"When I first saw it? Or have you encountered them before?" Alex asked, his eyes scanning Kai's expression.
Kai fell into a contemplative silence, staring at the 'T'-shaped logo in the center of the piece he was holding. After a while, he replied in a solemn tone,"This symbol you see—it's the same mark I've seen on every man I've killed since ancient times. I call them travelers. They come to Earth at regular intervals. I don't know where they're from, but my guess is they belong to a private company from the future—"
"That's impossible," Alex interrupted, cutting him off. "I thought I was the only one capable of time travel. Are there others besides me who can do it?"
"That's what makes it strange," Kai said thoughtfully. "I considered going to the High Council of Kaizen to investigate this, but no one had any information. Logan says it's impossible to capture them because of their auto-destruct protocol. But there's more—I need to share this with you."
Kai picked up the key from his bed, headed to the door, and stepped outside. As soon as Alex followed him through, he realized the entire place had changed. The gloomy hostel was gone. Now, he found himself deep underground, in a place he had never seen before. Kai must've changed the environment again using the room number.
Cold metal walls, flickering lights, and complex control panels suggested this place was unlike anything from their current time. Surrounded by gray walls and overflowing with instruments, the room resembled a high-tech research or military base. After passing through a few security gates, Kai entered a sterile, all-gray room.
Standing in the middle of the room, Kai began making gestures as if touching something invisible in the air. His fingers danced with precision, as if executing carefully practiced commands. As Alex waited impatiently, a series of holographic projections suddenly filled the space.
"When Kaizen developed this technology, I started analyzing the parts I collected. I specifically tried to understand where the data stream from these pieces originated. There was so much data, I was drowning in it. But then... I discovered that everything pointed to a common link in the 1980s."
Under Alex's astonished gaze, Kai expanded the display even further."When I examined the mission templates, I saw that the travelers had multiple targets. But the focus of every single one was to capture you—no matter where or when you were. Their problem was they didn't know your exact time. Clearly, they had to send agents to every era regularly because of this."
There was a marked seriousness on Kai's face."And it's not just you. Their side missions include interrogating and killing your mother or father the moment they find them—wherever and whenever that may be."
It was hard for Alex to process. His family... they had done nothing. Or had they been part of this from the beginning? All he knew about his parents was that their lives had always been shrouded in mystery. Investigating that secret had always scared him—as if learning the truth would turn his entire world upside down.
Staring at a spot on the floor, Alex asked quietly, "Why would they target my family? If their goal is to capture me, and they kill them before I'm born, then they'd never reach their goal. That... doesn't make any sense."
Kai, lost in thought, instinctively placed his hand on his chin and looked at Alex silently. After a pause, he asked,"Alex, do you have any birth records, any photos from your infancy?"
Alex widened his eyes in surprise. "What do you mean?" he said, beginning to suspect Kai knew or had realized something.
Kai hesitated, uncertainty flickering in his eyes."Forget it. Just ignore what I said," he dismissed. "I don't know why your parents were marked for execution, but clearly, they must've pissed someone off."While expanding another set of holographic data, he displayed Alex's family tree on the screen. But only his parents' names were visible—nothing else.
"Look, kid, I have access to every database on this planet," Kai said as he rapidly scanned the data. "But even with that, your mother and father are nothing more than sealed boxes. No known residence, no past, no ancestry."
Alex, overwhelmed by pent-up anger and confusion, shouted,"Damn it! I can't take this anymore. I need to focus and get to 1995. I'm ending this now!"
Seeing Alex's outburst, Kai seemed to have expected such a reaction. He quickly stepped forward and spoke calmly,"Come on, get a grip. How do you know your emotions will even take you to the right year? You might never make it back to this timeline. Emotional choices can drag you to very dark places. Don't let that be your final decision. There's something else I need to tell you."
Trying to suppress his anger, Alex took a deep breath. He reluctantly admitted to himself that Kai had a point. Without saying anything, he kept listening.
"Three years ago, by chance, I ran into a traveler at the very hostel I'm staying in now. He was different from the others—he was the first one to escape me without leaving a trace. He passed by like he was fleeing a war. I wrecked the whole building trying to catch that bastard. Do you believe I had to pay for all the repairs myself?"
As Alex approached Kai's room, he couldn't help but imagine the damage. This guy must've turned destroying his favorite hostel into a regular activity. Just as he was about to comment, a visual alert interrupted his thoughts.
As Kai opened the incoming data, the strange look on his face was unmistakable."By Merlin's beard!" he yelled. "That guy I told you about—his trace was found at the hostel last night! Look at this place! How the hell did I miss it? Maybe I drank too much last night… I'm definitely getting banned this time. Damn it!"
"It's not the fact that you don't remember what you did that bothers me. It's that you're more upset about losing your stupid hostel—"
"Hey!" Kai cut in. "It's got the best food menu. Even has a name. Elites..."
Alex rubbed his forehead and groaned,"You named your secret class after a food menu?"
"Hey, if it weren't for me, you still wouldn't know what pizza was. Oh, check this out."Kai pulled up police footage from that morning and pointed to the image of the traveler from three years ago."Maybe your family doesn't know anything, but he definitely does. I'm sure of it."
"Catching him won't help," Alex objected. "Did you forget about the auto-destruct?"
Kai zoomed in on the footage and pointed at the bloodstains on screen."Look at that, Alex. He's injured. Every other one I've fought has self-destructed without spilling a drop. But this... this is different. Looks like his armor's malfunctioned. You need to go back to yesterday and bring him here. A one-day jump won't be a problem for you, right?"
Alex knew this was their only safe shot at finding answers. He'd seen the hostel and remembered the people inside. That would help him pinpoint the right moment. If he chose to find his father instead, he could get stuck in a wrong timeline, in a house he couldn't recall. That was a risk he couldn't afford.
"I guess it's the only thing we can do," he said, taking a deep breath. Then he turned to Kai with a frown."By the way, as my mentor, I kinda expected you to suggest a safer plan. How are you so sure I can beat this guy?"
Kai flinched as Alex raised his voice, then rubbed his eyes."What? Oh... sorry. Still hungover," he muttered, pulling a key from his pocket."Here. The key to the room I stayed in at the hostel. If you need help, you can wake me, but I really wouldn't recommend it—for your own safety. Drunk me hates you."He opened the door to the new room. "Once you step through, you'll be in the hostel. You can travel back to last night from there."
Alex hoped that Kai wouldn't turn out to be the second cause of last night's destruction. Dealing with Kai—drunk or sober—was the last thing he wanted.
As he stepped through Kai's special door, he found himself in the chaotic remains of the hostel. It was already morning. As the police noticed him, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began replaying the events of the previous night in his mind. After a few more shouts from the officers, everything slowly faded into silence.