The laboratory was silent.
The endless tone from the heart monitor echoed through the room before the scientist finally reached over and switched it off.
Silence returned.
He stared at the young man sitting motionless in the chair.
"...No."
His voice cracked.
"No... this wasn't supposed to happen."
He rushed forward, checking his pulse again.
Nothing.
His heartbeat.
Nothing.
His pupils no longer reacted to light.
For nearly ten minutes, he tried everything he knew.
Chest compressions.
Defibrillation.
Adrenaline.
Artificial ventilation.
Every emergency procedure.
Nothing.
The body never responded.
Finally...
His hands slowly dropped to his sides.
"...You actually died."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"You idiot..."
"I told you."
"You really became my first customer."
The scientist sank to the floor, leaning against the operating chair.
For a long time, he simply sat there.
The laboratory, once filled with arguments and teasing, felt unbearably empty.
No one commented on his terrible coffee.
No one wandered around touching expensive equipment without permission.
No one smiled and asked,
«"Finished?"»
He lowered his head.
"...You really left first."
...
Hours passed.
The scientist finally stood.
His eyes had regained their calm.
He walked toward a large steel cabinet and removed a black backpack.
Inside were several passports.
Bundles of cash.
Encrypted hard drives.
A pistol.
Satellite phones.
Emergency medicine.
Everything they had prepared over the years in case one day they needed to disappear.
He looked around the laboratory.
Every machine...
Every computer...
Every sample...
Years of research.
Years of impossible experiments.
Years of crimes.
He pressed a small remote.
A calm electronic voice answered.
"Self-destruction sequence confirmed."
A timer appeared on every monitor.
30:00
He nodded once.
"There shouldn't be anything left."
He had no intention of letting anyone repeat his research.
Humanity wasn't ready.
Perhaps...
No one ever would be.
He returned to the operating room.
The young man still sat quietly in the chair.
Looking almost asleep.
The scientist pulled another chair beside him and sat down.
"...Remember the hospital?"
No answer.
"You stole the director's keys."
"I blamed the nurse."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You laughed for nearly an hour."
Silence.
"You said hospitals were boring."
"You said the world outside would be much more interesting."
His fingers tightened.
"...You were right."
He looked at his friend's peaceful face.
"You know..."
"I never thanked you."
"If you hadn't escaped with me..."
"I would've spent my life locked inside that hospital."
"You gave me freedom."
"You gave me unlimited funding."
"You gave me subjects."
"You even let me use your own brain as my laboratory."
The scientist chuckled quietly.
"...What an absurd friendship."
To anyone else...
It would have sounded insane.
Perhaps it was.
But they had never needed ordinary friendships.
They never lied to each other.
They never judged each other.
That was enough.
The countdown continued.
18:42
The scientist slowly stood.
He disconnected every wire from the body with surprising care.
Then he adjusted his friend's black shirt and brushed away the dried blood from the corner of his mouth.
"You hated looking untidy."
He stepped back.
"...Goodbye."
He turned toward the exit.
His hand reached the door.
Then...
He stopped.
"...No."
He laughed at himself.
"You'd call me a hypocrite."
He slowly turned around.
"You once asked me..."
"'If I die first, will you keep living?'"
"I answered yes."
"...I lied."
The scientist walked back to the operating chair.
He pulled another chair beside it and sat down.
The countdown reached...
09:11
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
"You've always hated waiting."
"So..."
"I'll save you the trouble."
He took a small injector from his pocket.
Without hesitation...
He pressed it against his neck.
A soft click echoed through the room.
The poison entered his bloodstream.
It was one of his own creations.
Painless.
Fast.
His breathing gradually slowed.
A weak smile appeared on his face.
"You always said..."
"'Being alone sounds boring.'"
"I agree."
His vision blurred.
The timer reached...
00:15
He turned his head toward his friend's lifeless body one last time.
"...I'm coming."
The final seconds disappeared.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The underground laboratory vanished beneath a sea of fire.
No research survived.
No evidence remained.
No trace of the two men who had once escaped from a forgotten psychiatric hospital.
To the world...
They had never existed.
Far away...
In a luxury hospital overlooking Sydney Harbour...
A long, continuous tone suddenly echoed through another room.
One life had just ended.
Another was about to begin.
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