"I need to go," Daniel said quietly as he turned away.
"I'll come with you," Aliya replied.
Daniel didn't object.
Aliya simply followed him.
They arrived at a laboratory. Inside, an animal cried and struggled violently as it was about to be killed.
Have mercy on me. Please… don't.
The desperate plea echoed clearly in the room.
Several people surrounded a defenseless cat.
Daniel watched them—chatting casually, laughing even—as if they were entertained by the animal's terrified cries. The cat thrashed harder against the restraints.
He recognized their faces.
He exhaled slowly.
Brandon…
"Stop!" the cat screamed as a blade cut into its stomach.
Unable to bear the sight, Daniel lowered his gaze to the floor.
"How pitiful," Aliya whispered, her voice trembling. "They take its life without resistance, all for their own interests. Don't they know what these animals endure while living here?"
Daniel remained silent.
He stepped closer to the table where the animal had been dissected.
Its organs had been removed—its intestines, its heart, even fragments of bone.
Laughter and idle conversation filled the room as if nothing tragic had happened.
Then Daniel heard the cat again.
Its spirit looked sadly at the lifeless body lying on the table.
"Come," Daniel said softly. "You won't be hurt anymore."
Carefully, he gathered what remained of the animal's spirit and began guiding it toward the paradise meant for creatures like it.
Suddenly, the spirit darted away, passing straight through the wall.
Daniel and Aliya followed.
On the other side, rows of cages stretched before them.
Daniel scanned the room.
Different kinds of animals filled the cages—some weak, some injured, all waiting for the same fate.
The cat they were guiding ran toward a large, aging cat inside one of the cages.
"Aliya… what are you doing?" Daniel asked.
He watched her move from cage to cage.
Her hand brushed against the animals one by one.
Each animal she touched fell lifeless.
Daniel quickly grabbed her wrist.
"I'd rather be the one to take them myself," Aliya said quietly. "Instead of letting them suffer in death. I will free them—one by one."
"Aliya, you shouldn't do this," Daniel said firmly. "We don't have the right to take their lives."
"That's where all of this leads anyway," she replied, meeting his eyes. "At least they won't suffer in our hands. They won't suffer under people who kill them mercilessly for selfish reasons."
Daniel shook his head.
"If that's what you choose," he said, "then we're no different from the people you hate."
Aliya froze.
Her gaze shifted slowly toward the animals.
Daniel could see the pain in her eyes.
But he also knew something she struggled to accept—
They were not meant to interfere with the balance of the world.
Can I take my siblings and my mother with me? the cat pleaded. They're scared.
Aliya looked at Daniel.
He shook his head gently.
"I'm sorry," he said to the cat. "I can't do that."
"I won't go without my mother and siblings," the cat insisted.
"We have to go," Daniel said softly. "Don't worry. One day, you'll be reunited with them."
But the cat fled again, hiding among the cages.
I won't go if my mother and siblings aren't coming! it cried in defiance.
Daniel sighed.
He had to find it.
They still needed to complete their task for the day.
XXXXXX
"You didn't come back right away?" Isaac asked when they returned.
Daniel sighed and glanced at Aliya.
"We just needed to give it time," he said.
Isaac nodded slowly, though caution lingered in his eyes.
Suddenly, the door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Isaac studied him carefully.
He estimated the man was one of the workers responsible for slaughtering animals in the laboratory.
Then recognition struck him.
Isaac had seen him before—back when he was still alive.
Does Malchor still work for the Buenaventuras? he wondered.
Isaac and Daniel exchanged glances.
Isaac exhaled quietly.
He hadn't expected that returning to this world would bring him face-to-face with people connected to their deaths.
Malchor walked unsteadily through the room, studying the animals inside the cages.
One by one, he opened them and carefully transferred the animals into another enclosure.
"Don't worry," Malchor said softly. "I won't hurt you."
He handled them gently.
"Hurry up," someone behind him urged impatiently.
"T–There are three or four that died," another voice said nervously. "What should we do?"
Without speaking, Malchor removed the lifeless animals from the cages.
Their bodies showed no signs of torture or illness.
"That's strange," someone muttered.
Footsteps approached.
"Let's go," Malchor said quietly.
He left quickly, carrying the animals with him.
"These are the cages for our experimental animals," someone announced.
When the scientists arrived, they stopped abruptly.
Every cage was empty.
Silence filled the room— then a furious scream shattered it.
"Who did this?!" the woman shouted in rage.
"Brandon! Where is Malchor?"
"I don't know," Brandon replied lazily. "Maybe he's still vomiting."
"Are you sure?"
"I don't know, Grandpa," Brandon said with a sigh.
Moments later, a man wearing a face mask stepped inside.
"You!" the woman shouted, restrained by the man beside her. "Did you do this?!"
The man froze, staring around the room.
"I–I just got back," he stammered.
"Come now," the old man said calmly. "Malchor doesn't even know where you keep the animals, Catherine. It's fine. Just calm down."
"No," Catherine snapped. "We can't continue the experiments without them."
Isaac gave Daniel and Aliya a silent signal.
It was time to leave.
With a simple wave of his hand, the world shifted.
The laboratory vanished.
They found themselves somewhere else.
They were still searching for the cat—the one who had followed the others and unknowingly disrupted the scientists' plans.
They needed to see what would happen next.
"Aliya," Isaac said.
She looked at him.
"Were you the one who caused some of those animals to die?" he asked bluntly.
Aliya didn't hesitate.
"If I was," she replied, "what would you do?"
Isaac glanced at Daniel.
Daniel shook his head.
Isaac sighed and looked toward the human world he once belonged to.
Memories of the chaos of his former life flickered in his mind—
but he forced them away.
Then they saw it.
The animal they had been searching for.
Isaac descended first.
Daniel and Aliya followed.
Together, they moved toward whatever fate awaited them next.