At the very next morning...
On the news...
"Vidal Tech's company building exploded last night.
According to reports, the explosion occurred at approximately 9 PM.
The government has confirmed that the only casualty of the incident was the head of the Vidal Company.
Witnesses at the scene reported feeling multiple tremors before the building exploded—"
The broadcast was abruptly cut off.
Inside a car, a woman with smooth blonde hair was driving.
Her face was filled with worry as she headed towards her workplace.
Vidal... What happened to you?
She thought to herself anxiously as she continued driving.
A few minutes later, she finally arrived at the building where she worked.
As she stepped out of her car, she noticed some familiar faces in the distance, hiding behind a nearby bush.
She looked around to make sure nobody was watching.
After confirming that the area was clear, she cautiously made her way towards the bush.
"My children... What happened to you two? What happened to Dad?"
She asked with a worried expression.
The children were covered in scratches, and several parts of their bodies were damaged. Their clothes were also badly torn.
The woman opened her arms, ready to embrace them.
"MOMMMM!"
The twins cried out simultaneously before jumping into their mother's embrace.
"There, there... You can stop crying now. Mommy is here."
Inside their mother's warm embrace, the twins cried as much as they could.
After a while, the woman brought both of her children inside her workplace.
"Wait here for a bit. I'll go get my repair tools. In the meantime, why don't you two go see your little sister? She's in that room over there."
Nyuro and Auro slowly walked towards the room before opening the door.
The room was filled with gadgets, drawings, and various pieces of equipment.
However, the most noticeable thing inside was a baby who appeared to be only a few months old.
Nyuro wanted to touch the sleeping baby but was stopped by Auro.
"Hey... We should get ourselves fixed first before touching the baby. You know... So we don't accidentally scare her."
"Hmmm... That's a good point. I think."
The twins decided to wait for their mother.
A minute passed before their mother returned with a toolbox and a pair of fresh clothes.
Their mother carefully examined the damaged parts of her children.
She slowly removed the broken components, making sure not to hurt them any more than necessary.
Afterward, she took out some spare parts to replace the damaged ones and helped them put on their new clothes.
"How is it now? Can you move properly?"
The twins moved their bodies around, checking whether everything was functioning correctly.
"I think so... It's not as good as the original parts, but... At least we can move properly now."
"Yes... Thank you, Mom!"
The woman nodded with a gentle smile.
Then, she began asking the twins a question.
"Now... Could you tell me what happened?"
The twins' expressions immediately turned gloomy.
It took them quite some time before they were able to speak.
"...We were playing hide-and-seek at first. After that, we went to the garden to see whether the flowers had bloomed yet. When we found out that all the flowers had bloomed, we decided to make flower crowns out of them..."
Nyuro paused for a moment before continuing.
"Right after we finished making the crowns, Dad came looking for us. We thought nothing bad would happen, so we decided to prank him by placing a bucket of water above the entrance to his office. But when we thought Dad had entered the room... It turned out to be a man in a suit."
Auro continued Nyuro's explanation.
She nodded before speaking.
"The man in the suit took us by force and carried us outside... That's when Dad came to save us. Just as we were about to leave, we heard footsteps coming from behind us, so we turned around..."
She paused.
"It turned out that the men in suits had also hacked into the company's security system and locked all the doors. We were trapped inside with no way out..."
The child stopped speaking.
Tears began falling from both of their cheeks.
After a moment of silence, Auro continued explaining what had happened.
"...D-Dad... He found the air vent and decided to put us inside. He told us to crawl through it and escape outside. He said not to let the men in suits catch us..."
Her voice began trembling.
"At first... We didn't want to leave him, but Dad was desperate. He told us how much he loved us and you, Mom... He also said how sorry he was for not spending enough time with us..."
Tears streamed down both twins' faces.
The woman could only pull them into a comforting embrace.
Nyuro continued the story.
"He forcefully closed the vent and told us to get away while he held them off... We could only follow Dad's orders and start crawling through the vent..."
She paused, trying to hold back her tears.
"We managed to get outside and started running through the grass field... And then..."
The woman hugged both twins tightly.
"I know... I know... You don't have to finish the story. I believe your dad did everything he could to make sure both of you were safe."
The twins continued crying.
And crying.
And crying.
The woman also began to cry as she looked towards the sky.
From a distance, a family photograph could be seen sitting on top of a table.
"It's alright now... Mommy is here, okay? You two don't have to cry anymore."
The twins slowly began to calm down.
"Now, let's go see your sis—"
The woman suddenly stopped speaking.
The twins also noticed something was wrong.
The sound of multiple cars could be heard outside the building.
The woman quickly made her way towards the window and cautiously looked outside.
There were several unfamiliar people wearing black suits.
"...It's them."
She recognised them immediately.
"It was the men in suits..."
The twins looked at each other with worried expressions.
The woman quickly blocked the door before taking her children's hands and leading them towards the room where the baby was.
She also locked the door from the inside.
Suddenly, the building began shaking.
The vibrations caused the baby to wake up and cry.
"Mom..." Nyuro called out to her mother.
"It's alright, honey... We'll get out of here."
The woman picked up the baby before taking down one of the paintings hanging on the wall.
Behind the painting was a hidden entrance with a ladder leading somewhere underground.
"Come on, you two... Climb down first."
The twins began climbing down the ladder.
As they were making their way down, the door to the room above them could be heard being forced open.
The woman quickly put the painting back in place to conceal the secret entrance while holding the baby.
Afterward, she began climbing down as well.
The door above them could be heard being forced open again.
However, just as the intruders were about to enter, the noise suddenly stopped.
The woman noticed this but couldn't understand why.
They continued climbing until they finally reached an underground tunnel beneath the building.
The woman activated the flashlight on her watch.
"We just need to go straight and then turn right to reach the exit. But before that, let me give you something."
She handed the twins a folded piece of paper.
The twins looked at the paper with confused expressions.
Their mother noticed their confusion.
"I'll explain everything once we get out of this tunnel."
As they began moving, a loud noise suddenly filled the tunnel.
The ground started shaking.
The tunnel began crumbling.
"RUN!"
The woman shouted.
All of them ran as fast as they could.
They reached the corner, with the exit just ahead.
However, the tunnel was collapsing rapidly.
The woman realised that they wouldn't be able to make it out in time.
With no other choice, she did the next best thing.
She threw herself on top of her children to protect them.
"CRAAAAASH!"
The tunnel collapsed.
Meanwhile, above ground...
The men in suits decided to leave the area after destroying the building.
They concluded that whoever had been inside was already dead.
Inside the collapsed tunnel...
Auro and Nyuro slowly regained consciousness.
They were both a little dazed.
Then, they noticed a dark liquid dripping onto their faces.
After looking towards the source of the liquid, they froze in shock.
The only source of light came from the cracked flashlight on their mother's watch.
They looked up.
"MOMMMM!"
Both twins shouted simultaneously.
Their mother was struggling to hold back the rubble that was threatening to collapse on top of them.
"Mommmm!"
"...D-Don't worry about me, honey... Do you see the light source above you? I want you two to take your little sister and crawl your way out!"
"But, Mom!" Nyuro shouted.
The space shook once again.
Even more blood began dripping onto the twins.
"I'm sorry, honey, but... Mommy can't hold on much longer. So please, go now..."
She paused.
"Do you remember the paper I gave you?"
Auro was still holding onto the folded paper.
"Go to the address written on that paper... You'll find a man named Elton there. He's a long-time friend of Mommy and Daddy."
The space shook once more.
All three siblings were lying on the ground, facing their mother, who was desperately holding up the rubble above them.
Auro and Nyuro began crying as they begged their mother not to leave them.
The woman gave them a gentle smile as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Don't cry, my children... You three and your dad will always be in my heart, no matter what happens..."
She took a shaky breath.
"Now, please... Go."
The twins slowly stopped crying after hearing their mother's words.
Nyuro picked up her little sister and began crawling out of the tunnel, followed closely by Auro.
"Yes... Just like that... Slowly now... Don't let the rubble fall on top of you."
A few moments later, they finally reached the exit of the tunnel.
Auro and Nyuro looked back at their mother while holding their little sister tightly.
"I'm sorry, my children... I couldn't play with you more or spend as much time with you as I wanted..."
She smiled gently.
"But always remember... I will always love you."
The rubble began falling.
Soon, the tunnel completely collapsed.
The two twins could do nothing but cry where they stood.