The silence was unnatural.
A stillness so thick it felt alive — like the very walls of the lab were holding their breath.
Inside the cryo-chamber, the low hum of outdated machinery was the only sound. The air, laced with sterilized cold, held the scent of metal and time. Every flicker of light across the cracked monitors illuminated the frost clinging to the cryo-pod — the pod where she slept.
Ronin stood before it, unmoving.
His eyes were locked on the figure inside. A girl — maybe his age, maybe younger — suspended in a glowing blue fluid. Her body was lean but strong, like that of a soldier frozen mid-mission. Her arms bore the same glowing runes as Ronin's own — ancient, fluid symbols pulsing with faint gold light.
She looked peaceful. But to Ronin, it felt like standing in front of a storm that hadn't yet opened its eyes.
Behind him, Ruby was pacing slowly, tension visible in her furrowed brow.
"This is insane," she finally muttered. "You don't even know what she'll do if you wake her."
Ronin didn't reply immediately. His hand hovered just above the cold glass. Something inside him was resonating — vibrating with an invisible frequency. It was as if his entire being recognized her… remembered her.
"I don't just know her," he whispered, more to himself than Ruby. "I… feel her."
Ruby stopped pacing. "Ronin…"
He turned to her slowly. "Her name is Kael. Code name: R-02."
"You remember?" Ruby's voice was skeptical, tinged with disbelief.
Ronin's voice remained calm, but layered with awe. "Not everything. But enough. She stood beside me. We fought together. Fell together."
Ruby crossed her arms, still unsure. "And you want to bring her back, even with all that risk?"
"She's one of us," Ronin said. "If there's even a chance she's still… herself, then we don't just need her. She deserves to know what happened."
Ronin turned back to the control panel of the cryo-pod. The screen flickered as it powered on.
UNLOCK SEQUENCE READY
SUBJECT: R-02 – STATUS: STABLE
VITAL SIGNS RESYNC: IN PROGRESS
INITIATE REVIVAL? [Y/N]
He pressed Y without hesitation.
A high-pitched hiss filled the chamber. White steam hissed out from every corner of the pod. The glowing fluid inside began draining through translucent tubes, revealing her pale skin beneath.
Ronin's heart raced as her form descended, gently reclining until she rested flat within the pod. Her fingers twitched. Her breathing began.
Then, her eyelids fluttered.
And finally… she gasped.
Her chest jolted upward. She coughed violently, oxygen crashing into her lungs after what felt like eternity. Her entire body shivered as the warmth returned to her veins.
Ronin leapt forward, catching her as she slumped forward. "Easy! I've got you!"
She collapsed into his arms, her limbs trembling. Her skin was deathly cold.
"I… I can't breathe," she gasped, eyes wide and disoriented.
"You're safe now," Ronin said gently. "It's over. You're awake."
Kael's vision focused slowly. Her eyes met his — recognition flickered in her expression.
"Ronin…?" she whispered, her voice raw. "You're alive?"
"I wasn't supposed to be," Ronin said, holding her steady. "Neither were you."
She reached up slowly, brushing her fingertips against the glowing rune on his arm.
"They said you were the last," she murmured. "They told me… you were gone."
"And they were wrong."
Ruby stepped closer, still cautious but concerned. "Is she okay?"
Kael looked at Ruby curiously, but then her expression twisted into panic. "Where's R-03? R-04? The twins…?" She looked around, frantic. "Are they here?"
Ronin's expression darkened. "I don't know. I only saw… what they wanted me to see. Visions. Memories. Death."
Kael's breathing slowed. "So we lost…"
Ronin shook his head. "No. Not yet. And not if we can help it."
The lights above them flickered again.
A low, guttural clang echoed through the hallway vents.
Ruby turned, alarmed. "The guardian… it's moving again."
Kael pulled herself up, unsteady but standing. "Then we finish what they started."
---
Meanwhile, Outside the Lab
The guardian stalked the corridors outside the sealed room. Its limbs shifted silently, sensors glowing with pale red. It scanned the interior—searching for instability.
Its directive was hard-coded:
Protect the Origin. Eliminate all unstable subjects.
But then, something changed.
From within the lab, two signals now resonated in unison. Ronin and Kael. Their genetic markers aligned. Their internal pulses synchronized.
The guardian's red sensors flickered—then turned amber.
Then green.
New Directive Received: STAND DOWN.
The guardian paused, tilted its head, and retreated into the walls—vanishing once again into the shadows.
Back in the Lab
Kael had recovered quickly. She was standing confidently now, pulling up holographic logs from a dusty console. The room pulsed with cold light as streams of data ran across floating panels.
"We were more than they ever told us," she said, voice sharp. "Project V-13 wasn't just about creating warriors. We were engineered to store and interpret alien consciousness. Each of us held a different key to the war."
Ronin stepped closer. "You mean… they embedded memories in us?"
Kael nodded grimly. "Memories. Technology. Maps. Language. Weapons. We weren't born — we were built as vaults of everything they didn't understand."
Ruby's eyes widened. "That's why Ronin gets those visions. They're real."
"They're echoes," Kael replied. "Some dormant. Some waiting to be triggered."
"But why shut you all down?" Ruby asked. "Why freeze you?"
Kael looked at the floor, jaw clenched. "Because we evolved. Faster than they expected. We began to think… to feel. They called it a failure. A security breach. We called it life."
Before anyone could respond, the map console buzzed. A signal pulsed red—distant but familiar.
"Sector 13," Ruby said, narrowing her eyes. "That's the second time we've seen that frequency."
Kael stared at the coordinates. "It's the Control Node. That's where they stored the central matrix. If that signal's active… one of the others might still be alive. R-06. Maybe even R-07."
Ronin's fist tightened. "Then we go there."
Ruby hesitated. "You both just came back from near death. Are you even—"
Kael didn't let her finish. She raised her hand and flicked her wrist. The air pulsed — a nearby table lifted several inches and slammed into the far wall.
"I'm fine," Kael said with a grin.
---
Later That Night – En Route to Sector 13
The stars above were dim, veiled by clouds and city smoke. They drove fast in an old military truck, navigating the ruins of a world that had forgotten how to breathe.
Kael sat in the back, meditating. Her breath slow. Her body pulsing faintly with energy.
Ronin stared out at the road ahead. Quiet. Focused.
Ruby glanced at him. "You're not the same person I met two weeks ago."
Ronin didn't respond at first.
"I feel… connected now," he finally said. "To something deeper. Like time itself is layered around me. I can feel events that haven't even happened yet."
"Like fate?"
"No. Like memory… out of sequence."
Ruby rested her hand on his. "Whatever they put inside you—whatever you are now—you're still you."
Ronin's voice was low. "And if I'm not? If I become something else… something inhuman?"
Ruby met his eyes. "Then I'll fight to bring you back."
From the backseat, Kael spoke. "You better be ready for that."
They turned to her.
Kael opened her eyes slowly. "Because what's waiting for us at Sector 13 isn't another alien."
"Then what is it?" Ronin asked.
Kael's voice was hollow. Cold. "It's a version of us. Before we learned to choose. Before we had a soul."
To Be Continued…
©2025 darx_roitth_ All Rights Reserved