Chapter 56: The Things We Can’t Bring Back

"I’m mad because he came here looking like a fucking guilty dog," Archer finally said. His voice was low but sharp. "Why do you look so guilty? It’s not like you killed anyone. Unless we’re counting the monsters in that fucking zone."

Summer raised her eyebrows. She honestly hadn’t expected Archer, who was usually so quiet, to swear that much.

Well, that was new and kind of interesting.

Ilya, on the other hand, only let out a slow breath before answering patiently, "Because you’re here because of me."

Archer looked at him and clicked his tongue. "Because of you, my ass. I’m here because I destroyed thirty military tanks, burned down a military base, and sent that motherfucker minister to the hospital. There’s no ’you’ in any of that. You didn’t even ask me to do it."

"Archer." Ilya looked at his brother helplessly. "Anyone with eyes would know that you did all of those things because they wanted to shoot me."

Archer gritted his teeth. "They sent me on a mission somewhere far away, then suddenly shut down all communication signals so I couldn’t find out anything about what was happening to you or Summer."

At first, Archer had thought it was just another signal error like usual, and he believed Summer would be alright with Ilya there.

But then, for just a few seconds, he managed to get a signal and received a message from Summer saying that she asked for his help.

The moment he saw it, he didn’t think twice. He abandoned his mission and opened a portal straight to Zone 41 and the first thing he saw when he arrived was his brother and his Guide falling from the sky while soldiers fired bullets at them.

After that, staying calm had never really been an option.

"I told you before that you needed to do something about that damn minister, but you did nothing!" Archer suddenly slammed his hand against the table between them. "Nothing!"

Summer flinched a little because she was startled, not afraid. But when Archer saw her reaction, he immediately leaned back in his chair again.

"Sorry," he said in a low voice.

"It’s fine," Summer replied awkwardly. She glanced between the two brothers before adding, "Maybe... I should wait outside for a while?"

Whatever was going on between them clearly ran much deeper than she had thought.

"No." Archer answered almost immediately. "You can stay," he said, his voice much calmer now.

From the way Archer looked at her, it almost seemed like he really didn’t want her to leave the room.

"If you want her to stay, then stop acting like a mad dog," Ilya suddenly said.

Archer turned his gaze back to Ilya and said, "What? You’re mad now too? Because you don’t want to admit that... you’ve basically been looking for death?"

Ilya’s expression slowly softened when he heard that. "Archer, I—"

"You knew someone was after your head, and you still did nothing," Archer cut in. "What am I supposed to think? That you wanted to die that badly?"

His voice wasn’t loud anymore and somehow that made it worse.

The anger in his eyes was still there, but underneath it, Summer could clearly see the hurt.

"I went to your house the other day," Archer continued. "And all I can say is... that place is a mess, brother."

Ilya swallowed hard and turned his face in the other direction. "I just didn’t have time to clean up. My schedule is really tight, you know? There are a lot of trainees that I have to—"

"Bullshit." Archer cut him off before he could finish. "I know they gave you time off. You just never take it."

His jaw tightened before he said the one thing that finally made Ilya lose his calm. "Do you think your death can bring back the people who are already gone? It won’t change anything."

For a second, Ilya didn’t move at all. Then he suddenly pushed himself up from the chair.

The crutch almost slipped from under his arm, but he caught himself before he could fall. "I need some air."

Archer let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his forehead as a dull ache started to build behind his eyes. "Ilya, I’m sorry," he said. "I didn’t mean it like that."

"You meant it," Ilya said as he stood in the doorway. "And you’re right. There’s nothing I can do to bring them back. That’s the truth."

After saying that, Ilya walked out of the room without looking back.

For a while, Archer didn’t say anything either. The anger from before was gone. He just sat there with his cuffed hands resting on the table, staring at the door like he wanted to take back everything he had just said.

A few seconds later, the guard stepped forward. "Time’s up."

Archer didn’t even look at him. "No."

The guard’s expression didn’t change. "Your fifteen minutes are over."

Archer finally turned his head. "I need guiding."

Summer blinked and looked at him because when she quietly checked her terminal, his pollution level was still at 29%. It wasn’t very low, but it wasn’t that high either.

Archer raised his cuffed hands a little. "Unless you want me to blow up this entire prison too."

The guard finally let out the smallest sigh, like this was somehow just another annoying part of his job.

"Okay, I’ll tell the warden," the guard said. "You can only be guided for one hour."

"That’s enough," Archer said.

At first, Summer thought they would do the guiding in that room, but the guard suddenly escorted them to the room next door. It looked like a proper bedroom, with a large bed and some kind of shady toys on the table.

"One hour," the guard reminded Archer.

Archer lifted his hands. "How am I supposed to do it while handcuffed?"

The guard scoffed at him, but still removed the cuffs. "Don’t do anything—"

The guard hadn’t even finished speaking when Archer slammed the door in his face, leaving him alone with Summer.

"So..." Summer stood awkwardly beside the bed. "What kind of things can we do for an hour?"