The second figure emerged from the smoke, and Mayu's breath caught in her throat.
It was Lia.
Alive.
But the spark in her eyes was no longer the same. Her gaze seemed to hover between two realities, as if she were struggling to remain herself, to resist whatever force clawed at her from within. A thin trail of blood slid from her temple, tracing a crimson line down her cheek.
> "Lia…" Mayu breathed, unable to hide the raw emotion surging through her.
Lia saw her, and a faint smile flickered across her lips—quickly erased by pain.
> "I followed you… to the end."
The Professor, unmoved, took a step to the side. He spoke then to Subject 45, as if activating a program.
> "Eliminate them."
Mayu tensed, ready to leap. But 45 hesitated.
His body stiffened, his breath quickened, as if he were battling an invisible chain. He raised his arm—slowly, mechanically—toward Mayu.
And then, his arm began to tremble.
> "Stop," she murmured. "You're more than a number. You can fight this."
Her words echoed strangely, like falling down a deep well. 45 staggered, stepped back, fingers clenching around his weapon. Then he let out a muffled scream, as if something inside him was being torn apart.
Without warning, Lia sprang forward.
She lunged at the Professor, blade in hand. But he tapped a button on his wristband, and a crackling energy shield burst forth. Lia was violently hurled back against a wall, the air knocked from her lungs.
Mayu screamed.
She hurled herself into the fray, sliding under a crackling electric arc, narrowly dodging a projectile launched by an automated turret. Her knife sliced the air—then a cable, then a shoulder. Blood spattered the floor.
But it wasn't over.
The clone—this "new version" of her—had awakened.
The tank had opened, releasing the bluish fluid. The being emerged slowly, naked, trembling, her eyes devoid of anything human.
A pure, icy terror washed over Mayu.
Because this thing… was her. Everything she hated. The cold. The submission. The mechanical perfection.
The clone opened her eyes.
And leapt.
The impact was brutal. Their bodies crashed together, identical faces clashing, identical eyes locking in challenge. The clone was fast—almost unnaturally fluid. She moved without hesitation. Without fear.
But Mayu had rage.
She drove her knife into her double's shoulder, ripping it free in a spray of blood. But the creature didn't scream. She answered with a kick to Mayu's temple, sending her reeling. The world spun. Ceiling became floor.
But she rose again.
Always.
Lia, having regained her footing, had seized a pistol dropped in the chaos and was now firing at the automated turrets, giving Mayu cover.
45 was on his knees.
Hand on his head.
Tears streamed down his face.
> "I'm… free," he murmured.
Then he roared, sprang to his feet, and charged the Professor.
For the first time, the Professor showed surprise. He tried to press another button, but 45 slammed into him, and the two crashed to the floor. They grappled—messy, brutal, devoid of technique. Pure hatred.
Meanwhile, Mayu was gaining ground. Blow after blow, every strike fueled by a memory: the stolen childhood, the experiments, the sleepless nights beneath sterile neon lights. She struck her clone until the creature began to falter—until a crack appeared in her cold, perfect exterior.
And Mayu seized the moment.
She grabbed a metal rod that had fallen to the floor and brought it down with all her strength onto her clone's skull.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The clone crumpled, motionless, her face shattered.
Mayu stood, gasping, arm trembling, heart pounding like a war drum.
When she turned around, 45 was kneeling beside the Professor's lifeless body. His bloodied fist told the story.
> "It's over," he said, almost in disbelief.
Mayu approached slowly.
She looked around. The lab was in ruins. Machines burned. The air reeked of ozone and scorched flesh.
She knelt beside Lia.
> "Are you okay?" she whispered.
> "We won," Lia breathed. "That's all that matters."
Mayu felt her eyes blur with tears.
She had survived.
But at what cost?
And now… what was left of her?