"Are you sure it's him?"

  "It's hard to be sure after all this time, but he is very similar."

  "You know we can't gamble everything we’ve built for ‘similar.’"

  "Then we'll keep watching and listening. He doesn't talk enough for the voice recognition software, but maybe he'll say something we can use to confirm."

  "And you're absolutely certain they're in the dark, too?"

  "Please, if they knew, do you really think he would be thrown in with the rest like that?"

  "I had to ask."

  "I know."

  "It's just that so much time has passed. Everyone thought he was dead until you came along. Even then, I had lost hope when we couldn't find him."

  "Yeah, well, I think we found him this time. Although, like I said, four plus years under those conditions can make a person unrecognizable."

  "Hold on... Look, something's going down."

  "I see it."

  "Mobilize everyone and tell them to wait for my command."

  "Roger."

  ***Nik***

  Nik’s thoughts whirled frantically as he was escorted out of the mines. Prisoners scurried away at the sight of Toma and the pair of stone-faced guards flanking Nik. The blockhouse loomed menacingly before him, with Maks’s shadowed figure waiting like a spider who just caught its next meal.

  Only twenty minutes prior, Nik was just another face in the line, awaiting his turn to empty the contents of his wheelbarrow into the STM bin. One of the prisoners in front of him was trying to lift his own wheelbarrow so he could tilt his contents into the STM.

  It was clumsiness or weakness due to his time in the prison camp, but he had lost his balance. The wheelbarrow careened sideways, knocking into the STM's circuitry components. With a loud thud, it cracked through the outer shielding, letting out a few sparks. Power to the STM module was abruptly severed, plunging the vicinity into ominous silence.

  It took less than a second for Watchguard Emery to knock the prisoner to the ground and press the barrel of his gun to the man's head.

  "You idiot!" he shouted hysterically, causing everyone to freeze in fear. "Breaking the bin earns ya a faceful o’ lead!" The man at his feet cowered and cried.

  "Wait!" Nik yelled, holding up his hands. "Don't kill him, please." The guard eyed him dangerously.

  "If you don' give me a good reason righ' now, you'll be next," he hissed.

  "I... I can fix it," Nik stammered, desperation evident in his voice. "Please, allow me to inspect it."

  "Watch ya mean fix it?" Emery asked suspiciously.

  "If I can fix the STM. Will you let us live?" Nik said as calmly as he could. "If it can't be fixed, then we're both already dead, right? What could it hurt to try?" He kept his hands frozen in the air. The guard looked down at the cowering prisoner below him and then back at the STM. Nik could see him working things out.

  If Warden Maks discovered the broken STM, it would likely be Emery's neck on the line. Nik prayed that this was what the Watchguard was thinking.

  "Fine, 'git to 'er," he said after a few more tense seconds.

  "Thank you," Nik said, moving over to the STM. He cleared the debris from the wheelbarrow and pried open the dented outer shielding with his pickaxe. He blew out the dust that had found its way inside and began to study the circuitry.

  "Shit," He mumbled when he saw the damage on the two primary boards. There were two primary boards for system redundancy, but both had sustained a small degree of damage. That would explain the system's failure.

  A hush descended upon the mine as the crowd observed Nik at work. Even the odious Emery sported a pensive expression, oddly contrasting his freckled visage. Nik's fingers started tracing the path of wires. The only sound was the sniffling prisoner trapped beneath Emery’s shotgun barrels.

  Nik’s jaw clenched while dissecting the labyrinth of leads entwined through the pair of circuit boards. With delicate precision, he disengaged the system coupling and started arranging the wires. Many were frayed from the forceful impact, but a sigh of relief escaped him upon finding enough intact wiring to make repairs.

  He hastily reconnected the coupling and shifted his attention to the main STM terminal. The wait for the terminal to boot up seemed to last an eternity, causing Nik's breath to catch in his chest.

  When he saw the small work screen flash to life, Nik felt the tension release from his chest. In theory, it was possible to reroute individual STM functions through the surviving sections of each primary board. But it would take minutes of nerve-wracking work.

  Without missing a beat, Nik plunged into the STM's fundamental system code. Time seemed to stretch endlessly as he painstakingly adjusted the programming, one line at a time.

  When he finished, he gave it a quick look back and ran a simulation sub-routine. After seeing the green status indicators, he nodded at Emery.

  "Aight', dumb a barrow in it," he ordered. One of the prisoners stepped forward and poured the remainder of the tipped wheelbarrow's contents into the bin. Nik started the initialization procedure and waited quietly. He could feel the air in the room grow tense. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

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  Three, two, one.

  ZZZRRrrrrpp!

  The STM fired. Emery peered inside when the bin opened again, keeping his gun fixed on the prisoner's face. After a moment, he slowly withdrew it and looked at Nik curiously.

  "How come you could fix it?" he asked.

  "How indeed," another sinister voice asked. Nik whirled around to see Overseer Toma with a threatening grin.

  Now, Nik found himself being escorted to the center yard before the blockhouse. Waiting for him was the silhouette of the Warden, draped in his ominous trenchcoat. Nik was thrown down at the Warden’s feet in the wet gravel.

  "I have been told about your exploits." He didn't have the same bored voice that Nik had remembered. "I also remember seeing you when I offered additional accommodations for those with STM expertise." Nik felt a weight drop in the pit of his stomach. He didn't think the Warden had remembered him.

  "So now that I know you were hiding this, I must assume you are a liar." He nodded to the guards standing over Nik. They hoisted him to his feet and steered him to a pole running cables around the facility. They zip-tied his hands around it and lassoed his neck to its cold surface with a leather strap.

  "I will give you the same questions I asked during our first encounter. This time, you will give me proper answers or face corrective actions." Nik could sense Maks's predatory presence somewhere behind him. He felt a sharp pain in his back as one of the guards split the back of his shirt with a knife. Nik winced from being cut the length of his back. He could already feel blood trickling down his skin.

  "Where are you from?" Maks suddenly asked.

  "The former United States," Nik said honestly.

  "Good. Now, do you know the whereabouts of Dr. Ariel Sai?"

  "No, I thought he died in the Trinity Attack," Nik answered. A sudden crack rang out, sending a shockwave of pain through Nik's body. He let out a hideous scream as his legs buckled under the agony. The leather strap on his neck held him upright on the pole.

  "That is a plausible answer but ultimately unhelpful. So we will move on," the Warden said. Nik could already feel himself going lightheaded.

  "Tell me exactly who you are and where you learned so much about STMs," Maks commanded.

  "I…" Nik didn't know what to do.

  Crack!

  The harsh sting of another lash sent shuddering tremors of pain coursing through Nik's body, wrenching a strangled scream from his throat. His vision wavered alarmingly.

  "Answer promptly, please," warned Maks. "Tell me who you are."

  "Edy, Aydin Sai," he said between sobs.

  Crack!

  Nik screamed again after the third strike but was cut short when the air left his lungs too quickly. He felt streams of blood rolling down his back, soaking his pants.

  "I think we both know that is a lie," Maks said venomously. "Now answer me proper-proper. Who are you?" Nik remained silent. He couldn't tell them, no matter what. Who knows what they would make him do if they found out?

  Crack!

  "Answer me!" he shouted. Nik felt blood in his mouth. He bit his tongue, trying not to scream.

  Crack!

  "Who are you!" Nik could feel blood running down his legs.

  Crack!

  What is your name!" The blood had spilled into his shoes. The snow around Nik had been stained a bright scarlet.

  Crack!

  "What!"

  Crack!

  "Is!"

  Crack!

  "Your!"

  Crack!

  "Name!"

  CRACK!

  The words finally erupted out of the deepest recesses of Nik's mind.

  "Niklos Krylov!" He screamed in agony.

  ***Maks***

  A chilling silence engulfed the camp as the horrifying confession hung in the air. The man being whipped had screamed the name Niklos Krylov. Even the Warden, usually a fortress of composure, was rendered speechless. His whip dangled limply at his side. A rare expression of uncertainty crossed his face.

  These words shouldn’t have left this man’s lips. After all, the reports suggested Niklos Krylov had been dead for some time. Now, this heap of a man, broken before everyone, claimed to be somebody whose very name carried an undeniable mystique.

  "Krylov?" A low murmuring of whispers carried across the tongues of guards and prisoners alike. Warden Maks glanced across the open yard to the gathering onlookers. A moment later, anger erupted from his face.

  "Liar!" His voice tore through the air, charged with unmasked rage, as he brandished his whip once more.

  Ka-Kroom!

  Without warning, a deafening explosion erupted, violently shaking the very foundation of the headquarters building. Debris from the ruins that used to be its roof rained down on the courtyard, sending everyone scattering. The Warden could only look up in disbelief before another series of explosions followed.

  He jerked his attention back down, looking for their origin. A massive breach was made in the wall encircling the camp, and a group of small armored vehicles poured in. Gunners stationed atop the vehicles wasted no time, unleashing a hailstorm of bullets onto the closest defensive structures.

  The Warden bolted for the reinforced headquarters building. He glanced back angrily at Nik.

  "God damn it, don’t lose him!” Maks’ command went unheard when a torrent of bullets nearly shredded him to bits.

  **Nik**

  On the brink of unconsciousness, Nik barely registered the feel of firm hands seizing his arms, the persistent pain and blood loss dragging him steadily toward oblivion. He felt his hands cut loose and his neck freed from the icy pole.

  "Get him on the stretcher, and mind his wounds," he heard a voice. "You've got thirty seconds tops to get him to the back. We need to extract ourselves from this place now.”

  "He's lost a lot of bl-"

  "I know, and we'll handle that later," the voice interrupted sternly. "For now, the best medical treatment we can offer is to get him somewhere safe."

  As Nik was hoisted and carried swiftly away, the world around him dissolved into an indistinct haze. He couldn't tell if he was outside anymore.

  Something about that voice kept tugging at him. He had heard it somewhere before. The tantalizing recognition tugged at him, but the memory slipped from his grasp as unconsciousness swept over him like a black tide.

  Sometime later...

  "How is he?"

  "Stable. The ketamine should be enough to relieve the pain, and the antibiotics should prevent infection.”

  What was happening? The murky pool of Nik’s mind was desperately trying to find a memory to stand on, yet his only link to reality was those familiar voices. The world was drenched in an unsettling dimness. Maybe he was back in the mine. Nik was having trouble remembering anything. His body hurt, and everything felt strangely far away.

  "It's hard to grasp... That it's really Nik." The voice, distinctly feminine, tugged at a distant memory within Nik.

  "Me neither." This other voice was male.

  "Do you think... could this mean things will turn for the better?" Her voice hinted at a cautious glimmer of hope.

  "I don't know, but it's okay to be optimistic." His voice sounded warm.

  "Warm?" Nik thought. Gradually, a weak glimmer of light pierced his semi-closed lids, awakening his senses.

  "He's awake! Should I make the announcement?" The male voice was practically vibrating with excitement.

  "Honey, you need to give him a damn second. Everyone can wait a little longer," the woman's voice said firmly.

  "Yes, dear." Nik could discern a pair of shapes in front of him. One was average size, but the other was so large it nearly blocked out the light behind it.

  "Val?" Nik mumbled.

  "Ha! It-is-alive!" Valentine's joy-filled exclamation echoed around them.

  "Oh shut up, you big ass," Erica scolded.

  "Yes, ma'am." Valentine quieted down.

  The blurry shapes started to coalesce, revealing one figure with jet-black hair framing almond-shaped eyes. The larger one had blonde hair and an enormous shit-eating grin stretching from ear to ear.

  "Welcome back, friend." At the sound of Valentine's voice, a warmth bloomed within Nik that he thought was gone forever. It was music to his ears.