The moment Paul and Veronica entered OPESTM headquarters, they knew something was wrong.
The building was in chaos.
Soldiers rushed through the main corridor. Officers shouted orders from one side of the hall to the other. Security teams stood near the central entrance, weapons ready, while several senior officers argued beside the security desk.
They continued through the crowd.
The atmosphere was strange.
It wasn't the kind of panic caused by an attack. There were no alarms, no emergency announcements, no wounded soldiers being carried away.
Everyone simply looked confused. And everyone was talking about the same person.
De Nemo.
OPESTM's strongest soldier. The man who had once been considered the most dangerous living weapon on Earth. The man who trained until his body could barely withstand his own strength. The man who had disappeared without a trace.
And now he had returned. Just like that. Paul finally saw him near the security checkpoint. He stopped walking. Veronica stopped beside him.
De Nemo was sitting on a bench.
He was wearing a gray hoodie and loose pajama pants.
His hair was messy. His face looked tired, but not from battle. He looked like someone who had spent the morning doing absolutely nothing and had suddenly decided to leave the house.
He was scrolling through his phone. Paul stared. This was not the De Nemo he remembered. The old De Nemo never looked relaxed.
He stood straight. Spoke little. Watched everything. Even when he was doing nothing, he looked prepared to destroy something.
This De Nemo looked like he had just woken up from a nap. A security officer stood in front of him.
- Sir, please remain seated.
De Nemo didn't look up.
- Yeah, sure.
The officer glanced at the other guards.
- You understand that you're currently being detained under OPESTM security protocol?
- Yep.
- Do you intend to resist?
De Nemo finally looked up.
- Why would I?
The officer hesitated. De Nemo looked at the cuffs in the officer's hand.
- Do you want me to put those on myself, or…?
The officer slowly approached.
- Just place your hands behind your back.
- Cool.
De Nemo turned around and allowed the officer to cuff him. Paul's eyebrows remained raised. Veronica leaned closer.
- That's him?
- That's him.
- He's wearing pajamas.
- I can see that.
De Nemo noticed them. His eyes moved toward Paul. For a second, his face became more familiar.
- Oh.
Paul stared at him. De Nemo gave him a small nod.
- What's up, man?
Paul didn't answer immediately.
- What's up?
- Yeah.
Paul looked at the cuffs. Then at the hoodie. Then at the pajama pants.
- You disappeared for years.
- I know.
- And you came back wearing pajamas?
De Nemo looked down at himself.
- Technically, these are sleep pants.
Paul slowly closed his eyes. Veronica covered her mouth, but the corner of her lips moved. De Nemo looked at her.
- Hey, Veronica.
- De Nemo.
- You look good.
- You look skinny.
De Nemo smiled.
- That's fair.
The security officer cleared his throat.
- We need to move.
De Nemo nodded.
- Lead the way.
He stood and followed the officer without resistance. Paul watched him leave. Something about the whole situation felt wrong.
Not because De Nemo had returned. Because he seemed like a completely different person.
The interrogation room was filled with senior authorities.
David stood at the head of the table. Fiana stood beside him, while several high-ranking OPESTM officials occupied the remaining seats.
Paul and Veronica stood near the back. No Elite Soldiers or lower-ranking personnel were allowed inside. De Nemo sat alone on the other side of the table.
His wrists were still cuffed. He looked around the room.
- Wow.
David's expression remained cold.
- What?
De Nemo glanced at the people surrounding him.
- You guys really prepared for this.
Nobody responded. De Nemo nodded to himself.
- Makes sense.
Then he looked around the room
-I don't see Corlowall? Is he sick or something?
David stepped forward.
- Corlowall has been arrested.
With a bit surprised De Nemo asked
- Why?
- A bit long story.
- Ok I understand.
A small pause in the room then David continues
- Nemo, you disappeared.
- Yeah.
- Without informing anyone.
- Yeah.
- You ignored every attempt to locate you.
- Yeah.
David's jaw tightened.
- Do you have anything more useful to say?
De Nemo thought for a moment.
- Not really.
Paul looked away. Veronica noticed. David placed both hands on the table.
- Do you understand why you're being detained?
De Nemo nodded.
- Because I disappeared from OPESTM for years and suddenly walked back into the building without warning.
- Among other things.
- Fair enough.
Fiana stepped forward.
- Where were you?
De Nemo looked at her.
- Everywhere.
- Be specific.
- Countries. Cities. Villages. A few places that technically weren't cities.
Fiana's expression hardened.
- This is not a joke.
De Nemo's smile faded slightly.
- I know.
David continued.
- Why did you leave?
De Nemo leaned back in his chair. For the first time, the casualness in his face began to disappear.
- Because I needed to. That's not an explanation. It's the beginning of one.
David said nothing. De Nemo lowered his eyes toward the table.
- For a long time, I thought becoming stronger would solve everything.
The room grew quieter.
- Every day, I trained. Every day, I tried to surpass who I was the day before. Every day, I pushed harder.
His voice became slower.
- Faster. Stronger. More precise. I kept telling myself that if I became strong enough, I would finally understand why I was here.
Paul watched him carefully. De Nemo continued.
- But the stronger I became, the emptier I felt.
He lifted his eyes.
- I became the strongest soldier on Earth.
A faint smile crossed his face.
- And somehow, I still had no idea what I was supposed to do with my life.
Nobody interrupted.
- I started asking myself questions.
He looked toward the ceiling.
- Why am I here? What am I doing? What is my purpose?
His voice became more serious.
- OPESTM used to have a purpose.
David's expression shifted.
- Be careful.
De Nemo looked at him.
- I'm not insulting anyone.
- Then continue.
- OPESTM was created to protect people. To stop threats before they reached them. To give people a chance to live ordinary lives.
He looked around the room.
- But somewhere along the way, we stopped protecting life and started worshipping survival.
The room remained silent.
- Everything became missions. Threat levels. Casualties. Strength. Results.
De Nemo looked down at his cuffed hands.
- And I became another part of it.
Paul's eyes narrowed slightly. De Nemo continued.
- I was useful. I was powerful. I was respected. But I wasn't living.
His voice softened.
- So I left.
Fiana watched him.
- You abandoned OPESTM because you were having an identity crisis?
De Nemo shook his head.
- No.
He paused.
- I left because I needed to rediscover myself.
The words settled over the room. De Nemo leaned forward. His face became unusually serious.
- I traveled from one place to another. I met people I would never have met if I had stayed here. I saw how different people lived. What they feared. What they loved. What they wanted before their lives ended.
Paul remained still.
De Nemo's voice became deeper.
- Some people had everything and still hated waking up. Some had almost nothing and still found reasons to smile. Some were waiting for their lives to begin. Some were trying to hold on to the last pieces of it.
He slowly looked around the room.
- And after all that time, I discovered something important about myself.
Nobody moved. De Nemo looked down.
The room waited.
David's eyes narrowed. Fiana leaned forward slightly. Even Paul felt the tension rising. De Nemo took a slow breath.
His expression became almost solemn.
- I got cancer.
Silence.
Paul's head snapped toward him.
- WHATT?
De Nemo immediately leaned back. The seriousness vanished from his face.
- Yeah, man.
He shrugged.
- Last-stage cancer.
He looked down at himself.
- I'm cooked.
Nobody spoke. De Nemo looked around at their frozen faces.
- What?
Paul stared at him.
- What do you mean you're cooked?!
- I mean I'm dying, dude.
- You said that like you discovered the meaning of life!
- I mean, technically, I discovered the meaning of my life.
Fiana looked genuinely stunned.
- You have cancer?
- Yeah.
- Last stage?
- Yeah.
- And you're wearing pajamas?
De Nemo glanced down again.
- Why does everyone keep bringing up the pajamas?
David's voice cut through the room.
- Enough.
The room fell silent. De Nemo stopped smiling. David stared at him.
- Explain.
De Nemo leaned back.
- The cancer started because of the modifications.
Paul's expression changed. De Nemo continued.
- You all know how Super Soldiers are made. Genetic modification. Body modification. Forced adaptation. The body is pushed beyond its natural limits until it becomes something else.
He looked at his hands.
- My body didn't adapt properly.
Fiana frowned.
- That should have been detected.
- It was.
- Then why were you cleared?
De Nemo gave a small shrug.
- Because I was strong enough to hide the symptoms.
His voice became quieter.
- At first, it was nothing serious. Fatigue. Pain. Recovery problems. Things we assumed came from training.
He looked at Paul.
- And I trained harder.
Paul's face tightened.
- Of course you did.
- I thought my body was just falling behind.
De Nemo looked down.
- But it wasn't falling behind.
A pause.
- It was failing.
Nobody moved.
- The modifications damaged parts of me that were never meant to carry that kind of pressure. My body kept trying to repair itself, but the changes had already gone too far.
He leaned back.
- Then the cancer appeared.
David looked at him.
- How long?
- Long enough.
- How long, De Nemo?
De Nemo's eyes moved toward the floor.
- A few years.
Paul's voice became sharp.
- Years?
De Nemo looked at him.
- Yeah.
- You knew for years?
- Not at first.
- And when you found out?
De Nemo didn't answer. Paul stepped forward.
- When you found out, you disappeared.
De Nemo's face remained calm.
- I didn't want to spend the rest of my life inside this building.
Paul's anger rose.
- While we were fighting?
- Yes.
- While the Guardians attacked?
- Yes.
- While the Five Leaves destroyed everything and killed our soldiers?
De Nemo looked at him.
- Yes.
Paul clenched his fists.
- You were the strongest soldier we had.
- I know.
- We needed you.
- I know.
- People died.
De Nemo lowered his eyes.
- I know.
Paul took another step.
- Then where the hell were you?
For the first time, De Nemo's calm expression cracked. Not from anger. From exhaustion.
- Fighting for my life.
Paul stopped. De Nemo looked at him.
- Physically and mentally.
The room became quiet again.
- I was trying to understand what it meant to know that I was going to die.
He looked at the others.
- I had spent my entire life preparing for death.
- I trained to die for people.
- I trained to survive impossible situations.
- I trained to become the strongest person alive.
His voice became almost bitter.
- But when death finally came for me, none of that helped.
Paul said nothing. De Nemo continued.
- I realized I had spent my entire life preparing for the end.
He looked toward the table.
- And I had forgotten to live before it arrived.
The words struck Paul harder than he expected. He thought about the last few years.
The missions. The silence. The empty house. Liora's room. The wooden bird.
He had kept moving because stopping meant remembering. He had called it duty. He had called it responsibility. He had called it surviving. But he couldn't remember the last time he had actually lived.
De Nemo looked toward him.
- That's what I learned while I was away.
Paul met his eyes.
- What?
De Nemo's voice returned to its usual casual tone.
- That life is short, man.
He shrugged.
- Really short.
Paul stared at him. De Nemo smiled faintly.
- Even when you're a genetically modified monster with enough power to destroy half a continent.
Nobody laughed. De Nemo's smile faded.
- You can still lose.
The words remained in the room. David looked away. Fiana slowly sat down. Paul stood motionless. De Nemo lowered his eyes.
- I didn't come back because I suddenly became useful again.
He looked around the room.
- I came back because I wanted to see my friends.
Paul's expression shifted. De Nemo looked at him.
- And because I'm dying.
He paused.
- Figured I should spend whatever time I have left with people who actually know me.
Paul's anger had not disappeared. But it no longer had the same shape.
- You could have told us.
- I know.
- You could have trusted us.
- I know.
- You could have come back sooner.
De Nemo gave him a tired smile.
- I know that too.
Paul looked down. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then De Nemo glanced at him.
- Also, you look terrible.
Paul slowly raised his head.
- You disappear for years, return with terminal cancer, and that's what you have to say?
- Yeah.
- You're unbelievable.
- I've been told.
Veronica let out a small laugh before she could stop herself. Everyone looked at her. She immediately straightened.
- Sorry.
De Nemo pointed at her.
- See? She gets it.
Paul looked at Veronica. For one brief moment, the room felt almost normal.
Almost.
Then De Nemo stood. The cuffs rattled softly. David looked at him.
- Sit down.
De Nemo sat again.
- Right. Forgot about those.
Paul looked at him for a long moment.
- Are you afraid?
The question changed the room. De Nemo did not answer immediately. His eyes lowered.
- Yeah.
Paul seemed surprised. De Nemo looked at him.
- Of course I'm afraid.
His voice was quiet.
- I'm not stupid.
He glanced around the room.
- But being afraid doesn't mean I want to waste whatever time I have left.
Paul felt something tighten inside his chest. De Nemo looked toward him.
- Don't wait until you're dying to figure out what matters.
Paul did not respond.
He couldn't.
Because somewhere beneath the anger, beneath the grief, beneath all the years he had spent punishing himself, the question had already begun forming.
Was he living? Or was he only waiting for the next mission?
De Nemo walked toward the door after the cuffs were removed. Before leaving, he turned back.
- Hey, Paul.
Paul looked up.
- Yeah?
De Nemo gave him a faint smile.
- Try not to look so dead, man.
Paul stared at him.
- Get out.
De Nemo nodded.
- See? That's better.
He left the room. The door closed behind him.
Outside, OPESTM continued as usual. Orders were shouted. Soldiers moved through the corridors. Machines hummed.
The world kept going.
Paul remained still. Veronica came to stand beside him.
For a while, neither spoke. Then Paul looked at her.
- Do you think he's right?
She knew what he meant but still asked
- About what?
Paul looked toward the closed door.
- About living.
Veronica was silent for a moment. Then she looked at him.
- I think we've both forgotten how.
Paul lowered his eyes. The answer hurt because it was true.
Not enough to fix anything. Not enough to erase the past. Not enough to bring Liora back.
But enough to leave a question inside him. One he could no longer ignore.
What if surviving wasn't the same thing as living?
-To be continued….