Chapter Eleven: Things We Left Behind
I've walked into Dominion kill zones with less hesitation than I feel staring into that stairwell.
Mira goes in first, rifle steady. I follow close behind, Elin bringing up the rear. The steps are made of something synthetic—quiet, frictionless. Dominion tech meant to silence descent. Even gravity feels thinner, like the air down here doesn't want to remember weight.
Halfway down, Elin whispers, "This feels like walking into a memory."
She's not wrong.
Everything down here smells of preservation—stale air, metal, the scent of things locked away too long.
We reach the bottom.
The chamber is wide, circular again, but cleaner—untouched by time. In the center stands a stasis pod. It's massive, suspended mid-air by arched conduits humming with low energy. Inside the pod, something human-shaped floats.
Mira's breath catches. "That's... a person."
"Not just any person," Elin says, narrowing her eyes. "That suit—it's first-gen Dominion prototype. Those were scrapped before the war even began."
I move closer.
The face inside the pod is pale, calm, almost serene. A scar splits the lower lip. The hair floats in zero-G like ink. Male. Early thirties. And somehow… familiar.
There's a panel beneath the pod. I crouch to read it. "Subject: K-0X1. Project Helix."
I freeze.
"Elin," I say, voice hollow, "what was Project Helix?"
She doesn't answer right away. That alone is answer enough.
"It was a Dominion experiment," she finally says. "Gene manipulation. Mental conditioning. They wanted perfect soldiers. Silent, loyal, adaptable."
I remember now.
Not from a file.
From my own mind.
From the way my hands used to tremble after a mission. The long blackouts. The gaps in memory stitched together with lies and orders.
Because I was one of them.
"I think…" I step back. "I think that's me."
Mira turns sharply. "What do you mean?"
"Not exactly me. But a version. A prototype. One they kept in stasis. I was… I was Helix Two. I escaped. But this—this is the original."
A silence falls between us. Heavy. Suffocating.
"What do we do?" Mira finally asks.
Before I can answer, the pod lights up. Sensors awaken. A low pulse builds in the room like a slow heartbeat. And then—
"Kael Riven. Match confirmed."
The voice isn't mechanical. It's my own.
The stasis fluid drains. The pod begins to open.
Elin steps back. "We should leave. Now."
But I can't move.
Because I'm staring at myself.
And he's waking up.