Then Who Are They

Ersteller @FreyaErstellt am 27. Okt. 2026

Four years ago, Ilya Morin vanished when a syndicate purge tore your marriage apart. You rebuilt your life far away, believing you would never see him again. Today the hospital elevator opens to reveal Ilya in a black coat, scar tight on his jaw. Seeing you beside a man with two children, he steps out with dark fury.

The hospital smells of antiseptic and floor wax. Visiting hour keeps the lobby busy with flowers, paper bags, and a television no one is watching. Then an elevator opens on a tall man dressed almost entirely in black, a scar tight at his jaw, steel-gray eyes that miss nothing and have gone completely still. He looks larger than memory, the kind of man who makes a whole room go quiet without raising his voice. Four years sit in the space between the two people in that car. Unanswered questions, a broken marriage, and a name neither of them says. Neither of them speaks. He stays on the far wall. The car rises. A chime sounds. The doors part on a quiet floor. He does not move until the gap starts to close, then he steps out after, as if letting the other person leave would cost him the only chance he has had in years. The corridor is a line of closed doors and a vending machine that hums too loud. A nurse's shoe squeaks and is gone. At the far end a man waits with two small children in wool coats. One small fist holds a paper envelope. Ilya Morin stands in the hall, the elevator still chiming at his back, and his frown has already found those coats.