It was a warm night despite being February. The ftnds were almost silent, except for the sound of insects filling the empty air. This was the pce that once broke the E-UNIT.

  The G-Bots nded near what appeared to be an abandoned factory. They were carrying their creator and 02. She was completely powered down, unaware that they had crossed over 1,500 kilometers from Metromania. They were near Frostholm now, what used to be the economic capital.

  Tau gently set Nick down. He approached the massive door and unlocked it using Tamer’s magnetic card. The door slid open, revealing a luxurious interior. The G-Bots and Nick entered the hangar. The door sealed behind them with a pressurized hiss, instantly cutting off the sound of the wind.

  Inside, the air smelled of expensive leather and climate-controlled perfection. The G-Bots scanned every detail of the five-star hangar. Sleek floors. Modern, expensive furniture. A fake firepce flickering on a 3D hologram. Clean sofas. Intricately designed lighting fixtures. Long carpets in different colors, each leading to a separate bay. Mezzanine balconies allowed a clear view from the upper floors down to the lower level. Tamer’s ego turned into interior design.

  The hangar’s outer shell was yered in signal-dampening mesh. Tamer's paranoia, at least, had its uses.

  Alpha scanned the room. “Where are we? What is this pce?”

  Nick removed his coat and began pacing. “This is what you build when you think the system revolves around you. It’s Tamer’s emergency hideout. I suggested the idea, and surprisingly, he followed many of my recommendations.”

  Gamma ran her hand along a metallic railing. “I suppose no one argues with scientists.”

  “Where do I pce the asset?” Alpha asked, holding 02.

  “Follow me,” Nick said. He was already on the top mezzanine. “There’s good hardware up here.”

  They entered an office overlooking the hangar. Nick immediately unpacked his PC and scanning devices onto an empty desk. “Alpha, you took too long. Put her here already.”

  “Sorry, Father,” Alpha pced 02 carefully on a long table beside him.

  “Not you too,” Nick muttered, not looking up. “That title spread like a virus. And how did you even learn it?”

  “E-Medic 03 told us you like hearing that nickname,” Beta replied ftly.

  Nick smiled faintly, though his eyes stayed on the monitor. “She never changes.” He let himself smile for exactly one second. “I know you've just woken up. I’ll expin everything once I finish reprogramming 02.”

  “No problem at all, Father,” Delta said quietly. “You created us. You care about us. You wouldn’t harm us.”

  Nick went silent.

  Beta sat on the edge of the desk. “Delta, don’t be na?ve. I sense something off. Why did the older models despise him that much?” She turned to Nick. “You’d better expin what you’re hiding.”

  Nick finished typing and waited for the update bar to complete. "Before 02 wakes up," he said quietly, "I want you to know, I'm not perfect. And what you're about to hear will confirm that."

  Pi leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “My projections indicate highly unpleasant outcomes.”

  Nick looked at her sharply. “I told you not to use the crystal ability. It can be detected. I’ll expin, just wait for 02 to—”

  SYSTEM UPDATE COMPLETE.WELCOME BACK: 02 / OMEGA.

  Her eyes lit up.She awakened surrounded by the G-Bots in an unfamiliar office. Only one face was recognizable. She scanned them quickly, then locked eyes with Nick in silence.

  Nick sighed and stood. “Most of you don’t know what happened. Some of you were thrown into this new reality without context.” He gestured toward 02. Her expression did not change.

  The G-Bots gathered and sat on the floor around him.

  “The st twenty-five years… are mostly my fault. And what’s happening now is entirely my fault.”

  Tau raised her hand timidly. “F-Father… c-can you please just tell us?”

  He forced a broken smile.“Alright. 02, your memory log ends at 2026.09.”

  She remained silent.

  “It’s February, 2051.”

  Her eyes widened. Then, slowly, emptied.The G-Bots looked at her.

  Beta leaned forward. “How is that even possible?”

  Nick continued carefully. “You were destroyed at the factory site. The very next mission after your st update. You were trapped in a sonic chamber tuned specifically to dismantle E-UNIT chassis. Your death nearly shattered the team. Shortly after—”

  “Metromania was attacked by the New Mer robotic army,” 02 interrupted, her tone firm. “Omega went to war. You let the military turn victory into chains. The nd was recimed by Altea. The popution became cheap bor. Alteans separated themselves from the newcomers.”

  Silence.

  She stood. “When I powered down, Omega’s memories flooded into me like a dream. I relived twenty-five years of her existence.” She faced Nick. “I saw what you did. I saw you shut them down one by one. I saw you apologize and keep clicking anyway.”

  Nick blinked. “What?”

  “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “What happened to my father? We were stable until you interfered with the government. You think I didn’t know about your pn?” she continued. “I stayed silent out of respect. That was a mistake. Remember your conversation with Jacob Marine in the park?”

  Nick stepped back.

  Her voice sharpened. “I heard the recording you thought no one saved. Jacob wasn’t ‘concerned.’ He was building a leash with Vegas. The only reason you weren’t arrested was because you created a mass-extinction weapon and gave it a face.”

  Nick’s breathing grew uneven as she approached him.

  “Why did you torture Omega? Why did you let her endure twenty years of dysfunction? You knew how much she suffered every time she saw herself in the mirror. You know that. If I had died, maybe I deserved it. I don’t want to live by stealing someone else’s life.”

  Nick was drenched in sweat.

  “And now,” she continued coldly, “you kidnap me. You hide me in another luxurious prison while we pretend to be a family with colorful copies. You pinned me to a wall and deactivated me. Why? Safety? You’re afraid of losing me again? My guess is you blocked my terminal access before I woke up so I wouldn’t delete myself.”

  The G-Bots stared in shock. She wasn’t accusing.She was stating facts.

  Beta stood. “What the hell?!”

  02 looked directly at him. “You caused every ounce of suffering we endured,” she said to Nick. “Your actions should be criminal. You are not a father. You are a weapons engineer obsessed with giving machines souls just so they can suffer with you.”

  Nick stumbled back into the office chair. His face had lost all color.

  02 did not soften. “Expin the current situation,” she demanded. “Why is Reaper purging the city?”

  Nick spoke weakly, hands clutching his head. “I don’t know his full chain of thought. But his broadcast had one signature: emotional driver disabled.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Why would you even include that feature? That contradicts everything you believe.”

  “When I announced your death, 03 begged me to disable her emotions. She couldn’t handle the trauma. I installed a toggle so she could control it herself.”

  02 smmed her fist into the wall. “You coward.”

  Nick continued, barely audible. “I built Reaper using the E-UNIT framework because it’s modur and expandable. I forgot to remove the toggle. But It removes 80 percent of the emotions only.”

  “Only… I’m sure you were too busy installing more mass-destruction upgrades,” she replied coldly.

  Alpha stood quickly. “Hey, calm down, sis. He’s old. He can’t handle this level of emotional pressure.”

  02 turned to her. “He forcibly shut me down and transported me here without consent. He’s confining me in a secret hangar using overpowered experimental robots.”

  Alpha slowly sat back down.

  Tau spoke softly. “M-Maybe he felt p-pushed into this decision. Y-Yelling won’t help.”

  02 faced her.“He allowed Omega to deteriorate for twenty years. Who pushed him into that? Your gentle tone doesn’t make you correct.”

  Delta stood, attempting to speak.

  02 cut her off instantly.“Is hiding while civilians are crushed under uncontrolled gravitational force your solution?”

  Delta froze.“How did she—”

  Beta stood and stepped forward. “Why should we care about something he did twenty years ago to someone we’ve never met? Why should we inherit your twenty-five-year resentment while you verbally destroying our father?”

  “He did this to himself,” 02 replied evenly. “He is responsible for this country’s colpse. He even contributed to Reaper’s current state.”

  “Again,” Beta said, facing her directly, “why should I care? If you want to be the hero who saves everyone, the door’s right there.”

  Nick spoke quietly.“I locked Omega’s power. She can’t even run. Walking is her maximum speed.”

  Beta began cpping slowly.“Fantastic. I tried to defend you, and you double down on being the perfect kidnapper.”

  02 walked toward the doorway.“I hate you from the bottom of my heart,” she said without looking back. “Especially because you activated it too.”

  Beta’s gaze flicked to Nick’s terminal.“So you gave a monster a switch,” she said quietly. “And forgot where it was.”