Chapter 47: Why? 8(Flashback)
The holographic projection flickered, its soft blue-white glow casting shifting patterns on the cold, metallic walls of the underground hideout. Shadows danced and twisted in its light, distorting the confined space as if the walls were breathing.
The room was silent, save for the faint hum of the recording system and the sound of Alex’s heartbeat, a slow, pounding rhythm echoing in his ears.
Alex sat motionless, his breath shallow. His hands gripped his knees so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His muscles were locked, and tension coiling in his limbs like a caged beast ready to spring.
His eyes remained fixed on the wavering figure before him—the woman who had given him life, the mother he had lost. Yet, here she was, her image frozen in time, speaking across the void of the past.
Then, her voice filled the space again—gentle yet firm, tinged with the weight of decisions made long ago. It was the voice that had soothed him as a child, the voice that had guided him through his first steps, the voice that had been torn from his world far too soon.
"I’m sure you’re wondering why we didn’t try again. Why didn’t we take another risk, open another portal, search for another world."
Her expression in the hologram was calm, but her eyes betrayed her—holding something deeper, something layered with exhaustion, regret, and unwavering resolve. They were the eyes of someone who had fought battles unseen, carried burdens no one else could comprehend, and made choices that no mother should ever have to make.
Alex swallowed hard. The lump in his throat felt like a boulder, immovable, suffocating.
"Maybe the next world could’ve been a paradise."
A pause. A breath. The silence between her words pressed down on him, heavy with unspoken possibilities.
"Maybe we could have found salvation somewhere else. A home. A place where you, your siblings, and everyone we love could live without fear."