The door to Thirteen's room banged open, startling him upright. Black-clad soldiers flooded the small, white space and stalked towards him. Without a pause, one soldier grabbed Thirteen's arm and yanked him off the sheets. It took all his might to right himself and stumble along just to avoid being dragged across the smooth floor like a rag doll. He stumbled out of the room, and the last soldier slammed the door shut. Was it his turn in the memory-wipe thing?

A grunt resounded from his left. The mass of bodies multiplied as more soldiers escorted Jocasta and Ji-yeon who did nothing but squirm and make the whole process longer and more painful. Alon and Kevan brought up the front, sandwiching Thirteen in the middle. He'd have preferred the rear, however.

Visors flashed turquoise against the pin lights. With most soldiers standing a head taller than him, he tried peeking past the rigid shield. Just to see if there was a real human underneath the helmets and pads. A mouth and probably a face, but no humans. They stopped being one the moment they agreed to work for Primeva. Even if they didn't have a choice, having been robbed of their ability to think and determine their lives meant they ceased to be humans.

They walked forward, towards the dead end. Only it wasn't a dead end. The soldier leading the entire team stopped in front of the wall and raised a hand. Something beeped, and a deep whirring rumbled from the ground and the ceiling. The wall slid apart, betraying a darker corridor beyond. Blue rods snaked across the floor, giving the connecting corridor an eerie but calming air.

Then, the procession resumed. Thirteen kept an eye on the lead soldier's back. There has got to be sensors somewhere, tasked to scan anyone who came upon their radius. He'd have no problem believing it would alert the entire building should it not recognize the biometrics it was presented with. That was how Primeva kept an eye on them without needing to place visible guards at every joint.

He looked up. The ceiling was as pristine as ever, albeit shades darker than the one they left. Nothing caught his attention. Not a glitch in its security. No other way out, either. The corridor only directed linear movement. One way in, and one way out.

After a few minutes of footsteps echoing across the hollow hallway, they arrived in front of an expansive room with a tinted square window and a simple wooden door. A golden name plaque glowed from the upper mullion, catching the faint blue light as the lead soldier yanked the door open. One by one, they were thrown inside. Before Thirteen could lunge and duck back out, the leader swung the door closed. The sound of a clicking lock rang from the other side. Trapped. They were trapped.

He forced his clenched fists to relax, exhaling the heaviest breath in the history of man. Jocasta whirled around the room first. Her hair was in disarray, the strands from the back sticking outwards. He didn't know if it was just because of the shadows or something else, but strands of black hair peeked between the white locks. Has it always been that way?

"I see you made it to my humble abode," a silky voice rippled across the room. Thirteen pushed past Jocasta and Kevan to see a man standing in the middle of the room even though no one entered through the door. This must be his office.

"Jean Jacques Shaw," Thirteen said, his tone dropping into a dangerous edge. If he lunged at the man, would they kill him on the spot? Freezing all the organs in Shaw's body had never felt so possible, so...close. "You finally show yourself."

Shaw tipped his head at them. "Not quite, but I'll avail," he said. A cane tapped against the wooden floorboards as he faced them fully. "What are you waiting for? Go on. Sit."

He waved his hand towards the couch and lounge chairs pressed against the wall with the window. Should a soldier shoot through the glass, it would pierce the back of their heads in an instant. No thanks.

When none of them moved, sticking closer to the side wall instead, Shaw sighed. "Suit yourself," he resigned. He remained standing too. "You might be wondering why I called you here."

"Let's get to the point." Ji-yeon stepped forward. For a second, Thirteen thought lasers would shoot from the ceiling or the floor and fry her to a crisp. Nothing happened. "You are going to kill us, yes?"

A chuckle ripped out of Shaw. He tapped his finger on the top of his cane. Thirteen squinted at it, trying to find a pattern. A message. Something. "I am not that heartless," the billionaire said. "Before we get to the killing part, I am inclined to give you a choice first."

When silence greeted him, his companions running out of edgy quips, Shaw continued. "Firstly, I applaud you for how well you finished your Game." He started pacing, the cane doing a third legwork against the floorboards. "I have been watching you and admire your tenacity and teamwork. But it's all thanks to one person, correct?"

Everyone's eyes flashed towards Thirteen, making him shirk closer to the wall. "AR-16128, you have every right to be given this proposition, and since I am feeling generous, I will extend the invitation to your friends as well."

Thirteen kept his face passive. "I don't have friends," he replied. "Make sure you drill that into your balding head."

A dark cloud passed across Shaw's eyes. Oh, that hit a nerve. Good. "Point taken, AR-16128," Shaw replied with a nod. "How do you feel about joining my elite corps? You and your allies have demonstrated competent skills to make you eligible. What do you say?"

"What's the job description?" Kevan asked. Despite having an ability that he couldn't turn off, he couldn't seem to read Shaw's mind. Hence, him asking questions out loud. "There must be a catch."

Shaw gave them a small smile. It didn't even reach his eyes. To him, dealing with children must be a handful. The wrinkles on his forehead bore witness to that. "You will travel around the world in hopes to secure wandering assets like you once have been," he replied. "And you will continue to do so should the need arise in the future. You don't even need to be distributed across other units. I am open for negotiation to keep your team as is."

"Will we get our freedom in return?" Alon prompted. "As it is, it sounds like you're just looking to trap us in a different way compared to the Game. After taking us from our families, locking us inside an abandoned city, and forcing us to kill each other, I don't think you're in the right place to talk to us and live."

"Youth does bring its merits," Shaw muttered under his breath. A bit louder, he said, "Let's address that, shall we? I didn't take you away from your families. They have no desire for you in the first place. The only thing I did is to take the burden off their shoulders and offer them a chance to start anew."

Shaw stopped inches away from Thirteen, a gentle smile masking the ill intent he had hiding behind those sharp eyes. A monocle glinted against the eerie lights, turning his eyes into a deep shade of gray. "I am a visionary, with the aim to change the world. To rid it from the practices that lead to its ruin," he said. "What countries couldn't do, The Corrector does. What remains to be done, I finish."

"There has always been a problem with population numbers for the last decade," Shaw said. "I am only doing what most governments are afraid of. Unwanted children like yourselves are dictated by society and culture to be aimless. Lost. Without purpose."

He touched his chest. "I give meaning to your lives, by giving you a chance to be part of something bigger. Of something...legendary," he said. "You are now unique and wonderful creatures thanks to the Founding Chip. Thanks to me and the work my father has started."

What Shaw said was wrong on a thousand different levels. A shiver ran down his spine. How many people had the Shaws killed with that mindset? How much more lives would they touch, and how much were they ruining now?

"You might believe we should be indebted to you or something, but we're not." Jocasta shook her head. "You didn't give us purpose. You're just a villain who thinks a little bit of money makes you the ruler of the world. Count me out. I don't want to have anything to do with this."

Shaw chuckled again. "My dear, money is the world's rotor," he said. "I hope you remember that for the years to come. If they do come your way. But I thank you for your honesty. How about the others?"

With nothing happening to Jocasta, the others declined as well. If Noak's claim was true, they'd be on the running for the memory wipe. Even though they resisted, they would just end up in the same place they tried running from. They have to figure out a way to escape before that happened.

"And you, AR-16128," Shaw said, calling Thirteen's attention. "Do you feel the same way as your allies?"

He leveled his gaze at The Corrector. "I will bring Primeva to the ground," he said. "That is the only link I want to have to do with you."

Shaw's calculative stare didn't change. Didn't even twitch. "Bold claim," he answered. "Let's wait for that, shall we?"

"And for the record, I am not AR-16128."

"Oh? Who are you then?" Shaw asked as an obvious attempt at humoring him.

He looked straight into The Corrector's eyes. This was the man who wrecked his life under the guise of giving him the mercy and acceptance he wasn't given. With a level voice, he replied, "I am Thirteen."