When Misha's mechanical spine split open, Raine's scar burned—blue slime oozing from the seams like void-core poison forced into a human shell.
"Don't blink this time, brother..." Her voice glitched into Cycle 198's recording, Garret's ice claw static distorting the words. "We shared... the same incubation tank."
(The spine unfolded into a six-meter quantum gate, floating embryos inside—Elaina's face grafted onto Lyria's tail, each forehead branded 「III」. The nearest embryo opened triple-layered eyes: Raine's dark gold outermost, Misha's mechanical blue mid-layer, Inquisitor's crimson at the core.)
Ellen's starlight chips flashed alerts: 「Synced Vessel 003 terminal protocol... Conscious upload initiated...」 Her metal fingers jammed into the gate's port, yanking out cables tangled with child-Raine's hair: "She's turning herself into cloud trash..."
Serena's asphalt wings ignited, claws slashing at Misha's throat: "My genes... my patents!" Her fangs pierced the 「III」 brand, only for asphalt blood to reverse-flow into the gate, etching 「Raine+Lyria+Serena」 codes on mechanical umbilicals.
(Gills spasming, Cycle 198's memory shards stabbed his mind—)
Child Misha curled in pod 「Synced Vessel 003」, adjacent 「Raine 001」 tapping the glass: "Hey... you alive?"Garret's claw smashing the observation window, slime splashing both: "Double shit-luck combo..."Lyria's song leaking through vents, all embryos reaching out as umbilicals strangled five clones.
"Reclamation: 100%... Maternal data intact..." Misha's mechanical eye projected logs: 「Cycle 298.5: Vessel 03 achieved autonomy. Solution: Memory wipe.」 Her skin quantum-disassembled, revealing metal bones engraved with "brother": "Next cycle... give me a pretty name..."
Raine's claws stabbed the gate—slime reversed up his arm, skin etching 「Memory Vessels 001-299: Retrieved」. All embryos rotated, exposing mechanical wing grafts—Serena's asphalt wing prototypes, bones carved with Church flame-seals.
The gate collapsed into a void-crystal. Misha's specter laughed inside it, her final heartbeat spelling Morse code: 「Find mother... kill her...」
Submerged Currents
In the Citadel's quantum surveillance room, the Inquisitor's mask activated. Inner codes read 「Maternal Awakening: 99%」—as live feeds showed Garret's claws reassembling into a humanoid form...