Episode 5

Chapter 5

The First Secret

Suddenly...

For the first time...

The calmness on Vincent's face began to fade.

As though the two simple words engraved on the door...

Had touched a wound buried so deep inside him...

That even time had never been able to heal it.

Isabelle looked at him instinctively.

"Project E-13..."

she repeated softly.

"What is it?"

Vincent didn't answer immediately.

For a few long moments, he simply stood there, his eyes fixed on the nameplate.

Then, very slowly...

He reached for the handle...

And pushed the door open.

Creak...

The old wooden door groaned as it slowly opened.

A mixture of dust and damp air drifted out from inside.

The room was completely silent.

The kind of silence...

That made it feel as though time itself had stopped here.

Isabelle stepped inside cautiously.

Large worktables stood across the room.

Old computers.

Stacks of files.

Glass laboratory bottles.

Complicated diagrams pinned to the walls.

Everything was still there.

Yet...

A thick layer of dust covered every surface.

It looked as if the people working there had left only for a few minutes...

And then...

Never returned.

Isabelle's eyes wandered slowly around the room.

"This place..."

she whispered.

"...has been abandoned for twelve years?"

Vincent gave a slight nod.

"Yes."

Just one word.

Yet within that single word...

Lay twelve years of silence.

She looked back at him.

"What happened here?"

For the first time...

She noticed an exhaustion in Vincent's eyes.

Not the exhaustion of sleepless nights...

But of someone...

Who had carried the same pain for years.

Without another word...

He walked toward an old cabinet standing in the corner of the room.

Opening it, he revealed dozens of carefully arranged files.

He pulled one out.

Across its cover, bold black letters read—

PROJECT E-13

Isabelle instinctively stepped closer.

She reached for the file.

But...

Vincent gently caught her hand.

"Not yet."

His voice was softer than before.

"Some secrets..."

"...if uncovered before their time..."

"...become too heavy for a person to carry."

Isabelle slowly lowered her hand.

For the first time...

She realised something.

Vincent wasn't merely hiding the truth.

He was...

Trying to protect her from it.

But why?

That question had become heavier than ever.

Just then...

Her eyes fell upon an old photograph hanging on the wall.

She walked closer.

With trembling fingers, she brushed away the layer of dust.

The picture slowly became clear.

Several researchers stood together in white lab coats.

Every one of them was smiling.

In the centre...

Stood Vincent.

The same face.

The same eyes.

The same age.

Beneath the photograph...

Only one date was written.

12 Years Ago

Isabelle's hands began to tremble.

She slowly pointed toward the picture.

"Is..."

"...that really you?"

Vincent looked at the photograph for a long moment.

As though silently saying goodbye to a memory he had never managed to leave behind.

Then...

Very quietly...

He spoke.

"That day..."

"...time moved on."

"...It simply forgot to take me with it."

✦ To Be Continued... ✦

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