The safehouse flickered under candlelight, its crude walls patched with scrap steel and fabric banners from old factions long since buried. It stood at the edge of the Fukuyama Exclusion Zone, half-eaten by nature and half-hunted by drones. The perfect place to be forgotten.
Which is why Juliet Carl found them.
She emerged from the shadows just after midnight—unarmed, heel-clicking boots soft in the broken gravel. She wore a white cloak threaded with silver wires, hood drawn back to reveal long copper hair and eyes cold as mercury.
The guards didn't see her coming.
But Genji did.
He was waiting in the meditation hall, eyes closed, flame flickering above one hand in silent rhythm. When he spoke, it was without surprise.
> "You took long enough."
Juliet stopped at the doorway, arching a brow. "Still dramatic, I see."
"Still breathing," Genji replied, opening his eyes.
She smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "Let's not pretend this is a reunion."
From the side room, Blaze leaned against a pillar, chewing a protein bar like it was dynamite. "Boss, you sure about this? She's Mishima-born. Raised on silver secrets and blackmail."
Juliet didn't flinch. "And you're a burnout who thinks punching reactors makes him a tactician."
"Guilty," Blaze said, unfazed. "Still don't trust you."
> "Don't trust her," he said again, looking at Genji.
> "I trust fire," Genji replied, his voice low, "when it burns clean."
Juliet stepped inside.
---
The Past in Her Eyes
They sat across a metal table in the old mess hall. Genji watched her silently as she removed a microdrive from her cloak and slid it across.
> "Mishima's ghost files," she said. "Internal memos. Experiments. Black Helix troop rosters. Locations of biotech facilities."
Genji picked it up. "Why share this?"
Juliet leaned forward. "Because your enemy is mine now."
She unzipped the sleeve of her coat and rolled it back. Embedded in her arm was a scar—circular, faintly glowing, as if once filled with nanite fire.
"Kirika tested experimental trauma-core rewrites on unwilling civilians," she said. "My sister, Rina, was one of them. A failed prototype in the Empathy Suppression Program. She jumped from Mishima Tower's rooftop two years ago."
Genji's jaw clenched. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Her voice was ice. "Be useful."
She sat back, letting silence stretch. "I was an information broker. I fed scraps to Mishima board members, tracked internal coups, sold secrets in five languages. I know how Kirika thinks."
"She thinks in knives," Genji muttered.
Juliet nodded. "And I want to twist one back."
---
The Test
Genji led her into the war room. The map of Japan was projected in crimson lines, showing active resistance cells, enemy troop movements, and blinking icons for Genji's new allies.
> "If you're serious," he said, "prove it."
He handed her a comm-tablet.
> "A Mishima convoy leaves Shin-Sapporo tomorrow. Supposedly carrying med supplies. We think it's actually transporting prototype EX-clone tech. Where's it headed?"
Juliet tapped through layers of code, bypassing firewalls with ease.
"Route 8. Redirected to Site Omega—abandoned biodome facility, now Black Helix R&D base. Coordinates coming through now."
She handed the tablet back. "Will that suffice?"
Genji didn't look away from the screen. "You're fast."
"I'm thorough."
"I didn't say I trust you."
"You will," she said softly, "when the world starts catching fire."
---
The Doubts of Fire
Later, Blaze cornered Genji in the hall, arms crossed.
> "She's poison, bro."
"You think I don't know that?"
"She's calm. Too calm. Like someone who's already played this game five times and still hasn't shown you her cards."
"She lost someone."
"Everyone here lost someone," Blaze shot back. "You, me, Xao Min, hell—even the cook's missing three fingers. Doesn't mean we start handing out seats on your damn council."
Genji leaned against the wall, exhaling slow.
"She knows Kirika's next move. She's not asking to lead. Just to help steer."
Blaze narrowed his eyes. "She'll steer us off a cliff."
> "Then I'll burn the cliff," Genji said. "If that's what it takes to end this."
---
Bond of the Broken
The next morning, Juliet found Xao Min in the training ring. The girl was sweating, moving through quiet kata movements as soft rain fell.
"You fight beautifully," Juliet said.
Xao Min didn't look up. "You lie cleanly."
Juliet smirked. "Touché."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"You were the berserker," Juliet finally said.
Xao Min's movements froze.
"I read the file," Juliet continued. "Xi'an Protocol, fused AI trauma core, suppressed until your vitals drop. How are you… whole?"
"I'm not," Xao Min said, breathing sharp. "But he makes me believe I can be."
"You love him."
"I respect him."
Juliet's gaze softened, just for a breath. "Don't let that make you weak."
"It makes me human," Xao Min said, and resumed her practice.
---
A New Alliance
That evening, Genji gathered his inner circle.
Blaze. Xao Min. Dr. Murata. The twin tacticians, Koji and Kei. Even old man Zakachi appeared via secure hologram from the mountains.
Juliet stood at the far end, hands behind her back.
> "You're not going to like this," Genji began. "But I've decided."
He gestured to Juliet.
> "She joins the council. No authority over troop movements. No override codes. But her intel gives us eyes inside Black Helix. We move ahead with Operation Lion's Maw based on her leaks."
Blaze grunted. "So she gets a seat at the fire."
"No," Genji said.
> "She earns it. Starting now."
Juliet bowed her head slightly. "Then I'll prove myself. One ember at a time."
---
Final Scene – Ember and Ash
Later that night, Juliet stood on the rooftop, watching storms gather over the horizon. The city beyond still glowed faintly with Mishima light.
Genji stepped beside her.
"I've read the files," he said. "Your sister… she was only fifteen."
Juliet's eyes closed. "She liked painting birds. Said they flew freer in dreams."
Genji nodded. "You could've run. Hid. Lived a soft life in Monaco with your investors."
"I'd rather burn Kirika's empire to the ground," she said. "And build something better in the ash."
Genji looked at her.
> "Then we start with tomorrow."
She turned, her hand brushing the edge of his flame-kissed cloak.
> "Let me help you become what Mishima fears most."
He didn't flinch.
> "I don't want to be feared," Genji whispered.
"I want to be remembered."
---