Three minutes before the countdown ended.
Beverly Care Center, underground laboratory—
"Mom, I think I heard someone calling me."
"Calling you?" The middle-aged woman holding Harietta gently patted her back, her tone tender. "You must have misheard. I didn't hear anything."
Relishing the warmth of her mother's embrace, Harietta turned her head and glanced out the window.
The sky was still awash in rosy clouds. The afterglow of the setting sun streamed through the window, painting the panes gold.
No one knew what she was thinking. Her eyes remained fixed on the sky beyond the window.
After a long while, Harietta suddenly spoke softly.
"Mom, I may have to leave."
Her mother lowered her head and looked at Harietta in her arms. "Leave? Are you leaving this place?"
Harietta nodded.
"I can feel them coming. They're calling me."
"Who are they?" Her mother's face was full of confusion, her brow tightly furrowed.
Harietta fell silent for a long time, seemingly lost in thought. Only after a while did she slowly say, "I don't know who they are either, but I know they've come to take me away."
For some reason, as Harietta spoke those words, an indescribable sorrow filled her heart.
"Do you have to leave?" Her mother cupped her face, worry in her eyes.
Harietta nodded gently. "I have no choice."
After a pause, Harietta turned her head away. Rather than looking directly into her mother's eyes, she only said in a faint voice, "But although I'll be leaving... perhaps we can meet again someday."
Looking at the setting sun outside, Harietta murmured in a voice only she could hear, "Maybe then, I'll get to see my real mother."
Her "mother" seemed not to have heard Harietta's murmur and continued looking at her. "Then where are you and... they