The wind howled through the forest, icy and sharp, as though reminding Mayu that freedom is never given, only seized. Dead leaves whirled around them as the group moved between the trees, leaving behind the smoking silhouette of the Azur complex.
The slate-gray sky pressed down upon them, and each step on the soggy moss seemed to bury them deeper into an unfamiliar world. But for Mayu, every root she crossed, every trunk she brushed was a silent victory. She moved through a world she had never known—yet understood with instinctive clarity.
At her side, Seth consulted the digital compass extracted from an old lab device.
> "If this map is right, we're close to an old surveillance relay," he murmured. "There's a good chance Akira passed this way—or left clues."
Mayu kept her eyes on the path.
> "The journal mentions a 'Zero Gate.' A place where it all began. We have to find it."
> "And you think this relay will lead us there?" Lia asked, her voice still rough from pain.
> "If Akira wanted us to find those writings, he knew we'd follow. In a way, he's guiding us."
Subject 45 trailed silently behind, flanked by three rescued clones. They had no clear destination—only a renewed faith: Mayu was their beacon.
Suddenly, a sharp sound shattered the hush. A brief, stifled cry.
Seth raised his hand to halt them. Mayu drew her knife without a word. They slipped through underbrush and discovered a young woman crouched on the ground, arms raised.
> "Not another step!" the panicked woman shouted.
She clutched a sawed-off shotgun, her jacket bearing the patched insignia of a former rebel cell. Her gaze darted from Mayu to Seth and then to the others.
> "Are you agents? Shadows? Scavengers?"
Mayu raised her hands slowly.
> "None of those. We come from the Azur complex. We escaped."
The woman's panic gave way to disbelief.
> "The complex? You should be dead—the last assault razed it to the ground!"
> "We were inside," Seth said. "And we got out alive."
Silence followed, then the woman lowered her weapon, stunned.
> "My name is Yune. I was a scout for the Orpheon cell… before the Organization crushed us. But if you really come from the complex… you might be what we've been waiting for."
Mayu stepped forward gently.
> "Do you know of a place called 'Zero Gate'?"
Yune took a hesitant step back.
> "It's not a location. It's a legend. The site where the first clones were created—the last place Akira vanished."
Mayu's heart skipped.
> "He went there?"
> "No one knows. But they say it holds forbidden archives—and a chamber where even time froze. Akira spoke of the Zero Gate before he disappeared. Some say he meant to erase everything."
> "Then we must go," Mayu declared.
> "It's not that simple," Yune warned. "The Gate is guarded. Not by soldiers, but by an old project unit—echoes, failed versions, aberrations."
A shiver ran down Lia's spine.
> "You mean… other Mayus?"
Yune nodded.
> "Rejected experiments. Turned inward. They attack anything living. Even Organization operatives avoid the place."
Mayu clenched her fists.
> "I will go. No matter what I face. If Akira is there or left something behind, I must find it."
Seth placed a hand on her shoulder.
> "Then we all go. Together."
---
The next morning, they reached a ruined outpost hidden in a weathered valley. The old relay station—a shattered dome with broken antennas—still housed a few consoles powered by a partially functioning solar generator.
Yune led Mayu to a central room secured by a cryptic code.
> "This is where Akira's last transmission was intercepted," she said. "Right before he cut all contact."
Seth knelt at the terminal, fingers flying over the keyboard as he bypassed the defenses. A weathered file launched, and a flickering hologram sprang to life above the console.
It was Akira—gaunt, eyes dark-ringed, but lucid.
> "If anyone sees this… I am either dead or near it. I'm heading for the Zero Gate. What I discovered… surpasses everything the Organization made us believe. It isn't the clones who are the weapon. It's memory. Mine. Mayu's. What we carry within is more dangerous than any technology."
"Do not follow my trail… unless you're ready to lose everything."
The image winked out, leaving a leaden silence.
Mayu lowered her gaze.
> "He wanted to protect us. But he also knew… I would come."
She clutched the journal from the tunnel.
> "We go to the Gate."
---
Night fell, and the group made a small camp near the outpost. The clones slept in a circle, while Mayu wandered off alone, thoughts swirling in the mist. She heard footsteps: Seth joined her.
> "You not sleeping?"
She shook her head.
> "I'm afraid of what we might find."
> "Me too," he admitted. "But we're here. And we follow you, Mayu. Not as a weapon—but as our guide."
She gave him a tired smile.
> "Do you really think we stand a chance?"
Seth hesitated, then nodded.
> "If we find the truth before they destroy it… yes."
Mayu turned her gaze northward toward the treeline.
> "Beyond those hills, beneath the ash and silence, the Zero Gate awaits."
And with it, the key to everything.