Ash felt like the ground beneath him had shifted, not physically, but something inside him, something in the place where instinct and memory blurred.
Model Zero stood still now, its expression unreadable, its presence overwhelming but strangely calm.
For a moment, Ash wondered if this was what it felt like to look into a mirror that reflected not your face, but the pieces of yourself you never wanted to see.
Seren forced herself to stand taller, even though her voice trembled.
"If you're his 'other half', then why does he look terrified of you?"
The copy blinked slowly. "Because truth often frightens those who were raised on lies."
Kai scoffed. "Okay, Buddha. Enough with the creepy prophecy talk."
Model Zero's eyes flicked toward him. Not hostile, just aware before returning to Ash.
"You've felt it, haven't you?" it asked softly.
"The dreams. The missing memories. The moments you sense something is wrong inside you."
Ash stiffened.
He had dreamed of a strange, broken images he never understood. A hand reaching toward him. A voice calling his name. A cold room. A second heartbeat.
"I don't know what you are," Ash whispered, "but I'm not merging with anything."
"Merging?" Kai repeated. "No. No one is merging with anything today."
The copy tilted its head as if amused. "I didn't say merge. I said understand."
Seren looked unconvinced. "You're trying to manipulate him."
Model Zero's voice softened. "If I wanted to manipulate him, he would already be standing beside me."
Ash felt Seren tense in fear.
The copy continued, "But I haven't forced anything. Because he deserves the truth."
Ash's voice cracked. "Then tell me."
The room dimmed, the lights overhead flickering like the building itself wanted to hide what was coming.
Model Zero stepped back, not threatening, but preparing to reveal something difficult.
"Ash… you and I were created with the same DNA. But your mother split what was inside us."
Ash's breath hitched. "Split what?"
"The core."
The copy pressed a hand against its chest.
"The thing that made the project dangerous. You hold the human half, empathy, restraint, emotion."
It lowered its hand.
"And I hold what was removed from memory, instinct, raw potential. The part she feared would consume you."
Seren's eyes widened. "So you're saying??"
"We were meant to be one person," the copy finished quietly.
Kai shook his head. "That's insane."
"No," Model Zero whispered, "it is design."
A faint electric hum filled the room. The same hum Ash had felt in his bones since stepping inside.
The copy looked at him with something almost sorrowful.
"Ash. You are incomplete because she wanted you safe."
Its expression hardened.
"But I was left behind because she wanted the project to fail."
Ash's throat tightened painfully. "My mother… kept you here?"
"She did it to protect you," Model Zero said.
"But now that I am awake… everything she feared is coming for both of us."
A cold chill swept through the room.
Seren stepped closer to Ash protectively. "What does that mean?"
Model Zero slowly raised its eyes and for the first time, Ash saw something inside them that looked almost… afraid.
"It means," the copy whispered,
"the project's real purpose is waking too."
Ash's heart stuttered.
Kai backed up. "Oh no. No no no. There's something worse than you?"
The copy didn't answer.
It didn't have to.
The building suddenly vibrated, deep, low, like something massive had shifted beneath their feet.
The walls trembled.
Dust fell.
Somewhere far below them, something metallic groaned awake.
Seren grabbed Ash's arm. "We have to move. Now."
The copy stepped forward, eyes sharp. "Ash needs to stay near me. What's coming doesn't respond to him alone."
"I'm not letting him go with you!" Seren snapped.
Kai raised a shaky hand. "He won't be safe with either of you if the building collapses!"
Ash stood frozen between them,
Seren's fear clinging to him,
Kai's panic rising,
Model Zero's calm certainty pulling at him like gravity.
Then,
The lights died.
The room plunged into darkness.
And from somewhere deep in the facility…
something answered.
A sound, not human, not mechanical, low and resonant, echoing through the walls like a heartbeat older than the project itself.
Ash's breath hitched.
Seren grabbed him.
Kai cursed under his breath.
Model Zero whispered,...
"It's awake."