The storm outside had passed, but the one within Kael still trembled beneath his skin.
They found temporary shelter in the remnants of a communications outpost, tucked between frost-bitten peaks. Aria sat beside Kael, pressing a damp cloth to the deep gash along his jaw. It had been left by one of the soldiers before Kael lost control.
He hadn't spoken since.
Just sat there, breathing in slow, measured counts, as if each inhale kept the monster inside at bay.
"You're not him," Aria said softly, wiping away a streak of dried blood. "Not what they made you to be."
Kael finally turned his head, his voice rough. "Then why does it feel like I'm unraveling?"
She didn't answer with words. Instead, she pressed her forehead against his, letting their shared warmth speak. Their bond, fractured as it was, still pulsed with something steady.
Alive.
Echo paced by the far wall, arms crossed tightly across her chest. Her gaze occasionally flicked toward the ruined entrance like she was expecting the walls to come alive and swallow them whole.
"They weren't soldiers," she muttered. "Those people who attacked us—they didn't fight like mercenaries. They were controlled."
Kael tensed. "Controlled how?"
Echo walked toward them and tossed a scorched chip onto the table. "Implant fragments. Same energy signature as your control runes."
Kael's eyes darkened. "Red Hollow isn't just experimenting anymore. They're deploying."
Aria shivered. "That means someone's pulling the strings from behind the scenes."
"Not someone," Echo said. "Director Vance. He's not dead, like they claimed. He's the one behind the genesis trials. He's still out there… and he wants Kael back."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"No," Aria said firmly. "We don't run anymore. We find him. We end this."
Echo gave her a long look. "You sure you're ready to lead a war?"
"I'm not leading a war," Aria said. "I'm taking back the boy they tried to destroy."
Kael's hand brushed against hers, hesitant. "What if I lose myself again?"
"Then I'll find you. Every time."
He looked away, but not before she saw the flicker of something fragile in his eyes.
Hope.
Echo gathered supplies—what little was left—while Kael ran diagnostics on the chip. The data it held was encrypted, but Kael's altered mind cracked through layers in minutes.
"What is it?" Aria asked as the screen filled with code.
Kael didn't answer at first.
Then he turned, eyes wide.
"It's not just data. It's a signal."
"A tracking signal?"
"Worse." He pointed. "It's broadcasting from inside me."
Aria felt the chill return.
"You're saying they're still monitoring you?"
He nodded. "Even now."
Echo cursed. "That means they knew where you were this whole time. They let you escape… just to watch."
Aria's blood ran cold. "They're studying you like you're still an experiment."
"No," Kael said darkly. "They're preparing me."
"For what?"
Kael met her gaze.
"For activation."
Aria's heart thundered. "They plan to use you as a weapon."
He didn't speak, but the silence confirmed it.
Suddenly, a low hum filled the air.
A red light blinked on the corner of the terminal.
Echo lunged for her weapon. "They've locked onto us."
Kael stood. "Then we run."
They tore out into the night, wind howling around them as distant drones began to swarm above the mountain pass. Aria could barely keep up as Kael led them through jagged tunnels carved into the cliffs, his memory somehow guiding him like a compass through chaos.
"We won't make it down the ridge," Echo shouted. "Too exposed."
"There's an old facility ahead," Kael said. "One they shut down after Project Synthesis failed. No active systems. No surveillance. We can lose them there."
They arrived an hour later—breathless, exhausted.
The facility was a tomb of concrete and rust. Hollow halls, shattered equipment, frozen silence. Kael powered open the doors with the last of the chip's energy, and they slipped inside.
As Aria stepped into the darkness, her chest tightened.
It wasn't just a lab.
It was his lab.
Old files littered the floor. Broken monitors. Test tubes stained with crimson residue.
Kael paused by a shattered containment pod.
"This is where they built me," he whispered. "Where I died."
Aria's fingers laced with his. "Not anymore."
He glanced down at her, searching for something in her face—maybe fear, maybe doubt.
But she offered him only one thing.
Faith.
They set up a small camp in the admin wing. Echo stood guard, while Aria sat beside Kael in what used to be an observation room.
The stars outside were faint, blurred by frost and darkness.
"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked suddenly.
He smiled faintly. "You threw a datapad at my head."
"It was instinct."
"It hurt."
She laughed softly, then sobered. "I didn't trust you then."
"And now?"
She looked at him. "Now, I'd walk into fire if it meant pulling you back."
He reached for her, fingers tracing her jaw.
"I'm afraid of what I'm becoming," he whispered. "I feel it, Aria. Something inside me… it wants out."
She leaned closer. "Then let me in."
Their lips met—soft, slow, desperate.
Not just a kiss.
A promise.
A claim.
A lifeline.
When they pulled apart, Kael rested his forehead against hers. "You make me feel real."
"You are real," she whispered. "And you're not alone."
But the moment shattered when Echo burst into the room.
"They're here."
"How?" Kael stood.
"They used a bypass," she said, breathless. "They don't need signals anymore. They're pulling you with direct commands."
Kael's body jerked—just once.
His eyes flared with silver light.
"No," Aria gasped. "Fight it—Kael, look at me!"
He staggered back, clutching his head, growling low.
His skin lit up with runes.
He was being triggered.
"RUN!" Echo yelled, dragging Aria away as Kael fell to his knees, screaming.
But Aria didn't run.
She dropped beside him, gripping his face. "Kael, come back! You're stronger than them. I know you are!"
His breathing hitched.
"Remember our first kiss," she said. "Remember the forest. The stars. Me."
He trembled.
"They don't own you," she whispered. "I do."
His body convulsed.
Then—
Silence.
The runes dimmed.
Kael collapsed into her arms.
"I'm still here," he rasped.
Aria held him tighter than ever before. "And I'm never letting you go."