Chapter 10 THE GIRL WITH NO NAME

A hiss came from the cryo chamber.

Unnaturally, Victor's eyes stayed open and unblinking.

The eyes did not belong to a guy who had been reincarnated.

They were recording.

Cain began, his pulse pounding like war drums, his muscles frozen.

Victor had passed away, Not really.

However, his mind had been kept, uploaded, and mapped. And now it's triggered.

As respectfully as a priest standing in front of a virtual altar, Malik said, "Welcome back," to the screen.

Cain twitched his finger close to the trigger. Victor's voice, synthetic but distinct, reverberated from the speakers.

Protocol Alpha attested to this. Present is Cain Stryker. Phase Two starts. Malik pivoted. "You were the final component."

Cain didn't hold out.

He started shooting. The console was torn apart by the gunfire. Sparks Blood and glass However, a steel hatch behind him slammed shut, and Malik disappeared.

Running after him, Cain saw a corridor lined with red-lit doors

And yells

He pursued the sound.

beyond cells. beyond the test chambers. Past girls with sewn silence and boys with blank looks. Additionally, the final chamber on the left

She got up.

small.

thin.

Hair like fire.

cold eyes.

A woman.

Maybe ten.

Maybe older. She looked into the two-way mirror, wearing a thin medical robe, as though she had been waiting for him all her life.

Cain opened the door slowly.

Not a guard.

No observation.

Just her. She didn't flinch as he entered.

remained silent.

stayed still.

He looked around, but there was no food, no books, and no bed. All that existed were scrawled chalk drawings on the walls and a cold steel floor.

indications.

circles.

Cutlery.

and his face.

Numerous iterations.

Some of them were smiling. There are some shouters.

Each Cain.

He spoke softly as he proceeded. "Who are you?" She had her head tilted. Then, softly: "I can't remember."

Panting, Elise caught up. "We must leave-Malik has set off a chain reaction." Everything about it is rigged.

Cain remained still.

He continued to gaze at the girl. She had small scars on her wrists. Too exact to be arbitrary.

Not attempts at suicide.

ports for surgery.

She was more than just a prisoner. She served as a model.

Cain lowered himself to her eye level.

"What's your name?"

She gave one blink.

"No longer." Elise muttered, "She's among the nulls."

Cain scowled. "Nulls?" Elise gave a nod. They are the ones that were deleted, pristine slates. It's a blank slate. All feelings were removed. Every memory is erased.

Cain returned his gaze to the girl's eyes. Something was there.

A flicker.

acquaintance.

Recognition.

How do you know me?" he whispered.

The girl gazed. Then, gradually, nodded. The blasts began. Far away. deep into the facility. "We must move," Elise said. Right now! The girl was taken into Cain's arms.

She didn't fight back. didn't say anything.

However, her arms encircled his neck fiercely as he carried her through the flaming corridors. She also said a single word in a whisper.

"Hunter."

They narrowly survived. Behind them, fire blossomed like a hellish daybreak. Years of anguish were engulfed in seconds when the facility fell in on itself.

However, Cain did not experience triumph. Just guilt.

He glanced at the girl below. She was unconscious. Continuing to hold a piece of chalk.

She had sketched something on his coat while she was asleep.

A tiny emblem.

A triangle with a circle inside. He had the same one inked on his back.

Victor's signature.

For three days, there was no light. No trackers. No communications. In Arcanon, Cain led them to a safehouse hidden beneath the remains of an old cathedral.

The girl sat silently there,

painting once again in the candlelight. Always sketching.

Cain observed her.

She ate very little.

didn't get any rest.

didn't weep. Occasionally, though, she would look at him, not in terror. However, with... attachment.

Bloodwork was done by Elise. samples of DNA. scans of neurons.

Her face went white at what she discovered. She remarked,

"She's not just one of them." Cain waited. "She has been spliced." Repeatedly, "Spliced?" Elise gave a nod. She has several different genetic codes. Mine, Malik's, and Victor's.

She hesitated. "And yours, too." Cain stumbled. "What are you saying?" Like a sin, Elise murmured it.

She is more than just a model.

She is a reflection. constructed from the pieces of each of us. a weapon made from our spirits.

Cain gazed at the young woman. Humming something broken, she sat silently in the corner. "She is unaware," he whispered. "She shouldn't," Elise answered.

She was supposed to comply. I can't recall. However, there was a malfunction. She caught sight of you. And she woke up in some way.

Cain sat next to the girl while she slept that night. Gently, he inquired,

"Do you remember anything? or earlier? She gave a head shake. Then, however, she muttered:

"Fire appears in my dreams." Cain stopped. "What else?" The girl looked up at him. vacant eyes. Silent voice.

A man brandishing a knife. as well as a woman who yells my name.

That night Cain didn't sleep. Since the woman she mentioned... was his mom.

Elise revealed Cain one last test result the following day.

Something deep within the girl's neurological pathways.

Reverse signal waves are used to encode a phrase. Not words. Not information. Something more profound. It was deciphered by Elise. Five words only:

"She recalls what you overlooked."

Cain's gaze was fixed on the wall.

At the kid dozing beneath his jacket. And all of a sudden, he understood

She was more than simply a tool. She was essential. Not only to Victor's scheme. But to Cain's history. Because in the back of her mind...

Had he obliterated the memory? Victor took it away from him. The beginning of it all.

He was kneeling next to her. Her eyes opened. And he muttered,

What is my true name? She blinked. Moreover, for the first time... She smiled.