The halls felt narrower now.
Kaela's breathing was ragged, her thoughts louder than the alarms still flashing dim red from the damaged control panels above. Ava moved beside her, cautious but alert, weapon raised. Neither of them spoke for several minutes—there was too much to say, and no time to say it.
Revenant had disappeared like a phantom—but his presence clung to the air, thick and acrid like smoke after a fire.
"You saw his face," Ava finally said, keeping her voice low.
Kaela didn't answer immediately.
She touched the gash on her jaw, blood mixing with sweat and metal dust. "I've seen that face before. Not in memories. In dreams. Nightmares."
"Maybe not nightmares," Ava replied. "Maybe buried data."
Kaela turned sharply. "You think I'm just a database?"
Ava met her eyes. "No. I think someone made sure you never accessed what was stored inside you."
They reached a collapsed sector wall—debris from an old containment breach. Ava tapped at a locked terminal embedded in the concrete. It sparked once, then hummed to life, asking for biometric access.
Kaela stepped forward, unsure.
The screen blinked.
Welcome, R0.1 — Hybrid Clearance Confirmed.
Kaela froze. "That's not my ID."
The system opened.
Ava's eyes widened. "Then whose is it?"
Files spilled onto the screen like floodgates bursting open. Footage. Logs. DNA maps. Combat simulation records.
Kaela watched as images flickered—her face, younger, colder. Beside her in every image stood him. Revenant. Scarred. Silent. A shadow at her side.
They weren't just experiments.
They were partners.
No—weapons deployed in tandem.
Project: TWIN RAZOR
"Jesus…" Ava whispered. "They didn't just build you. They paired you."
Kaela stepped back. Her hands were trembling.
One log began to auto-play—security footage from ten years ago. A test chamber engulfed in flames. Kaela and Revenant fighting side by side—until she turned on him. Until she stabbed him.
And then ran.
The final frame? Revenant's body on fire, reaching out toward the camera.
Kaela staggered.
"I killed him," she breathed. "I left him to die."
Ava grabbed her arm. "You were trying to survive."
Kaela looked up, eyes cold with fury and grief. "He survived. And now he's coming for both of us."
Suddenly, the terminal sparked—overridden. The screen flickered again, this time with a live feed.
Revenant's half-burned mask stared back at them.
"You unlocked the past, sister. Now let me show you the future."
The feed cut.
Kaela stood silent.
And whispered, "He's not just after me. He's after what I still remember… but haven't yet recovered."