MTLNOVEL Chapter 54: The Path to Retaliation
The Path to Retaliation
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1. The Aftermath of the Escape (Group POV – The Cost of Survival)
The air in the collapsed tunnel was thick with dust and tension, the heavy scent of rust and decay settling into their lungs.
They had barely made it out.
The prisoners were weak and shaking, some barely able to walk, their bodies too fragile after years of confinement and experimentation.
Diane and Stacy helped the most injured ones sit against the walls, checking for any signs of critical failure from their stasis release.
Nyla took a defensive position at the tunnel entrance, rifle raised, her eyes scanning for any sign that Subject-01 was following.
Orion, frustrated and shaken, slammed a fist against the nearest console. "That thing shouldn't exist." His fingers trembled over the data pad. "Probability manipulation—real, uncontested manipulation—that's not something that should be possible outside of Tom."
Tom stayed silent.
Because he knew.
The Council had made it possible.
And now, they had to stop it.
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2. The Prisoners' Stories (Tom's POV – Learning What the Council Did to Them)
Tom knelt beside the woman he had saved first—the one who had recognized him from a past he still couldn't fully remember.
She was breathing unevenly, still adjusting to life outside of her containment.
But when her eyes met his, she didn't look away.
"What did they do to you?" Tom asked quietly.
For a long moment, she didn't answer.
Then, slowly, she lifted her shaking hand—revealing something etched into her skin.
A tattoo, but not of ink.
Of burned gold, a shimmering brand that flickered with faint energy.
Tom's stomach twisted.
It was the same color as Subject-01's eyes.
"They tried to turn us into you," she whispered.
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3. The Council's Experiment (Group POV – Understanding the True Purpose of the Facility)
"They called us 'Probability Nodes,'" the woman—Celeste—continued, her voice hollow, distant.
"We weren't supposed to be soldiers. We weren't even supposed to survive."
Tom listened in silence, fists clenching at his sides.
"The Council believed that probability—the ability to control outcomes, fate, chance itself—was something that could be replicated." Celeste's breath hitched. "They experimented on us to see if they could force it into another human body."
She looked at him again, her sunken gaze holding something terrifying.
"They were trying to create a new version of you."
The words landed like a physical blow.
Tom felt Stacy tense beside him, Diane's lips pressing into a tight line.
Orion, normally the one with an answer, looked sick.
"They failed," Nyla muttered. "Didn't they?"
Celeste nodded. "Most of us… couldn't handle it. Probability is tied to existence itself. The moment it was forced onto us, our bodies stopped being stable."
Her hand shook slightly, the glow in her veins flickering like a dying flame.
"Some of us started becoming… unnatural."
She swallowed, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"That's what Subject-01 is."
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4. The Failed Evolution (Tom's POV – The Connection Between Him and Subject-01)
Tom inhaled deeply, trying to push through the nausea twisting inside him.
Subject-01 wasn't just a failed experiment.
It was what they had wanted him to become.
More than just a manipulator of probability.
Something beyond human limits.
And he knew, in that moment—he had fought against this before.
A fragmented memory slipped into place.
A Council facility burning.
A figure standing in the flames, its body flickering like a glitching reality.
His own voice, shouting at someone—"Shut it down before it spreads!"
The memory vanished as quickly as it came.
But it left one certainty in its wake.
Subject-01 had been created before.
And somehow, it had survived.
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5. The System's Awakening (Tom's POV – Imma's Strongest Message Yet)
Another sharp pulse in his mind—not just a static crackle this time, but words, clearer than ever.
[System Reconnect: 83%. Probability Sync… stabilizing.]
[Imma fully engaged. Processing… unlocking restricted memory threads.]
Tom exhaled sharply.
The moment his system had been fully severed from him, the Council's creature had been set free.
They hadn't just tried to copy his ability.
They had been stealing it from him the entire time.
And now, Imma was finally pushing back.
Tom opened his hand, letting the roulette wheel pulse faintly in his palm.
A test. A small shift.
The distant echoes of Subject-01's presence trembled—just slightly.
It felt it.
Good.
Because now, Tom wasn't just reacting.
He was fighting back.
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6. The Next Step: Planning Their Counterattack (Group POV – Preparing for the Final Confrontation)
"There's no running from this," Nyla said bluntly.
Tom nodded. "We end it. Now."
Celeste's expression was tight. "It's not that simple. Subject-01… it doesn't just rely on probability."
Her hand tightened on the fabric of her sleeves.
"It learns."
Tom stared at her. "What do you mean?"
She exhaled shakily.
"The first time the Council activated it… it was barely human."
She looked toward the collapsed tunnel where they had escaped.
"But it's been awake longer than any of us now. It's had time to grow, to understand itself."
Her voice was grim.
"It doesn't just change its own luck anymore."
Her eyes met Tom's, filled with something close to warning.
"It can change yours."
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7. The Reality of the Fight Ahead (Tom's POV – The Stakes Are Higher Than Ever)
Tom felt the weight of her words settle like a noose around his neck.
This wasn't just a fight against something with perfect luck.
It could alter his luck.
It could steal his control.
For the first time in a long time, a single thought surfaced in his mind—one he hadn't allowed himself to acknowledge before.
What if I can't win?
But then, Imma's voice—stronger now, almost reassuring.
[Correction: What if you can?]
Tom exhaled.
No hesitation.
No second-guessing.
They were going to finish this.
Because if Subject-01 could learn?
Then so could he.
And the next time they met, Tom was going to make sure it.
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