The war table was a relic from before the Spark War — half-rusted, glowing weakly, and humming like it remembered better days.
Kael stood over it, projecting a 3D map of Solara's lower ruins. Nyra flanked him, arms crossed. BITS floated lazily above, making an audible effort to seem uninterested.
"We hit the Echo data hub at this junction," Kael said, pointing. "Two-minute window before the defense grid cycles."
Nyra studied the projection. "And if they're expecting us?"
Kael tapped his blade. "Then we make it hurt."
BITS beeped. "Subtle. Inspirational. Slightly sociopathic."
Eirin patched through on comms. "I've intercepted chatter. Prototype 0.A isn't in the area—but don't relax. That thing doesn't move. It hunts."
Kael nodded. "All the more reason to move before it resets the board again."
Nyra rubbed her temple. "If this plan fails, I'm blaming BITS."
"Logged," BITS replied. "Also logged: your blood pressure."
Kael turned to them. "We rest now. Attack at nightfall."
"Rest," Nyra muttered, "right. What's that again?"
Night fell quietly. For once, no alarms. No holographic voices announcing doom.
Kael sat on the rooftop alone, staring into the distance.
He didn't notice Nyra until she dropped beside him, tossing him a ration bar.
"Your fan club's worried you'll brood yourself into a relapse," she said.
Kael peeled the bar open. "I saw something today. During the briefing. A glitch."
Nyra paused. "What kind of glitch?"
"A memory. From before. Before I woke up in that lab."
He hesitated.
"There was someone with me. Another clone. Younger. Looked scared."
"I think I let him die."
Nyra said nothing.
Kael finally looked at her. "What if I was always meant to become him? 0.A? What if that's where this ends?"
She shrugged. "Then we rewrite the ending."
He almost smiled. Almost.
They fell asleep in shifts. Kael's mind drifted, too tired to fight the memories anymore. Dreams bled into each other — test tubes, shadows, numbers burned into skin.
Then—
Subject Zero: terminate.
His eyes snapped open.
Too late.
The roof exploded.
Dust rained from the ceiling as a body slammed through the wall — sleek, fast, armored like a knife with legs.
Prototype 0.A stood in the moonlight, plasma blades extended.
Nyra rolled from her bunk, weapons already drawn. "Really? Right now?"
BITS activated combat mode. "Incoming death! Estimated snark requirement: high!"
Kael rushed forward. "Draw it outside!"
The outpost lights flared as the internal defense grid kicked in — then shorted out. The prototype had hacked the systems.
They fought in the ruins of the hall.
Kael struck first — Echo Split clone to distract. 0.A blinked straight through it.
Nyra came from behind — twin blades aimed for the knees.
Blocked.
"It's adapting again!" BITS warned. "Faster this time!"
Kael gritted his teeth. "Then we go bigger."
He slammed the prototype with a Starkey overcharge — a move he hadn't used in weeks.
It staggered. Barely.
But staggered.
Nyra landed a hit. Sparks flew.
Kael rushed in—only for the prototype to pivot midair and blast him with a pulse wave that sent him flying through the wall.
He hit the ground hard outside, rolling in dirt and debris.
BITS screamed over comms. "We've got another problem!"
A second figure dropped beside the prototype.
Smaller. Faster.
Wearing Kael's face.
But twisted. Young. Wild.
"Designation: Subject 0.B. Mirror class."
Kael gasped. "That's—no. That's the one from my memory."
Nyra cursed. "We're outnumbered."
Kael rose slowly. "We're outmatched."
BITS hovered near. "We're doomed."
Then beeped. "Kidding. Mostly."
The battle turned into a dance of light and shadow — twin prototypes against Kael and Nyra. Starkey strikes lit the dark like strobe lights. Craters formed with every impact.
Kael parried a double-slash and shouted, "Nyra! Tag switch!"
She tossed him her dagger mid-air — he caught it and used it to block a strike from 0.B.
Then turned it and stabbed the prototype under the arm.
A burst of sparks and blood.
It screamed.
Kael froze.
The scream was human.
0.B staggered back.
It wasn't a machine.
It wasn't even fully a clone.
It was a child.
Kael hesitated.
Too long.
0.A slammed into him with full force, dragging him into a crater and pinning him down.
"You're weak," it said. "You feel. You remember. You lose."
Kael coughed blood.
Then grinned. "I win when it counts."
He activated a failsafe Eirin had embedded in his gear — a relic pulse that overloaded every Echo frequency nearby.
It lit the sky.
0.A and 0.B screamed and vanished in a shimmer of forced teleportation.
Gone.
Kael collapsed.
Later, patched and breathing painfully, he sat with Nyra on the ruined roof again.
"You froze," she said.
Kael nodded. "He was just a kid. Like me. Before I got filled with code and rage."
Nyra looked out at the stars. "You're still human, Kael."
"I'm not sure that's enough."
BITS floated over. "You're also annoying and prone to self-sacrifice. That has to count for something."
Kael smiled. "Thanks, I think."
Nyra smirked. "Next time, wake me before the walls explode."
Far away, deep inside Echo's core control room, a figure watched through fragmented monitors.
The First Memory.
Its voice was cold.
"Subject 0.B failed. Expected."
Another voice whispered.
"Let them bond. Let them grow. It makes the end sweeter."
💬 Author's Note — Kazuki Rei
Holy relics. That was brutal.
Kael's past is catching up, Nyra's not letting him off easy, and BITS is somehow still everyone's favorite.
Next: 👉 Chapter 26 – The Lost Core (Journey into the Dead Zone to uncover Kael's erased past)?
👉 Or The Clone Rebellion — what if some of the 0-series escaped?
Let me know. Or I'll toss a coin and let fate break everything.
— Kazuki Rei