The room felt smaller with every breath Ash took.
The air wasn't just heavy,
it felt charged, like standing between two storms waiting to collide.
The copy, Model Zero stared at him with unsettling focus, its eyes glowing faintly like something inside them was alive.
Seren squeezed Ash's hand so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Ash," she whispered, "you don't have to go near him. Whatever this is… it's not right."
Kai was already scanning the exits. "We're leaving. This whole place is a trap."
But Ash didn't move.
Because the strange pull in his chest was getting stronger, almost magnetic.
It wasn't mind control.
It wasn't a command.
It was familiarity.
Like the copy was a memory he had somehow forgotten.
Model Zero extended a hand toward him . Palm open, harmless, inviting.
"Ash," it said, "you're experiencing resonance. Your body knows the truth even if your mind doesn't."
Ash swallowed. "What truth?"
"That you and I…"
The copy stepped closer, its movements quiet and precise.
"Were never meant to exist separately."
Seren stepped in front of Ash, voice shaking but firm. "Back off."
The copy ignored her, gaze fixed only on Ash.
Kai held up a small EMP device. "Take one more step and I swear I'll "
"You'll what?" the copy murmured. "Stun me? Disable me? I am not bound by the same limitations."
The EMP blinked once in Kai's hand then powered down completely.
Kai froze. "Okay. That's… unfair."
Ash's pulse hammered. "What do you want from me?"
The copy tilted its head, studying him with something that looked almost like… sadness.
"I want what was taken from both of us."
Seren stepped closer to Ash, shielding him with her body. "You can't have him."
The copy's eyes softened. Not at her, but at Ash behind her.
"I don't want to harm him," it said quietly. "But Ash… your memories, your abilities, your mother's message, none of it is complete without me."
Ash's breath stuttered. "My mother?? she knew about you."
"She made both of us," the copy replied. "But she chose you to live outside this place. She hid you from the project. And she left me here unfinished."
Seren's voice cracked. "So you're angry."
"No," the copy whispered. "I am… lonely."
The room fell silent.
Even Kai stopped moving.
Model Zero lowered its hand slowly, as if realizing its pull was overwhelming.
"I didn't wake up to replace you, Ash. I woke up because something in this world is changing. And only the two of us together can survive it."
Ash felt that pull again. Stronger, deeper, like a quiet heartbeat beneath his own.
Seren turned toward him, eyes wide with fear and heartbreak. "Ash… don't go near him. I'm begging you."
Ash looked at her, then at the copy.
His voice was barely audible. "Why do I feel… connected to you?"
The copy smiled faintly, almost gently.
"Because, Ash… I am everything you were designed to suppress."
It took a single step closer.
"Ash… I am your other half. The half they didn't want you to become."
Ash's heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Seren's hand trembled in his.
Kai whispered, "This is going to get worse. I can feel it."
And as the copy's expression darkened, something ancient and knowing stirring behind its eyes,
Ash realized this meeting wasn't the end of the mystery.
It was only the beginning.