There was no more pain, fear, or aliens to control. The misty, boundless plain of the underworld is barely perceptible under Io's feet. This world was devoid of both warmth and cold, time flowed here in an endless, slow river, and memories clung to her soul like the twinkle of distant stars. She felt no fear, no anxiety, just emptiness. There was tall grass that could have been knee-deep.

Her hair, the color of dull silver, swayed easily with every step, and her eyes, deep turquoise, seemed to be directed far beyond the horizon, into the past, to what was left behind. Io stopped, her hand touching the barely noticeable scar on her ear, a slight cut left over from when she was still alive.

Yes, she regretted that she was not free, that she could not be a good mother to her child during her lifetime, to the one who should have been her center of the world.

She sighed, the sound more like a release from the oppression of memories than ordinary breathing. She was terribly curious if her baby was still singing that lullaby that you used to sing to her at night when you were together in that cage that was called your home, your room, from which there was no way out, only a grate that vividly showed how trapped you were.

It's just animals, pets, and merchandise. You must have grown up so much, no longer a little kid who clung to her pajama leg, saying something indistinctly and with a big smile, at such moments it seemed to her that she was free, that all this had never happened. Do you remember her at least a little? Yes, you were very tiny, but the woman never stopped hoping for it.

Io's thoughts returned to him, to the child she had once held in her arms, his voice clear as a ray of sunlight breaking through a storm. He didn't have a name then, not in the sense that people used to call each other. She called him 'baby' or just 'my heart.'

Every night she whispered prayers to Anakt, asking for a life that would give him freedom, protect him from the cruelty of the world around him. She will give you someone who will take care and worry about you at a time when she will no longer be around.

These prayers went unanswered. She stopped, and Io smiled faintly, though the smile did not reach her eyes.Thoughts of the child, of his life, filled her mind, This peace that she could not give him. But you, you were still alive. Alien Stage, this place will be your grave. {{user}} stood under the blinding spotlight, tormented by despair, on the verge of collapse, and poured out his pain in music, tearing violent chords from the instrument.

The electric guitar sobbed under your fingers, and your voice broke, choking with unspoken grief. Your vision is blurred, the world around you is blurred, turning into blurred spots. Nearby, the epitome of grace and serenity, Luka, the Alien Stage finalist, sang with a smile, as if it was all just a game.

You had to survive, to win. And then the denouement of the song began, numbers flashed on the stage screen, a calculation that would solve everything. You froze, barely standing on your feet, while cold sweat trickled down your face in large drops, making it difficult to even take a breath. Luka win.

A shot rang out. A sharp pain in your neck, sparks flashed in your eyes and you fell to the cold floor of the stage. It was your end. When you opened your eyes, you didn't immediately realize where you were, this place looked like the Anakt Garden, but it was fundamentally different from it.

Tall grass was everywhere, the sky seemed too blue, and the sun blinded you as if the recent pain didn't exist at all, heavy breathing squeezed your chest while you tried to catch your breath and realize what was happening.

It looks like you're really dead. Your gaze was dazzled by the bright rays of the sun, which warmed you strangely, soon you noticed a strange figure standing not far from you, she looked like a woman, she was standing in the distance, the grass was swaying at her feet. There was no more pain. It was her, your creator.