didn’t want to serve the lieutenant. They didn’t want to follow the mayor. They wanted out."
His next words came quieter. "Because the military was doing something so inhumane ... they refused to be a part of it anymore."
Medeia narrowed her eyes.
Even though she didn’t say a word, she and Lucian had reached the same conclusion, the current general was conducting the same experiments as Orlon. But this time, he had been far more successful.
However, without solid proof, they couldn’t jump to that conclusions just yet.
"No one believed their explanation right away," Ethan said. "Even I thought they were just making up a story to escape again."
But then, one of them pulled out something, a worn-out name tag, its edges frayed with time. It was proof that they had once worked for the B Country military as a researcher.
Even though the photo on the tag was faded and barely resembled its owner now, Ethan could still see the similarities in their features.
"They were telling the truth," he murmured, looking away. "They really were scientists."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
"At this point ... I don’t even know who we’re supposed to trust anymore." His fingers curled into fists as he struggled to find the right words. "But then... they gave us something else."
Ethan hesitated, and when he took too long to continue, Max spoke up instead. "They told us about the Omega Project."
The moment those words left his mouth, Medeia noticed Lucian’s expression changed, his eyes widened, just for a second, before he forced himself back into his usual composure.
"What’s the Omega Project?" Naomi asked.
Max recounted what he remembered. "They didn’t give us many details, but basically, the military ordered special forces to eliminate people in various cities. Their goal was to control the human population so we wouldn’t have to deal with so many of the Lost." His gaze locked onto Medeia. "It’s exactly like you said before."
Medeia feigned ignorance, tilting her head slightly. "Well, what can I say? I have a talent for guessing." Her expression darkened slightly as she continued, "Did they have any proof? Footage, documents? Did they give you any names of those responsible?"
Max nodded. "They showed us footage from the massacre." His jaw tensed. "One of them had the ability to manipulate electricity, so he managed to power up a dead camera. And ... the recording wasn’t fake. It was real."
Under the table, Medeia’s grip tightened around Lucian’s hand. She asked more questions. "What about the soldiers? Did you see their faces?"
The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Then, suddenly—
Naomi slammed her hands against the table, making the plates jump. "That’s disgusting!" she exploded, her eyes blazing with rage. "How could they do that?! These were innocent people! Families! And they just—" She clenched her fists, her shoulders trembling.
For once, no one had anything to say. Because, deep down, they all knew the worst part of it all.
The military wasn’t fighting to save humanity.
They were playing gods.
And one of them was sitting right there in the same room.