Project Silencer – Classified Facility, Taguig
The walls were white. Too white. The kind of white that made your eyes ache.
Not a sound. Not even breathing. Only the humming of fluorescent lights and the metallic click of the observation glass sealing shut.
Inside the reinforced cell stood a figure, shirtless and barefoot.
Head bowed. Arms chained.
But the chains weren't for him.
They were for whatever lived under his skin.
Dominic Reyes.
Designation: X-001
Status: Active Threat. Do Not Engage.
---
The Awakening Log – 4 Years Ago
> Subject: Dominic Reyes
Age: 17
Condition: Aggressive shadow onset
Notes:
Unlike other cases, the shadow exhibited autonomous control within 30 minutes of manifestation. Subject showed no signs of resistance—rather, he welcomed the integration.
Result: Total Merge. Shadow identity dominant.
---
Now
Dr. Ria Velasco watched from the other side of the glass. Her voice was calm, but her fingers trembled slightly around her stylus.
"He doesn't sleep anymore," she said quietly to Colonel Dela Vega. "Hasn't in years."
"Then how do you know when he's awake?"
Dominic lifted his head at that exact moment, staring through the mirror.
"We don't," Ria answered.
---
Mission Activation
Dela Vega stepped back. "Why is he still alive?"
Ria turned. "Because if Elias Guevarra loses control... he's the only one who can kill him."
She tapped the panel.
A loud hiss.
Dominic's door unlocked.
---
Kael's Hideout — 9 Hours Later
Elias sat with his shirt off, bandages wrapped tightly around his torso. Maya sat cross-legged across from him, tossing a mango between her hands.
"You almost died. Again," she said.
"I'm starting to think that's the point," Elias replied, half-smirking.
Kael entered with a phone in hand. "I tapped into one of the old military satellites."
He slid it across the table. A paused video showed Dominic Reyes walking through a shanty alley in Pasay. But his shadow wasn't following him.
It was walking beside him.
Like a brother.
Or a bodyguard.
Or a demon.
"Who is that?" Maya asked.
Kael sighed. "They call him Experiment X. He was the first."
Elias looked up. "The first what?"
Kael met his eyes. "The first one who didn't resist the shadow at all. He let it take over."
---
Dominic's Mission
Intrusion. Terminate. Extract.
Those were the only words in Dominic's directive. But he didn't need instructions.
He already knew Elias's scent.
He remembered him.
They had crossed paths before.
Back when Elias was still... normal.
Dominic stopped in front of a church ruin near Pandacan. His hand reached out—and his shadow extended ahead like a spear, impaling the air itself, slicing it clean.
Something had changed in him.
His shadow wasn't just an extension anymore.
It was him.
---
Kael's Warning
Kael paced back and forth. "Dominic doesn't feel fear. Or rage. Or shame. He surrendered to his shadow and became something we don't understand."
Elias clenched his fists. "If he's coming for me, I'll be ready."
"No, you won't," Kael snapped. "You're not ready. If you fight him now, your shadow will collapse. And when that happens—you'll either die or Overgrow."
Maya stood.
"Then train us harder."
Kael looked at them both. Kids with ghosts in their veins.
"Then get some rest," he finally said. "Because your nightmares are about to become very, very real."
---
Final Scene — Dominic's Message
Later that night, Kael's hideout received an encrypted video feed.
It was Dominic.
Staring into the camera. Silent. Still.
Then he spoke—his voice layered with something darker underneath.
> "Elias Guevarra. You woke something you don't understand. But I do.
We are not human anymore.
We are shadow.
And soon... you'll have to choose which side of the mirror you belong to."