There's something unnatural about silence.
Not the peaceful kind. The kind that screams.
That's what I felt as I stood outside the abandoned subway tunnel beneath the city—the forgotten entrance to Lab Axiom, Mason's hidden facility.
The place where I was born.
Or rather... made.
Elias stood behind me, silent. After everything, I still hadn't decided if I forgave him. But I needed him.
The drive in my pocket buzzed—a signal. The countdown had begun.
"One hour," I said, tightening my gloves. "That's how long until the system wipes everything."
"Then we go now," he said, voice low.
We slipped into the darkness, footsteps echoing through cold stone. Rats scattered. Water dripped from rusted pipes. The deeper we went, the more it felt like we were being watched.
At the bottom, a biometric panel flickered to life. I pressed my palm against it.
It scanned.
And then—
"Welcome, Subject A."
The door hissed open.
We stepped inside.
Rows of broken pods lined the corridor. Some still held faded bodies — early prototypes of me. Glitched faces. Missing limbs. Some still breathing.
Elias stared in horror. "They kept them alive?"
I nodded grimly. "Test subjects don't get mercy."
I turned away, trying to ignore the whispers in my head. Ghosts of girls I could have been.
At the end of the hallway, the final door waited.
ACCESS REQUIRES: SUBJECT A + CREATOR
I froze.
"Mason," I said bitterly. "He coded it to need both of us."
"Then we're screwed," Elias muttered.
I turned to him slowly. "Not if I play dirty."
I pulled out the voice chip I'd stolen from V01 before leaving the rooftop. Plugged it into the port.
It mimicked Mason's tone perfectly.
"Override: Mason Grant. Authorization Beta-Gamma-One."
The door unlocked.
The core lab looked like a nightmare version of heaven. White walls. Floating screens. A glowing pod in the center.
Inside it—
My face.
But older.
Eyes closed.
Breathing.
I stumbled back.
"What… is this?" Elias whispered.
"It's me," I said. "But not. The original. I'm the copy."
He stared at me, stunned.
"I was never Amara," I said hollowly. "I was her back-up plan. If she failed… I'd replace her."
The girl in the pod stirred.
A computer voice chimed:
"Reanimation sequence: 2 minutes remaining."
"Shut it down!" Elias shouted.
But I was frozen.
Because for the first time in my life… I didn't know who I was.
Was I just a replica?
A memory?
A placeholder?
And if the real Amara woke up—
What would she do to me?