Three of them..one that looked like a teenage Daiki, blood on his hands. A younger version of Yona, eyes glowing. And a child..Ayumi, her smile too wide, her hands twitching with something sharp hidden in her palms.
Behind them..guards. Inhuman. Hybrid. Armor fused with flesh. Coming fast. Mia turned to the others, her voice sharp and clear.
"Run. Stay low..follow me!"
They bolted as one..down a sloping tunnel, breath tearing in their chests, sirens blaring, footsteps pounding behind.
"LEFT!" Mia shouted.
They veered into a storage bay, but the exit collapsed in flames behind them.
"No!" Aria cried.
Daiki grabbed her, shielding her.
"This way..!"
A pipe burst..scalding steam spraying. Ayumi tripped..Noir caught her.
"I got you," he said, helping her to her feet.
She stared at him.
"You really do."
"I always did," he said,
then pulled her close and kissed her..rough, fast, before pulling her into a sprint.
Yona grabbed Lena's hand as they ran, ducking beams and falling debris.
"Still think I like her more?" he shouted.
Lena smiled even through her panic.
"Ask me again if we live."
They turned a corner. And there was Diago. Bloody. Standing in the middle of the corridor. Frozen.
"Diago!" Ayumi cried.
But Mia stepped in front of them.
"Stop."
He looked up, and smiled. But it wasn't his smile. Behind him… were more.
"Diago!"
Ayumi cried out again, already stumbling forward. But Mia's arm shot out, blocking her path. Her voice was low and firm:
"That's not him."
Ayumi blinked, stunned.
"What? But, he's right there!"
The figure at the end of the corridor stood perfectly still, his head tilted slightly, that unsettling smile still etched on his face. His hair was matted with blood, a slow drip sliding down his jaw. His shirt was torn, his skin underneath unmarred. Too clean. Too perfect.
Daiki squinted, his breath slowing.
"That smile… that's not Diago's."
Yona stepped beside him, his heart pounding in his throat.
"He never smiled like that."
The false Diago took one slow step forward. Then another.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" he said, voice hollow. "It's me. Don't you trust me?"
But there was no pain behind the voice. No edge. No fire. No grief. The real Diago would be shouting. Furious. Bleeding, yes, but burning with emotion. This version was empty.
"Where is he?" Noir demanded, stepping forward now, rage building in his voice. "Where's the real Diago?!"
The copy of Diago didn't answer. He just smiled wider, blood soaking down his shirt like paint. Then.. He twitched. A sharp, fast, jerking motion..his head snapping to the side, bones cracking unnaturally.
A horrible, wet pop echoed down the hall as his arm dislocated itself, then twisted back into place. Still smiling. Everyone took a step back.
"That's not him," Lena whispered, grabbing Yona's hand tightly.
The copy suddenly sprinted at them.
"MOVE!" Daiki shouted.
They scattered, barely avoiding the charging figure as he lunged forward with unnatural speed. Noir tackled him mid-air, slamming him to the ground. But the body twisted underneath him, bones cracking, reshaping.
"Get off him!" Ayumi screamed.
Mia stepped forward, raising something she'd taken from the guards, a short metal rod now glowing with blue light. With a sharp flick, she stabbed it into the copy's chest.
The Diago-copy convulsed. Its mouth opened unnaturally wide..too wide, as it let out a high-pitched mechanical scream. Then it slumped. Twitched. And went still. Silence.
They all stood there, breathing heavily. Noir rose slowly, wiping the black ichor from his gloves. He stared down at the thing that wore Diago's face. Mia finally spoke.
"That's not the last one."
Yona glanced at her.
"So where is Diago?"
Mia shook her head. "I don't know. But he's not gone. If he was… they wouldn't need to show you this."
Aria dropped to her knees, trembling.
"This is a nightmare. We're going to die here."
Daiki knelt beside her, pulling her close. His jaw clenched, his arm firm around her.
"We're not dying. Not here. Not like this."
Ayumi stepped forward, her hand trembling as she reached for Noir's.
"What if there's more of us out there? What if… we can't tell anymore?"
Noir didn't flinch.
"Then we stay close. Watch each other. And we never forget who we really are."
Suddenly..
The wall at the far end of the corridor exploded .A wave of dust and fire knocked them back. From within the smoke..figures emerged. Not just one or two. Dozens. Copies.
Some looked like children, others twisted teenagers, every version wrong in a different way. Unblinking eyes. Oversized limbs. Faces that flickered like holograms, cycling through distorted expressions. The guards followed them..marching like machines. They were trapped.
"This is it," Aria whispered, her voice shaking.
Then..Mia stepped forward again.
"No. Not yet."
She slammed her palm against a hidden panel in the wall. A segment hissed open..revealing a staircase leading down.
"Go!" she shouted.
"But where does it lead..?!" Lena started.
Mia looked back.
"Somewhere they can't follow."
Yona didn't hesitate. He grabbed Lena's hand.
"Come on."
Ayumi and Noir followed. Daiki lifted Aria and carried her down. One by one they ran, breath burning, hope thin. Behind them..Mia stepped back toward the opening.
"Mia!" Yona shouted. "Come with us!"
"I will!" she called. "Just go..I'll seal it!"
Then the last thing they saw before the door closed..Mia turned to face the horde, eyes fearless, weapon ready. And for the first time..Noir whispered, without doubt..
"…We can trust her."
The door sealed shut behind them. But they all knew..this was only the beginning..
The stairwell twisted downward like the throat of some mechanical beast, echoing with their hurried footsteps, every breath a rasp against the choking dust and heat. Somewhere above them, the door they'd just passed through groaned under impact.
Boom.
Another hit. And then.. It exploded open. Roaring from above, the guards stormed down, metal and flesh fused in grotesque harmony, blades fused to bone, eyes glowing. Behind them, copies spilled in..too many to count. Faces too familiar. Expressions wrong.
"They're following!"
Ayumi screamed, clutching the railing as she tried to run faster. Yona spun around mid-sprint, grabbing Lena's hand.
"Keep moving!"
But the staircase was narrow. Nowhere to run.
The first guard leapt. Clang! A blade scraped across Noir's arm..cutting deep. He fell to his knees.
"NOIR!"
Ayumi shouted, turning back, but a second guard was already swinging toward her. Daiki threw himself between them, catching the blade with his arm..blood spurting.
"DAIKI!"
Aria shrieked. He grunted in pain, teeth gritted. "I'm fine..keep moving!"
Behind them, distorted voices rang out..copies trying to get their attention:
"Lena… help me… I'm scared…"
"Yonaaa… don't leave me again…"
"Daiki, I forgive you. Don't you want to talk?"
Each voice like poison. Aria turned for a split second..A copy of her younger brother, the one who'd died years ago, was staring up at her with broken eyes.
"Aria," it whispered. "Please… you promised…"
She froze.
"ARIA—NO!"
Daiki roared, grabbing her shoulder and yanking her away as a blade sliced through where she'd just been standing.
"Don't look at them!" he shouted, blood staining his shirt. "They're not real!"
Lena stumbled forward, catching herself on Yona. Her breathing was ragged, tears in her eyes.
"Yona," she whispered, eyes wide, "I saw my mother. She was down here… she said she missed me—"
He grabbed her face with both hands, panting. "Lena. She's gone. You told me that. That wasn't her."
She was trembling.
"But it felt like her."
He leaned in, forehead against hers.
"I'm right here. Hold on to me."
She nodded, eyes brimming. He kissed her forehead ..fleeting, desperate. Above them, a copy of Yona screamed, a twisted version with too-long arms and eyes that shimmered like broken glass.
"She's lying, you know. She doesn't really love you."
Lena's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not listening to you."
Noir, clutching his bleeding arm, kicked the gate open at the bottom of the stairs.
"Move! Now!"
They burst into a wider corridor..dim red lights blinking, alarms flashing. The walls pulsed as if alive. They sprinted again. Behind them, the guards followed.
Faster now. Unrelenting. A blade grazed Ayumi's back..she cried out, nearly falling. Noir spun, caught her, shoved her forward.
"I've got you. Keep going."
Ayumi's voice cracked.
"You're bleeding.."
"So are you."
She blinked up at him, eyes full.
"Don't die on me."
He gave a ghost of a smile.
"Not planning to."
The hallway narrowed again..ending in a metal hatch.
"There!"
Yona shouted, racing to it.
But a guard landed between them..huge, snarling, eyes glowing bright. Daiki lunged with a broken pipe, striking hard. It barely staggered.
Aria, limping now, reached out and pressed something in the wall...a surge of fire burst up from vents
The chamber was dim and circular, metal panels slick with moisture, pulsing faintly with red veins of power. The hum of something…alive… ran beneath their feet.
They caught their breath, staring at the vast gate ahead.. steel covered in bio-wires, sealed shut.
Then.. Mia was there. Standing at the center of the chamber, already waiting. Still. Calm. Silent.
Ayumi gasped, instinctively taking a step back.
"How…?"
"She was ahead of us?" Lena whispered.
But Mia didn't answer. Her eyes were focused on the shadows forming behind them. Copies. Dozens. Guards. More than before. All emerging from vents, corners, hidden passageways.. encircling the chamber.
Daiki pulled Aria behind him, raising a broken pipe.
"Get ready.."
But none of them moved. The guards stopped just inside the walls. The copies lined the perimeter… watching. Not attacking. Yona slowly turned.
"Why are they just standing there…?"
Lena stepped forward, her voice quiet, afraid.
"They're all looking at her."
They were. Every single guard. Every broken, soulless copy. All watching Mia. Not moving. Not attacking. Ayumi's voice shook.
"Why aren't they touching her? It's like… they're waiting."
Mia finally turned. Her expression unreadable. Eyes gleaming with the glow of the chamber.
Yona stared at her, confused, voice barely a whisper.
"Mia… what are you?"
Mia's face didn't change.
"I'm still me."
But her voice sounded faraway. Too calm. Daiki squinted. He stepped toward the side of the room..something caught his eye. A window.
It was a small, glass viewport near the floor..half-shattered.
Inside… a dim holding cell. Lit by flickering blue light. A figure moved within. Daiki's breath caught.
"…Diago?"
He dropped to his knees and peered through the crack. It was Diago. Bruised. Weak. Sitting on the floor, one arm dangling, lip bleeding, but his eyes snapped open the second Daiki whispered his name.
"DAIKI!" he shouted, rushing to the glass. "GET ME OUT!"
The others turned.
"He's alive!" Ayumi cried, racing over.
"Where is this?!" Noir demanded, pounding on the wall.
Yona gripped the side of the window, heart thudding.
"How long has he been there?!"
"I don't know!" Diago shouted. "I woke up here. One second I was with you, the next.." He looked past them..toward Mia. Then his voice dropped. "…She was there."
Everyone froze. Daiki stood slowly, eyes sharp on Mia.
"What is he talking about?"
Mia didn't flinch. Her voice was even.
"He was taken during the first breach. Replaced by a projection. I… couldn't get to him."
"You said you didn't know where he was," Noir said coldly, stepping forward.
Mia turned to him. Her gaze was still steady, but something cracked around the edges.
"If I told you the truth then… you wouldn't have trusted me."
Daiki clenched his jaw. His voice was tight, accusing.
"So what are you now? One of them?"
Mia's eyes lowered.
"No." Her voice trembled. "I'm not one of them. I never was."
The air around them stilled. All of them. The copies. The guards. The twisted system that created it all. Even Ayumi's voice shook as she stepped closer.
"Then… what are you saying?" Her tone faltered. "You're not like them?"
Mia lifted her face, pain carved deep into every word.
"I'm the real one. I was taken… a long time ago. They did something to me."
She touched her own arm lightly, as if the skin itself carried proof of it.
"They altered me..my cells, my mind..so that something in me mimics them."
Her eyes, raw and pleading, turned toward Yona.
"They think I'm one of them. But I'm not. I remember who I was. I remember you."
Her voice cracked.
"That's why they don't touch me. Because I was one of their control units."
The silence was suffocating. Then Diago pounded the window again.
"I don't care what she says..get me out of here!"
Daiki moved to the panel beside the cell. Wires. A locking system. Broken and fused with the wall.
Noir stepped beside him.
"Can you open it?"
"I can try."
Behind them, the guards… stirred. One of the copies twitched, glitching..flickering through different faces. Lena turned to Yona, voice tense.
"We're not safe here."
"I know," he whispered.
Another guard stepped forward, but again… stopped in place. Twitching. Mia turned to the crowd of horrors surrounding them.
"They're breaking down. Conflicting signals. The system's collapsing."
Ayumi stared at her, eyes wide.
"And what happens when it does collapse?"
Mia looked up slowly.
"…They stop obeying anything."
Just then, the walls began to pulse faster. A siren screamed overhead.
"Critical containment breach. Emergency override failed." The lights turned red.
The guards all snapped upright. The copies began to screech.bThe system was no longer in control.bAnd neither was Mia.
The alarms blared louder now..shrill and furious. The walls shook with each pulse. The copies were twitching violently, their forms distorting, glitching..some collapsing like melting mannequins, others screaming with inhuman voices.
The chamber was seconds from becoming a slaughterhouse. Daiki was still kneeling by the cell door. Fingers digging into the control panel, slamming buttons, tearing at wires.
"COME ON!" he shouted, voice breaking. "OPEN..damn it..OPEN!!"
Inside, Diago stood weakly, one hand pressed to the glass, watching him. Blood ran from his brow, his shoulders trembling from exhaustion. Daiki slammed the panel again, shouting through gritted teeth.
"Mia, DO SOMETHING!"
But Mia just stood still..her face unreadable, framed by the flickering red light.
"There's no time," she said quietly. Then, more firmly, her eyes locking with Yona's..
"We have to go. Right now.
The exit is only fifty meters east..through the lower vent. If we run now, they might stay frozen."
"No," Daiki hissed, not even looking at her. "I'm not leaving him!"
"Daiki…" Diago's voice came from the cell..soft. Hollow. Almost… accepting.
Daiki's hands froze on the panel. He didn't look up. He knew that tone. He knew what Diago was about to say.
"…No," he whispered, eyes locked on the door. "Don't you dare."
To be continue ...