Rainy Evening, Bus Stop Near the Edge of the City
Souta sits alone under a flickering streetlight. The Resonator hangs from his neck like a pendant now quiet, but pulsing faintly with warmth.
He watches the rain fall.
A couple walks by, laughing.
A child chases a paper boat into a puddle.
It almost feels like normal life again.
But his hands won't stop shaking.
Souta (thinking):
"If he's gone... why do I still feel like I'm being watched?"
Toru's Basement Lab
Toru is alone, studying the Resonator's internal data.
Toru:
"All three locks are shut. The waveforms are stable.
But this line here… it wasn't there before."
He zooms in.
It's a signal.
Not from Kuroda.
Not from this dimension.
But from something beneath the original frequency.
Toru (wide-eyed):
"Someone else is using it."
Suddenly his lights flicker.
The screen goes black.
Then flashes one message in red:
"SOUTA ISN'T THE FIRST."
Souta's Apartment, Late Night
The silence is heavy again.
Souta tries to sleep but jolts awake at 3:13 a.m.
The same time as the Kuroda attacks.
But this time, it's not noise that wakes him.
It's a heartbeat.
Not his own.
He turnsand sees his closet door creak open slowly.
Nothing inside.
Except
A small cassette tape.
Labeled in handwriting he recognizes.
"Property of: Shinra Eizo."
Souta (whispers):
"…My father."
Flashback: Memory Fragment
A blurry memory. His father sitting in the shed, placing a cassette into a machine. Whispering to it:
Shinra Eizo (faint):
"If you're hearing this… then I failed. And you're next."
Back to Reality
Souta grabs the tape, heart racing.
He doesn't own a cassette player anymore. But someone might…
Next Morning, Electronics Junkyard
Toru meets Souta near rows of rusted TVs and radios.
Toru: "You're serious? A cassette? That's prehistoric tech."
Souta: "It's his voice, Toru. From before the Resonator. Before Kuroda."
They find an old player.
Souta inserts the tape.
Click. Whirrrrr.
Then
"This is Shinra Eizo. I'm recording this in 1999.
I've built something terrible. It listens to thought… and answers back."
"I called it 'Project Echo'. But I was wrong to believe it was mine.
I think it found me.
And I think… it's looking for a new host."
Suddenly the tape bursts into flames.
Souta throws it, and it disintegrates mid-air.
Toru (shocked): "What the hell was that?!"
Souta doesn't answer.
He's frozen.
Because the Resonator around his neck is glowing again.
But this time not white.
Dark red.
Underground Lab, Unknown Location
A group of figures in lab coats gather around a hollow, glowing sphere.
Inside it
A silhouette floats in fetal position.
Not Kuroda.
But someone younger.
Someone new.
A voice speaks through a monitor:
"Subject 07 is active. The frequency has found another."
To be continued…