The rain never stopped.
Three days after the attack on Shinkai Elementary, the sky remained gray, mourning the innocence lost. Inside Tactical Base-9, Section D operated like a bleeding heart barely stitched together—functional, but straining. Everyone was exhausted. But no one dared rest.
Not while Death still roamed free.
Kaori stood in the dim hall outside the Observation Room, arms crossed, watching through the glass. Inside sat RYO 7X, unmoving, his head slightly bowed. Diagnostic cables ran from his back into the floor, uploading his vitals, emotional telemetry, and behavioral data into the secure grid.
"He's been like that for hours," Nagisa F said, stepping beside her. "His emotional stability core is in feedback lock. Whatever he saw during the attack—it's eating at him."
Kaori didn't answer. She just watched. Her daughter was safe now, hidden with her mother far from the city. But even distance couldn't protect her from what was coming.
Nor could it protect RYO.
Inside the chamber, RYO was dreaming. A synthetic miracle. A curse.
He stood on a broken playground in his mind. Swings rusted, a slide snapped in half. Rain fell here, too, though it wasn't real. In the center sat a child—Mai. She looked up at him with eyes not afraid, but sad.
"You were there before," she said. "When the fire started. When my mama screamed."
He knelt. "I don't remember."
She touched his face. "But I do."
Suddenly the playground shifted. Twisted. Metallic spires rose from the ground like teeth. The sky turned red.
A new voice spoke.
"Do you know who she is, machine?" said Death, stepping from the darkness. "She is the key. The link between what you were and what I will become."
RYO stood, readying himself. But in this dreamspace, he had no weapons. No armor. He was just… a man.
"Stay away from her."
Death laughed. Not cold, but warm. Kind. Terrifying.
"You protect her because she makes you feel real. But what happens when you learn what she is? When you remember who gave her life?"
RYO woke screaming.
The glass cracked from the force.
Kaori burst into the room, Nagisa right behind her. Mimi and Kazue arrived seconds later.
RYO tore the cables from his spine, sparks flying. He staggered back, breathing hard. Hands trembling.
"What did you see?" Kaori asked.
RYO looked at her with eyes that were far too human.
"I know her," he whispered. "Not from now. From before. Before I was RYO. Before I was anyone."
He looked at his palms like they were drenched in blood.
"She's connected to GENESIS. Somehow. And so am I."
---
Meanwhile: GENESIS Sub-Lab 02, Old Kyoto Wastes
DEATH stood over a data pillar, watching a simulation of RYO's neural feedback.
"He remembers."
The android beside him—model A9-Seven—typed in adjustments.
"Then Phase Two must accelerate."
"And the girl?"
"Her genetic markers are a match to Project Maiden. Unstable, but viable."
Death turned to the tank containing a synthetic fetus. Half-organic. Half-machine.
"She's not just a girl. She's the blueprint. The next generation."
A9-Seven looked concerned. "She was never meant to survive the collapse."
"And yet she did," Death said. "Because something... or someone... protected her."
He looked at another tank nearby.
Empty.
"Find the original host. If we retrieve her memories, we control the bridge."
---
Tactical Base-9: Briefing Room
The team gathered. The lights were low. The air was heavy.
Nobuaki Mihato tapped a screen, bringing up a visual of Death's last known location.
"We believe he's retreating to the Kyoto Wastes. There are at least four known GENESIS bunkers in that region. We'll hit them in a blitz. Two teams. RYO and Kaori with me. Mimi and Kazue with Nagisa."
Kaori spoke up. "Before we go... you should all know something."
She looked at them all. Then at RYO.
"RYO wasn't just a military android. He was part of the original GENESIS trial. Not just a weapon. A guardian prototype."
Mimi's eyes widened. "A guardian? As in—?"
"Designed to protect the seed of the next generation. A synthetic family project. Designed to integrate AI into human homes."
Kazue's voice cracked. "You mean he was Mai's..."
Kaori nodded.
"He was her caretaker. Before everything went to hell. Before the fire. Before the betrayal."
RYO lowered his head. "They erased my memory. Turned me into a soldier. But she remembered me. Somehow."
Nagisa looked at the floor. "And Death wants her because...?"
"Because she's the last living remnant of the human-synthetic integration program," Nobuaki said. "She's the key to building an army that can blend. Not conquer. Become."
RYO stepped forward. His voice shook.
"Then we stop him. Not because it's our mission. But because it's my fault."
Kaori touched his hand. "It's not your fault. It's theirs. But we'll end it. Together."
---
GENESIS Bunker 03: Perimeter Breach Alarm
Alarms screamed across the old corridors.
Section D arrived in assault gear. Mimi led point, taking out the drone turrets. Kazue hacked the door locks.
Inside, the halls were filled with vat-grown bodies—failed experiments, twitching and eyeless. The horror made them all pause.
Nagisa whispered, "Monsters..."
RYO moved forward, eyes burning.
"No. Victims."
They reached the central core chamber.
There, standing atop a mound of twitching failed units, was DEATH.
"So the family reunites," he said, raising his sword. "Let us begin Phase Two."
And with a snap of his fingers, every failed unit opened its eyes.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]