The rain returned the moment they stepped out of the Echo Zone.
It was louder here.
Real.
Marcus removed his helmet and ran a hand through his wet hair.
"Well," he said, exhaling slowly, "that was new."
Kira sheathed her blade with a metallic click.
"You mean the talking Remnant?" she said. "Yeah. I'd say that qualifies as new."
Marcus looked at Adrian.
"You alright?"
Adrian nodded.
"I'm fine."
It was the automatic answer.
The one people gave when they didn't want to explain things.
Marcus studied him for a moment, then shrugged.
"Report it to the Guild," he said. "They'll probably send researchers."
"Or bury it," Kira added.
Marcus smirked.
"That too."
They left the quarantine barrier behind and stepped into the outer district of Nova Helios.
The difference was immediate.
Traffic drones hummed above the streets.
Neon advertisements flickered across skyscraper walls.
Crowds moved beneath glowing billboards that promised everything from memory vacations to emotional enhancements.
A massive holographic display lit up the sky.
RELIVE YOUR BEST MOMENTS
MemoryBank™ Certified ExtractionSafe. Legal. Permanent.
Adrian looked away.
He had seen those advertisements his entire life.
They still felt wrong.
Marcus noticed.
"You still hate those things?"
"They're selling people's lives," Adrian said.
Marcus shrugged.
"They're selling memories people want to forget."
"Same thing."
Kira laughed quietly.
"You two sound like philosophers."
They crossed the street, passing a small crowd gathered around a memory booth.
Inside the glass chamber sat a young man, barely older than twenty.
Thin cables ran from a headset into a processing unit.
A technician watched the monitor while the machine hummed softly.
A woman outside the booth counted a stack of credits.
"Probably selling a breakup," Marcus said.
"Or a debt," Kira replied.
Adrian didn't stop walking.
He had seen it before.
People selling:
their childhood.
their first love.
their happiest days.
Memories became data.
Data became money.
Money disappeared quickly.
But memories never came back.
They reached the Guild building twenty minutes later.
The Echo Hunters Guild headquarters in Nova Helios looked less like a heroic organization and more like an armored warehouse. Hunters get paid for clearing unstable Echo Zones. Most citizens don't even know they exist
Concrete walls.
Security drones.
Reinforced gates.
Marcus pushed the entrance door open.
Inside, the building buzzed with activity.
Hunters sat around metal tables, cleaning weapons and checking Echo equipment.
Screens on the walls displayed live maps of nearby Echo Zones.
A board listed current contracts.
CLEARANCE
MISSIONS ZONE STABILIZATION
REMNANT ELIMINATION
Marcus headed toward the mission desk.
Kira followed.
Adrian slowed down.
The memory flashed again.
The laboratory.
The glass capsule.
The child.
He pressed his fingers against his temple.
Just a fragment.
Nothing clear.
"Adrian."
He looked up.
Kira was watching him.
"You're doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
"The 'something's wrong but I won't say it' thing."
Adrian sighed.
"You noticed?"
"I've worked with you for two years," she said. "Of course I noticed."
Marcus returned from the desk.
"They want a full report on the Remnant," he said.
"No surprise there," Kira replied.
Marcus looked at Adrian again.
"You said something weird happened before it disappeared."
Adrian hesitated.
He could still see the image in his mind.
The capsule.
The child.
But something about the memory felt unstable.
Like it didn't belong to him.
"I saw something," Adrian said slowly.
"What kind of something?" Marcus asked.
"A memory."
Kira frowned.
"From the Remnant?"
"I think so."
Marcus leaned against the table.
"And?"
Adrian took a breath.
"A laboratory."
Marcus didn't react.
"Go on."
"Scientists," Adrian continued. "Equipment. Someone running an experiment."
Kira crossed her arms.
"That doesn't narrow it down."
Adrian hesitated again.
There was one detail he hadn't mentioned yet.
Because it didn't make sense.
He looked down at the metal table.
"There was a child."
Marcus waited.
"In a capsule," Adrian said quietly.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Kira glanced at Marcus.
Marcus didn't move.
"And?" he said.
Adrian slowly raised his head.
"The child…"
He stopped.
For a moment he considered lying.
But the words came out anyway.
"…looked like me."
Silence settled over the table.
Kira blinked.
Marcus stared at Adrian.
"That's impossible," she said.
Adrian nodded.
"I know."
Marcus rubbed his jaw.
"You're sure?"
"No."
"That's comforting."
Kira leaned forward.
"So you're saying a Remnant showed you a memory of some lab experiment with a kid who looked like you."
"Basically."
"And then it told you it remembered you."
"Yeah."
Kira leaned back.
"Well."
Marcus sighed.
"This just became a problem."
Adrian looked at him.
"What kind of problem?"
Marcus glanced toward the Guild offices.
"The kind that gets corporations interested."
Adrian frowned.
"Why?"
Marcus gave a tired smile.
"Because if there's one thing corporations love more than Echo Zones…"
He tapped the metal table.
"…it's experiments."
Adrian felt the cold again.
The memory flickered in his mind.
The laboratory.
The capsule.
The child.
And somewhere deep inside, a quiet thought formed.
What if that memory…
wasn't just a fragment?
What if it was the beginning of something someone had tried very hard to erase?