When the sacred flames licked the frozen wasteland, Raine's scar burned—not orange, but void-core blue, like starved poison set ablaze.
"Done pretending?" He spat crystallized slime, the shards forming counter-gears on his tongue.
(Seven obelisks emerged from the fire, surfaces carved with 「Raine」 gene codes. The nearest inscription melted away, revealing hidden clauses: 「Cycle 3: Church-Citadel Vessel Retrieval Pact. Signatories: First Inquisitor/Elaina」.)
Ellen's core suddenly overloaded, starlit scales projecting alerts: 「Lyria's vocal patterns detected... Reverse-purification protocol corrupted...」 Her spine split, metal fingers digging into her own chest port: "The fire... sings like her..."
Serena's asphalt wings curled in the heat. Claws tore into an obelisk—blue slime oozed out, forming child Lyria's specter weeping in a pod, the Inquisitor observing through stained glass.
"Fuck... mass-produced mermaids now?" Serena's fangs shattered the text, but her own blood reversed-flowed into the wound. "These are... memory drives?!"
(Gills spasming, Cycle 43's memory stabbed his mind—)
Child Raine strapped in pod 「Synced Vessel 001」, Elaina injecting void-fluid into his spine. The Inquisitor's shadow recording data.Garret smashing the adjacent pod, slime splashing 「Lyria 000」: "Hey... can you hear me?"Lyria's song distorting as mechanical umbilicals strangled three clones.
Misha's specter emerged from flames, her prosthetic's 「III」 brand projecting logs: 「Cycle 4: Church proposed efficiency upgrades. Solution: Encode Lyria's vocals into holy fire.」 Her pupils split—Church sigil left, Citadel quantum-code right.
"Reclamation: 100%... Maternal Protocol final stage..." Ellen's voice glitched into Elaina's lullaby: "Sleep now... Next cycle... I'll be gentler..."
Raine's claws impaled a burning obelisk—slime reversed up his arm, skin etching 「Synced Vessels 001-299: Retrieved」. All obelisks rotated, revealing execution records—each Raine's death stamped with the Church's flame-seal.
The tundra quantum-collapsed. The Inquisitor's mask rose from flames, engraved inside: 「Calibrator 003 retrieved. Next phase: Maternal awakening」.
"Next cycle..." Misha dissolved into the fire. "Tell Lyria... her song... was the fuse..."
Submerged Currents
Void-core surveillance showed fetal Lyria's hands reaching from her pod. Her fingers touched quantum flames—as live feeds displayed Garret's claws reassembling into a complete counter-clock...