The statue's arms trembled. Dust spilled from its elbows like blood from an ancient wound. The red-glowing symbol pulsed, and with a low groan of shifting metal, the hatch on the plaza floor slid open—revealing a stairwell descending into complete darkness.
The vault had opened.
Seth tensed. "Don't go down there."
But Juno had already moved. Compass in hand, she stepped forward.
"I don't remember you," she said, pausing by the edge of the stairwell. "But my heart clenches when I see your face. Like I lost something I never had the chance to keep."
Seth flinched. His voice, when it came, was low. "You died down there, Juno. The you I knew."
Milo gasped. "What?"
Idris stepped between them, eyes sharp. "Speak clearer, stranger."
Seth raised his right hand, fingers twitching as if remembering a habit long broken. The artificial limb whirred softly.
"She died in Vault Ten," he said, eyes fixed on Juno. "Five years ago. Along with me. Or the version of me that mattered."
Silence.
Then Juno said, "Then let's go meet them."
She descended.
Milo cursed under his breath and followed. Idris hesitated, gave Seth one last suspicious glance, then vanished into the stairwell too.
Seth remained alone at the edge, torn between duty and desire, memory and purpose.
Below, the walls of Vault Ten were covered in writing—names, symbols, fragmented thoughts burned into metal by a force long forgotten. As they reached the base, lights flickered to life, casting a sterile glow on the vault's heart: a giant obsidian sphere floating midair, veined with red light.
"Memory core," Milo whispered. "And it's awake."
Juno stepped closer. The compass in her hand began to melt—literally melt—morphing into liquid light that spiraled toward the core and sank into it.
Suddenly—
Her vision split.
She wasn't in the vault anymore.
She stood in a burning street. Children screaming. A city collapsing. Her hands bloody. Her mouth chanting something ancient.
Across from her stood herself, but older, fiercer. Eyes glowing. Voice calm:
"You were never supposed to wake up again."
Then—
Snap.
Juno collapsed to her knees, gasping. Idris caught her.
"What did you see?" he asked.
Juno looked up.
And for the first time since waking in this life, she remembered something real.
She whispered, "I think… I used to be someone dangerous."