EXT. OUTER WALL PERIMETER – DAY
The sound of wind grows louder—not the system's simulated background hum, but real wind, rich with the scent of wet grass.
A shimmer of silver light pulses briefly, distorting the air.
C048 is hurled from the end of a virtual transfer shaft, as if born from the sky itself, landing with a muffled thud into a soft slope blanketed in thick leaves.
Gravity pulls her into a tumble. She rolls a few times before finally coming to rest, gasping for breath.
As her eyes flutter open—
Light filters through the canopy, scattering sunspots across her pale skin. Her gaze gleams like someone witnessing the first sunrise of her life.
C048 steps into the forest, slowly taking in her surroundings.
No smooth, pale walls.No screens or voice-activated AI. No climate control.
Her surroundings were towering cedar trees, their crowns confidently soaring into the clouds, their roots firmly anchoring into the soil—wild and free.
Birdsong erupts. Mist drapes the distant hills. A red bird streaks overhead, its feathers glinting like metal in the sun.
She watches its flight, eyes growing moist, nose tingling with the sting of something long forgotten.
She reaches out and touches a yellowing leaf—its veins rough, still jeweled with morning dew.
C048 (whispers): This... isn't AI.
She slips off her standard-issue grey uniform jacket. Barefoot, she rises and closes her eyes—for the first time, she feels the embrace of Mother Nature.
She crouches down and presses her face to the damp earth, eyes closing again, lips barely moving—
A flood of emotion swells—something between fear and longing.
INT. FOREST INTERIOR – DAY
A lone girl stands amid untamed wilderness.The distant city wall looms cold and sterile.But here—chaos breathes life.
EXT. FOREST HOLLOW – DAY
She reaches a low curtain of vines. Lifting them, she freezes.
A body lies curled on the ground—torn grey uniform, narrow shoulder blades, face smeared with dried blood. But she recognizes him instantly.
X089. Recently dragged out of the Emotion Regulation Chamber. Marked for reset.
He lies on his side, half his face buried in mud. Lips pale. Eyes half-open. One hand limp on the ground, fingers frozen mid-swirl on an unfinished pattern. He's barely alive.
She rushes to him, kneels, gently lifting his head.
She signs: X089. It's me.
He struggles to open his eyes, nods faintly.
His lips twitch. Slowly, he raises a trembling hand. In familiar hand signs, he says:
X089: You... you're not like them. We have to finish the mission.
She freezes. Her mouth parts slightly, then she responds—with signs and her voice, for the first time:
C048:I... I heard you.
He manages a weak smile.
A violent cough interrupts them. He curls tighter. She looks around in panic, scoops a handful of water from a nearby stream and helps him drink. Then she sees the dark red berries growing on a low shrub, grabs them without hesitation, and feeds him.
Color returns faintly to his face.
X089 (hoarse):I'm... not dead. But the system erased me.
She stares at him—for the first time, pain, resistance, and courage ripple through a stranger's face. They're no longer just numbers. They can feel.
C048 (softly):Where do we go?
He nods weakly, gestures toward the forest's depths. With dry, cracked lips, he forces out:
X089: There's... a path.
Without hesitation, she lifts his arm across her shoulders and rises. Together, step by step, they vanish into the woods.
Sunlight spills behind them. The wall fades into the dense foliage, disappearing without a trace.
EXT. FOREST HIDEOUT – DAWN
Sunlight pierces through damp leaves, falling on a makeshift shelter of vines and thick branches.The girl lies curled on a patch of moss-covered soil.
Nearby, the boy sleeps lightly. His face has regained some color since the night before, though his breathing remains shallow.Broad leaves cover his frail body. Dew clings to his eyelashes.
As the girl opens her eyes, the forest is silent—Only the rustle of wind in the trees and a clear birdcall in the distance.
She sits up slowly, looking toward the canopy above.
A thought crosses her mind—No multiple choice options today.
Her bare feet press into the thick carpet of fallen leaves. Each step makes a sound—real, tangible.She circles the area, as if checking whether the wall still exists.
When she returns, X089 stirs and coughs weakly.She rushes to his side, kneels, and gently draws a wavy line on the back of his hand with her fingertip.
He nods slowly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
He raises his hand and draws a spiral in the air, ending with a dot.
She watches, nods, then signs the symbol for "safe."
They fall silent, but their eyes meet—and in that shared gaze, a new form of language takes root.The forest breathes.The symbols flow.And their silence speaks.
Far away, a vine wrapped around a dead tree glows faintly red.It trembles—just slightly.
X089 stares in that direction.He signs: They're watching.
The girl follows his gaze, confused.
He struggles to sit up and points deeper into the woods.With effort, he signs:
The plants... carry uploaded memory. Ours. The ones before us. They didn't finish. The plants can speak.
C048's expression darkens.She looks again at the glowing red vines.
She doesn't yet know—She and X089 are walking into an echo shaped by the blood of those who came before.
EXT. FOREST – DUSK
Deeper in the woods, a massive vine-wrapped tree coils around ancient stone.Its roots thread through the earth like veins.Among its leaves, strands of light gently pulse.
The two children approach the base of the tree.A bundle of glowing blue rootlets floats like tendrils, slowly drifting in the air.
C048 turns to X089, her eyes asking:What is this?
He lifts a hand and points to his head.
A message forms—without words.Before death, they linked their brain interfaces.They uploaded everything.These are the carriers.They were the ones who escaped before us.
C048 steps closer.The luminous tendrils detect her presence, rising subtly—breathing, like jellyfish in water.
She extends a hand. Her fingertips graze a glowing root.
A faint electric pulse zips through her skin.
Her pupils constricted.
The world shifts.
A flood of images crashes through her mind—
– A child screaming at a wall, clutching a torn piece of paper.– A young man sobbing over a friend's body in a ruined city.– A woman, being dragged away, cries out with her last strength:"Remember this word—Mommy!"
The visions roar through her skull.Yet her body remains frozen, still as stone.Her face pales. Eyes blank.
Then—She gasps.Like a drowning girl breaking the surface for the first time.
She collapses, knees hitting the earth. Both hands cover her face.Her body trembles violently.
X089 rushes to catch her.
He lifted her head, her pupils still quivering. —And she utters a single word:
C048
Ma...ma…
The boy stares, stunned.
She continues, voice cracking:
C048
Mama... Mama...
She cries—not from pain, but from something deeper. A memory awakening that no child should bear.
X089 wraps his arms around her.He gently pats her back.
Above them, deep in the branches of the ancient tree, a flash—The faint figure of a child from the old world. Scrawling wild, chaotic symbols onto a wall. Then vanishing into the dusk.