She stood barefoot in the wreckage of the tank—fluid dripping from her pale skin, hair plastered against her cheeks. The Prototype stared directly at Ruoxi, unblinking, a strange serenity etched into her delicate features.
"Hello, sister," she said again, voice soft like silk, yet unnervingly hollow.
Ruoxi took a step back, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. "You… you know who I am?"
The Prototype tilted her head slightly. "Of course. I've always known. I watched your life unfold while I slept. I was never asleep, you see. I was listening."
The silver-haired woman—Dr. Han Xue—stepped forward, beaming like a proud mother. "She's perfect, isn't she? The true original. You're just an imprint, Ruoxi. An echo."
Zeyan's fists clenched. "You're lying."
Han Xue smirked. "Project Twin Flame was never about saving lives. It was about replicating identity. We failed with the first attempt. She—" she gestured to the girl "—was too sensitive. Too human. But you, Ruoxi, were stable. Functional. You were meant to replace her."
Ruoxi's stomach twisted. "You replaced me with me?"
Han Xue's eyes gleamed. "You were the success story… until now."
The Prototype stepped forward slowly, glass crunching under her bare feet. Her presence carried an unsettling energy—beautiful, innocent, but almost too perfect, like a dream just on the edge of a nightmare.
Ruoxi instinctively shielded Linyue.
Zeyan moved in front of both of them. "Don't come closer."
"I don't want to hurt you," the Prototype said. "But I have orders. My mind is not fully mine."
Ruoxi's brows furrowed. "Orders from who?"
The Prototype's expression darkened. "From the Architect."
Han Xue's voice rang out: "Erase the anomaly. Reset the design."
The Prototype blinked slowly. Her eyes—once the color of winter skies—flared neon for a split second.
She lunged.
Zeyan blocked her with his arm, pushing Ruoxi and Linyue aside. The Prototype moved like liquid shadow—fast, graceful, and eerily precise.
She struck him in the ribs with a force that sent him flying into the control panel.
"Zeyan!" Ruoxi screamed, running to him.
The Prototype paused, breathing hard, her body trembling.
"I don't want this," she whispered, tears slipping from her eyes. "But I was built to obey."
Ruoxi stood, shaking. "You don't have to. You're not a machine."
"Then what am I?" the girl cried. "A copy? A dream? A broken beginning? Why does your life feel like mine? Why do I remember your pain more than my own?"
Han Xue slammed a fist against the console. "Don't listen to her! She's the falsehood. You're the source. The Project's future."
Ruoxi stepped forward, voice shaking but firm. "You're not a project. You're a person. You feel, you question—that makes you real. You're not my enemy. She is."
The Prototype wavered.
"I remember the music box," she whispered. "The song mother used to hum. The scent of rain on our street. But those aren't my memories… they're yours."
Ruoxi reached out. "Then maybe we're more alike than different."
Behind them, Zeyan groaned, sitting up slowly with blood trickling from his lip. "Get out of here," he rasped. "I'll hold them."
Han Xue pulled a syringe from her coat and slammed her palm on a button. Emergency lockdown engaged. Metal doors slammed over the exits.
"You're not leaving. I'll have both of you. Together, you are perfection."
Sirens wailed.
Ruoxi gritted her teeth. "If you want us both, then be ready to destroy your masterpiece—because she's choosing her own path."
The Prototype turned slowly toward Han Xue.
"No more commands."
Han Xue froze. "What are you doing? I created you."
"No," the girl said. "You designed me. But you never loved me."
Then she lifted her hand.
Electricity pulsed from the still-active tank behind them. Monitors sparked. The power grid failed in a snap.
Darkness swallowed the lab.
A moment later, the emergency backup lights hummed to life, casting everything in deep crimson shadows.
Han Xue was gone.
The main chamber door—ajar.
"She escaped," Zeyan groaned.
Ruoxi turned to the Prototype, who stood frozen, eyes blank.
"She shut herself down," Linyue whispered.
"No," Ruoxi said, stepping closer. "She's fighting the programming."
Ruoxi placed her hand on the girl's cheek.
"Come with us. We'll find the rest of the truth—together."
Slowly, the Prototype blinked.
"I don't have a name," she murmured.
"You do now," Ruoxi said gently. "We'll find it."
As the facility crumbled behind them and dawn broke over the mountains, the three of them emerged into the light—Ruoxi, Zeyan, and the Prototype.
The snow fell like ash. The world had changed.
And somewhere, in the shadows, Han Xue was watching… waiting for the next move.