The air in Montreux tasted of damp stone and old ghosts as Ruoxi followed Zeyan through the wrought-iron gate of the abandoned orphanage.
The building was skeletal—gray walls half-eaten by moss, windows shattered like forgotten memories. The orphanage hadn't been on any map, but they found it in the metadata from Prototype 2's file cache. Labeled only:
"ORIGIN NODE – LQ-112: Emotional Suppression Trials"
Ruoxi paused at the door. "You think Lin Qian was here?"
Zeyan's jaw was tight. "I think someone wanted her to forget this place."
They stepped inside. Dust motes swirled in the beam of Zeyan's flashlight. The hallway walls were lined with decaying murals—children holding balloons, a rainbow above their heads. All faded now. Like smiles worn too long.
Ruoxi's fingers brushed a rusted handrail. "I've never felt so unwelcome."
They began searching the rooms, one by one.
In a back office, they found a metal file cabinet bolted to the floor. Zeyan pried it open.
Ruoxi froze.
Inside were dozens of folders, each marked with barcodes and faded initials.
One folder stood out: L.Y.Q-00.
Ruoxi flipped it open. The first photo was of a girl—eight years old, staring at the camera with wide, blank eyes.
She looked like Linyue.
But the label under the photo said:
Lin Qian – Subject Class BNotes: Emotional echo shows signs of resistance. Recommend synaptic erasure or reassignment to Phase 2.
Ruoxi's voice broke. "They tested memory deletion on her. As a child."
Zeyan read over her shoulder. "She was never just an innocent caught in the fire. They raised her for this."
There were more pages. Clinical reports, test logs, rejection scores.
Then Ruoxi found a photograph—one that didn't belong.
She turned it over in her shaking hands.
It was a formal party. A young man in a suit stood beside a dark-haired woman in a red gown.
Ruoxi didn't recognize the woman.
But the man?
Zeyan's father.
And behind him... a wall etched with the symbol of QH Biogenics.
Zeyan paled. "My father… he was at the funding gala. He knew."
Ruoxi's heart twisted. "Maybe he started it."
Zeyan turned away, hand clenched at his side.
Elsewhere, in the underground facility, Lin Qian sat restrained in a silver chair. Her wrists were bound with padded cuffs, a halo-like device around her forehead.
Across the sterile room stood Prototype 2—the One in White—face unreadable, hands folded.
"You were supposed to be the control," Prototype 2 said. "The baseline. They weren't meant to let you live this long."
"I don't even know who you are," Lin Qian whispered.
"That's because they erased me from the system. I was Phase Three's first success. The Reclaimer. And you…" Her eyes narrowed. "You're the one they chose to forget."
Lin Qian shook her head. "Ruoxi will find me."
The One in White smiled faintly. "I'm counting on it. But by the time she arrives, you won't remember her. You won't remember anything."
A technician stepped forward. "Synaptic Merge protocol initialized."
Back in Montreux, the safehouse lights flickered as Zeyan pored over the files, jaw clenched in silent fury.
Ruoxi sat beside him, staring at the old photo of Zeyan's father.
"He helped fund this. Project Twin Flame. All of it," she whispered. "The contracts. The children. The experiments."
Zeyan said nothing, but Ruoxi saw the vein in his temple twitch. His calm was a mask—and it was cracking.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
He looked at her, eyes heavy with storm. "You didn't do this."
"I'm still part of it," she said. "They used me. My face, my name."
He leaned closer, voice low. "And still, you chose your own path. That's what makes you human. Not your blood."
Ruoxi's lips parted—but the words caught behind emotion.
Zeyan reached for her hand. "Don't let them take your heart. That's what they want."
Her chest ached. "What if they already did?"
"Then I'll help you take it back."
Their hands stayed entwined for a long time. Not as comfort. But as a vow.
At that moment, miles beneath their feet, the procedure began.
A screen blinked above Lin Qian's head:
SYNAPTIC MERGE: 3%
Pain throbbed in her temples.
Images began to blur. Her mother's laugh. Ruoxi's voice. Her brother's eyes.
Fading… erasing…
She screamed.
Prototype 2 tilted her head. "You're resisting. Good. That means the Merge is working."
Lin Qian sobbed, shaking violently. "Why are you doing this?"
Prototype 2 knelt beside her. "Because they took everything from me. My memories. My future. My face. I was nothing. Until I became you."
Lin Qian's eyes widened. "You were… me?"
"I was what they wanted you to be," Prototype 2 whispered. "Now I'm taking it back."
Back at the safehouse, Ruoxi jerked upright.
Zeyan looked up from the files. "What is it?"
"I… I don't know. But something's wrong. Lin Qian—she's in pain."
Zeyan was already grabbing his coat. "Then we move now."
Ruoxi followed, heart pounding.
She didn't know where the road would lead.
But she knew one thing.
She would not lose Lin Qian again.
Not to science. Not to memory.
Not to anyone.