Punch me," Kael said.
Nyra blinked. "Come again?"
"I need to train against someone who fights like Prototype 0.A," Kael explained, squaring up. "You're the closest thing I've got."
BITS hovered nearby. "Factually accurate. And statistically suicidal."
Nyra cracked her knuckles. "So we're skipping breakfast and going straight to domestic violence. Fine by me."
They trained in the basement of the Resistance's last functioning outpost—Unit Echo-Seven. Concrete, dim lights, and a floor covered in outdated relic pads for safety. Or aesthetics. Hard to tell.
Eirin stood in the corner, arms crossed. "You sure this is a good idea?"
Kael nodded. "No. That's why I'm doing it."
Nyra lunged.
The first hit missed.
So did the second.
But the third caught Kael square in the ribs.
"Dodge faster!" Nyra called, flipping back.
Kael grunted. "Trying! You're cheating with fancy footwork!"
Nyra smirked. "You said 'fight like me.' I am fighting like me."
BITS whispered, "Technically, she's fighting like someone who doesn't want you dead. That's already an upgrade from 0.A."
Ten rounds later, Kael collapsed onto a bench, drenched in sweat.
Nyra tossed him a water pack. "You've got potential."
"Thanks," he wheezed.
"But the prototype's faster. Meaner. Less distracted."
"Distracted?"
She pointed. "You hesitate before every feint. Like you're worried I'll break."
Kael looked away. "That's because I care if you get hurt."
Nyra raised an eyebrow. "You think caring will keep you alive?"
BITS chimed in. "Statistically speaking: No."
Later, in the data room, Eirin called them over.
"I decrypted more files from the chip Nyra used in the rooftop fight," she said, projecting flickering holograms.
Images bloomed in the air—snapshots of Kael. Or someone who looked like him.
Eirin gestured to one marked "Subject 0.A – Sync Trial 17."
"This is how they built the prototype," she explained. "They cloned Kael's raw memory stream—his instincts, skills, even emotions—and isolated the most 'combat-efficient' traits."
Kael stared. "That means—"
"You're not just fighting a copy," Eirin said. "You're fighting a weaponized version of your worst potential."
Nyra muttered, "Great. So it's Kael, but without the sad boy guilt complex."
Kael scowled. "Thanks."
BITS beeped. "I think she meant it affectionately."
"Did I?" Nyra asked.
Kael buried his face in his hands.
The next day, training got… weird.
Kael insisted on simulating the prototype's techniques—turning his Echo Core inward, letting it channel reflexes he hadn't realized he had.
It worked.
Until it didn't.
Kael froze mid-motion during a shadow drill.
His arms shook. His vision blurred.
Nyra rushed forward. "Kael!"
He dropped to one knee, gasping. His voice was strained. "I... I saw something. In my head. Again."
Eirin appeared beside them, scanning with a relic meter. "Your Echo thread's destabilizing. You pushed it too far."
Kael looked up, eyes wide. "It spoke again."
Nyra helped him to his feet. "The prototype?"
"No," Kael said. "The First Memory."
He didn't sleep that night.
Instead, he sat on the balcony outside the barracks, watching the clouds move over the broken skyline.
Nyra joined him, silent.
For a while, they just sat there.
Finally, she asked, "You scared?"
Kael nodded. "Not of dying. Of becoming him."
She looked over. "Then don't."
He laughed weakly. "You make it sound simple."
"It is," she said. "You choose. Every day. Every second."
Kael met her eyes. "And if I screw up?"
She smiled. "Then I stab you and drag your soul back myself."
BITS floated out holding two mugs of coffee it had clearly not made itself.
"Time for your morning sarcasm injection," it said cheerfully.
Kael took one. "Thanks."
"Not you. Her."
Nyra grabbed her mug. "Smart drone."
BITS hovered dramatically. "I live in fear."
Eirin called them back down.
"I found something else," she said, displaying another file:
"Project Lazarus – Final Override Command."
"What's that?" Kael asked.
Eirin's voice went flat. "It's how they plan to wipe every failed prototype at once. Including you."
Nyra stood up straight. "How soon?"
"Unknown. But they're gathering relic power. Fast."
Kael looked at the file.
Then at Nyra.
Then at Eirin.
"Then we hit them first."
Nyra grinned. "That's the Kael I like."
BITS beeped. "Note to self: sharpen sarcasm routines. We're going to war."
Far away, in the hidden core of the First Memory's sanctum, Prototype 0.A stared into a relic mirror.
Its mask cracked.
Its voice fractured.
"He is… resisting."
"Good."
"I want him to fight."
"So I can erase him myself."
💬 Author's Note — Kazuki Rei
Well, well. We've got Kael training, Nyra threatening violence as affection, and BITS running his own private stand-up show.
You love to see it.
Next: 👉 Chapter 24 – The First Strike: Kael's Assault on the Relic Lab
👉 Or The Prototype Hunts Back — rooftop ambush, again? YES.
Vote your chaos. Or I'll write both.
Because I'm Kazuki. And I do what I want.
— Kazuki R