Darkness thickened above the outer perimeter of the complex. A fine, almost imperceptible rain fell in silence, tracing faint lines of dirty water across the laboratory windows, stained by dust and ash. A silent alarm vibrated in the air—something had breached a barrier no one believed could be broken so soon.
Mayu sprinted through the corridors with instinctive precision, every turn bringing her closer to the main communication antenna. Behind her, Seth covered her six, silent, eyes sharp as a predator's. Lia and Subject 45, who had split off earlier, were tracking another lead: an energy anomaly in the lower levels—too powerful to ignore.
— "Mayu, two more floors," Seth whispered. "The relay's just above. But…"
He stopped. A strange sound echoed through the concrete—a metallic clicking.
Mayu froze. Silence. Then another sound. Footsteps. Slow. Heavy.
She quietly activated her ocular lens. Blurry shapes appeared in the digital fog. Three figures. Human. Unidentified.
— "These aren't regular clones…"
Seth nodded. He had sensed it too. These presences radiated something different. Not programming. Not a mission. But awareness. Enemies.
Mayu moved forward, wrist-blades unsheathing with a faint hiss. The echo of footsteps drew closer. From a side hallway, a figure emerged—tall, slender, dressed in a suit darker than the night. No words. No cry.
Suddenly, the figure lunged at her.
The impact was brutal. Mayu dodged by a breath, her blades slicing into the wall behind her. The attacker—human? machine?—retaliated instantly with military precision. Seth fired a stun shot, but the figure twisted impossibly, dodging like it defied natural law.
— "That's no ordinary human!" Seth growled, stepping back.
Mayu unleashed a flurry of strikes. The enemy parried them all, as if reading her thoughts. But then—she saw it. A flicker. A flaw. A moment of hesitation. She struck.
Her blade grazed the figure's neck, and it stumbled back with a metallic shriek. Its mask fell.
Mayu's eyes widened.
— "...You?"
The exposed face was pale. Almost translucent. Eyes the same shade of icy blue as hers—but soulless. Empty. A copy. Another one.
— "Number 47," she whispered.
The replica spat out a string of indecipherable sounds, then collapsed—shut down remotely.
But at that instant, a countdown flashed across the walls—holographic, red, blinking.
00:14:59
Seth turned.
— "It's a purge. Someone's wiping the complex—then blowing it sky-high."
Panic surged in Mayu's throat. She grabbed Number 47's mask and sprinted toward the main elevator. Every second mattered. They had to reach the control core before everything turned to ash.
---
Meanwhile, deep in the underground levels, Lia and Subject 45 approached a massive reinforced door. Behind it pulsed a heavy, living energy.
— "This is it. The source," said Lia, eyes fixed on her scanner.
Subject 45 placed his hand on the security panel. A wave pulsed through the metal, instantly recognizing his genetic signature.
The door opened slowly.
Inside, bathed in cold light, hung a massive suspended cylinder in a glass chamber. Within: a body. Female. Motionless. Asleep.
— "...It's Mayu," Lia whispered, voice trembling.
Subject 45 stepped closer. No. It wasn't the Mayu they knew. This one had longer hair, visible implants beneath her skin, and a peaceful expression. As if she had slept for years.
A terminal nearby blinked to life. Files opened automatically.
> Project M-A.Y.U.: Prototype Origin.
Status: Inactive
Primary Functions: Neurological control / Mirror interface / Manual reactivation only
— "She's not a clone. She's the first. The one all the others were modeled after," Lia murmured.
A terrible silence settled over the room.
And at that moment, a speaker crackled overhead:
— "Subject 45. Subject Lia. You are ordered to leave this chamber immediately. Reactivation is forbidden. Any attempt will result in neutralization."
Subject 45 didn't move. His fists trembled.
— "So this is it… She's the original. And Mayu… the one we know…"
— "…is just an echo," Lia finished.
But then, a sonic pulse rippled from the cylinder. The body inside stirred.
And a voice—soft, ancient—rose in their minds. Not from speakers. From within.
— "...Who am I?"
---
Above, Seth and Mayu had reached the control center. The monitors displayed the final destruction protocols.
00:08:45
Seth was forcing the primary firewall while Mayu connected Number 47's mask to the biometric interface. A window opened—mirror system activation data flooded the screen.
— "Mayu, look at this…" he whispered.
Thousands of faces flashed by. All with the same eyes. All from the same mold.
One label at the top of the screen:
> Primary Source: Project M-A.Y.U.
Mayu felt her chest tighten.
— "How many times have I been copied…?"
— "It wasn't you they copied," Seth said grimly. "It was the one before you."
The console shook. A secondary countdown appeared:
> Original Source Awakening: IN PROGRESS
Mayu felt something inside her jolt. She stood upright, eyes locked on the screen.
— "Lia… she found her."
— "We have to choose," Seth said. "Shut down the complex… or let her wake up."
— "She's me. But older. Maybe stronger. Maybe unstable."
— "But if she holds the truth, she might be our only hope."
Silence.
Mayu placed her hand on the control panel.
She thought of all the sacrifices. All the victims. All the Mayus that had fallen before her.
And she made her choice.
---
To be continued...