“What do you want now?” John asked in irritation. After Miles completed his ultimate, he walked and felt the lock that was binding his body was broken and he was ready to break through. He didn’t hesitate to use the serum as he was going to need it at the quest he set out.

It took him three days to recover, and after that, he felt his brain was working better than ever. His speed of thought was extremely fast, he could bring back any memory without a problem, and his ability to calculate was spectacular.

“I just want to speak with you before I end you. Although because of the terror of monsters, we all got used to killing, that goes for those beasts. I don’t want to kill a comrade that risked his life to free Gaia.” Miles said with a sincere face. “I want to free you, despite everything, but I am incapable, sadly.”

John looked at Miles for three whole minutes with a squint but sighed in the end. “It is what it is. I lived long enough, and now that, after hundreds of years, I am ready to go.”

“John, there is this strange theory in my world, wanna hear?” Miles asked with a pitiful voice.

“What is it about?” The immortal asked.

“It is about superpowers.” Miles started. “It goes like this, the superpowers are manifestations of our most yearnful dreams. Each person acquires a superpower depending on their wishes in life. A person of mine is so afraid to kill anything alive and has a superpower that makes him impervious at his level. Another friend of mine is so kind, his superpower is stunning and healing people.

A friend of mine has the superpower of Sound of Metal. His dream is to create the mightiest robot ever. You see, people don’t randomly get superpowers.”

“What do you try to say?” John asked with a deep frown.

“Your superpower makes you immortal. It is the manifestation of your unwillingness in front of death!” Miles said with gusto, “You want to live for eternity, and your ancient gene answered that wish!”

“My race deducted it some other way. They theorized that superpowers, ergo ancient genes, shape your character. So, your friends are acting as they are, because of their superpowers.” John had another opinion.

“Really?” Miles opened his arms wide. “How many people with defensive ultimates are too afraid to hurt anything alive? How many people with the most destructive element want to save people instead of killing them? Do you really believe that?”

“I don’t… know?” John said after thinking for a while. He was at the point Miles wanted him to be.

“John, you don’t want to die. I know this long imprisonment clouded your judgment, but I don’t want to kill a person that doesn’t want to. I would bite the bullet and kill you if it was really your wish, but if I know that you do not, I can’t. I am sorry, but I can’t! I never kill a person, not when I know each person is valuable in our battle against monsters. Hell, it is too hard for me to kill monsters, but I do it. I do it to save my world and race! I do it, so we can live free. But, a comrade, a kindred in these troubling times, I cannot be that cruel!” Miles’s eyes got wet, as he looked dead in the Immortal’s eyes.

“You are… right.” John looked down, as he thought, “You weren’t like this a few days ago. Then he asked in suspicion.

“After I used the Mind Serum, I remembered some things better. It feels like… I am more of myself, instead of a hunter that lusts for monster blood.” Miles looked afar, beyond the walls around him, as he muttered, loud enough for John to hear.

“I see…” John said as he thought to himself. He really didn’t want to die. His superpower was the best thing that ever happened to him. He loved the idea of living for eternity, being free of the shackles of death.

“I want to save you, John. I want to free you. I will find a way, I promise. It might take a while, might take months or years, but what is that compared to years of imprisonment, right? Please, give me a chance.” Miles looked at the man in the glass with begging eyes. “Please, don’t make me go that road. I am afraid… I won’t be able to come back if I kill you.”

“Okay.” John nodded as he worded out silently. “Okay! I will trust you!”

“Great, thank you. It means the world to me.” Miles smiled brilliantly.

In the next few days, Miles spent 20 hours around the cage, he didn’t even stop when he could barely open his eyes. He analyzed every piece of information inside the computers, in the hope to find a way to open the cage. He tweaked the lock and tried to break it, but nothing worked.

And after a week, he jumped with a shout.

“I found it! I found the code!”

“You really did?” John asked with a worrisome smile.

“I did.” Miles smiled, as he walked to the cage. He turned to Coin, who was connected to the computer. “Coin, I will enter the password, you make sure the system is working. John, we will get you out of here, please trust me.”

“Okay, Miles.” John got teary, “Please, free me!”

Then he walked up to the back of the glass container. He pressed a few buttons. The machine interface made some sounds as he was pressing. John’s heart was galloping with each button sound.

“Miles, are you sure of it?” Coin asked in his mind, as he was entering the code. “Are you absolutely sure of it?”

“I am, do it!” Miles resolutely said as pressed the confirmation button.

As soon as he did, the device made the beeping sound of the wrong password, and at the same time, a liquid sped into the glass container. John, as he heard the sound and saw the liquid, lost all his smile, and looked at Miles with wide-open eyes.

“Why—?” He spoke, but he couldn’t utter. Before long, he died. But his wide-open eyes were clear as day. His eyes were asking the question he wanted to ask.

“Why did you give me hope, if you were going to kill me anyway?”