🌀 Rift Echo – Aya's Mental Domain
Aya stood barefoot on a platform of broken glass.
Each shard reflected a memory — but some were cracked, others empty.
She hovered her hand over one.
A young girl.
Wires in her arms.
Surrounded by white coats.
Watching as another child screamed inside a glowing cube.
> "Designation: Aya. Project Kaido – Cognitive Amplifier Branch."
Aya recoiled.
"No… I wasn't just a test subject… I was part of the control group."
A reflection of herself looked up at her from the glass.
> "You were the failsafe."
🔓 Academy – Nightfall
Ren, Kiyomi, and Zephyr stood outside the Vault Entrance, hidden beneath Building E.
A massive door made of Rift-forged steel loomed before them — covered in rusted symbols.
Kiyomi raised an eyebrow. "No alarms?"
Zephyr snorted. "Because no one's stupid enough to open this."
Ren stepped forward.
His Mark glowed faintly.
> Click.
The door unlocked.
🔥 Inside the Vault
Dust.
Darkness.
Silence that pressed on your ribs like it wanted to replace your lungs.
Rows of sealed canisters. Shelves of ancient spellbooks. Cryo-tanks covered in frost.
In the center:
A pod.
Floating.
Pulsing red.
With a nameplate scratched nearly off.
Only one word was readable:
> "RE…N"
Ren blinked.
Kiyomi: "That's… your name."
Zephyr: "No. That's one of his names."
Ren touched the glass.
The pod responded.
A pulse of energy threw all three back.
🗣 The Voice in the Vault
A voice spoke.
Not in the room.
Inside Ren's head.
> "You found me too early, Prototype."
Ren's knees buckled.
His vision spun.
His Mark was glowing like it wanted to tear through his skin.
> "I am what you were before you were human."
> "I am what they locked away."
> "And I remember everything."
Ren screamed.
Kiyomi grabbed him.
Zephyr started chanting a binding spell.
The pod cracked.
Steam hissed.
> "We are the Kaido Singularity."
⚠ Aya's Emergency Vision
Back in the Rift domain, Aya clutched her head.
She saw the pod.
She saw herself years ago, typing code into that vault.
> "Seal this one. He remembers too much."
She gasped. "That's not just Ren's past…"
> "That's the piece they cut out of him."
Aya opened a glowing file inside her memory. The header:
> "Kaido Lineage Split Protocol: When Subject 2A exceeds Gate 4, awaken the dormant ego."
🔥 Back at the Vault – Breaking Point
Ren's scream stopped.
He stood still.
Too still.
Kiyomi whispered: "Ren?"
He turned around — but his eyes… were gold. Not glowing. Pure molten gold.
He smiled.
Not his usual smile.
Too calm.
Too wrong.
> "I remember the lab now. The fire. The way they screamed."
> "I even remember who pressed the button."
He pointed to the air.
Straight forward.
> "It was you."
They turned.
And there stood a man.
The Watcher.
No longer hiding.
Wearing a teacher's face like a mask, cracking at the edges.
He clapped slowly.
👁 The Watcher Speaks
"You made it further than we expected, Ren."
The man's face began to peel.
Behind it: A shifting pattern of skin, light, and Rift energy — barely human.
> "Gate Four without killing yourself? That's impressive."
Zephyr stepped forward. "You're not from this world, are you?"
"No," the Watcher smiled. "But he is."
He pointed at Ren.
"Or… what's left of him."
🩸 Aya's Desperate Call
Through the tether, Aya screamed:
> "Ren! Don't listen! He's trying to awaken the wrong version of you!"
> "You're more than what they made. You're what you chose to become."
Ren blinked.
The gold flickered.
His fists clenched.
And then—
> "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
He exploded with light.
The Watcher was blasted backward.
The Vault shook.
💥 Escape
Zephyr dragged Ren.
Kiyomi slashed through the door lock.
The vault began to collapse.
They barely made it out before the hallway imploded in white light.
Kiyomi: "We lost the file…"
Zephyr: "No. Ren didn't."
Ren opened his hand.
Inside: A fragment of crystal.
Flickering with code.
Aya's voice whispered:
> "That's your real memory."
> "The one they never wanted you to find."
End of Chapter 22
🧩 Lore Unlock – Vault Memory Crystal
> Fragment of Ren's original mind-state, before the Kaido Project began. Contains encrypted truth about his family, the original Rift breach, and the identity of the First Gatekeeper.
⚠ Unlocking it may trigger Gate Five prematurely.
Status: Sealed by Aya (manua
lly)
🔥 Chapter 23 Teaser:
> The group goes on the run again—but Ren is different now. Aya begins decoding the memory crystal. Meanwhile, the Watcher meets with someone unexpected: Jin. And we learn… Jin isn't just a retired fighter. He's the one who helped seal Gate Zer
o.