Ilya

A cold autumn evening clung to the city with a damp, piercing fog. Never, tired and lost in his thoughts, was already heading home when Alice emerged from the thick twilight at the Epsilon exit. Her figure, deliberately stern, seemed part of the darkness.

— Never! Ilya wasn't here today. Give him these documents. It's important that you give them to him today.

"There wasn't one?" he wondered to himself. Indeed... How could he not have noticed his partner's absence?

— Accepted. Are you free?

Alice merely nodded silently and disappeared into the building's corridors as if she'd never been there. An hour later, Never stood in Ilya's yard. A huge puddle gaped at the entrance, reflecting the dim light of a streetlamp, and a perpetually grumbling old woman sat on a bench like a grim guardian. I had to go around them both.

Rising, he pulled a cold metal key from his pocket—an illegally made duplicate. The lock clicked shut with a soft creak. The apartment was dark and icy cold, no less chilling than the street. The air was still and stifling, and the howling of the wind through the cracks in the windows sounded like someone's endless, quiet sobbing. This familiar environment, deprived of its familiar warmth, filled him with a soul-crushing dread. Without removing his shoes, Nevers crept through the dark hallway, listening to the oppressive silence.

The agent sat on the floor in the living room, his face staring into the distance.

"Agent Neo, Alice asked me to tell you..." Never's voice broke when he saw the glistening tears on Ilya's cheeks in the dim light. His gaze was empty and lost, staring into space.

• Neo?

There was no answer. Only a quiet, ragged sigh. Never carefully knelt down beside her, her hand reaching out to his shoulder.

• Ilya?

The boy shuddered, as if awakening from a nightmare. But instead of being frightened, he instantly clung to Never, clutching his jacket with desperate force. Before, he'd been alone... Completely alone in this cold apartment, alone with his fear, which whispered terrible things to him, wrung out these silent tears.

• N-Never! I... I'm so glad to see you! - his voice, breaking through the lump in his throat, trembled.

you play as Nevers