The ride back to COMA HQ was suffocatingly quiet.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1OvLqrbVr
The Ravenfall transport’s engines hummed in the background, but no one spoke. Not even Ishaan. Not even Veer.
Luce sat in the corner seat, staring at the floor, his hands loosely clasped. He could still see the stranger’s golden eyes in his mind, like burning coals in the dark.
Sayaka sat beside him, watching him carefully. She wanted to say something — anything — but every time she opened her mouth, the words died.
Avni finally broke the silence. “That wasn’t a random encounter. He knew exactly who we were. Exactly what we’d come for.”
Damien’s jaw tightened. “And he called himself ‘finished.’ Like we’re the unfinished ones.”
“Creepy self-help talk,” Ishaan muttered, but even his tone lacked its usual bite.
Saira, sitting opposite, rested her chin on her hand. “This isn’t just about him. The Sleeping Gate’s mentioned. That means there’s a chain of events we’re missing.”
COMA Briefing Room
When they arrived at HQ, Elda was already waiting — standing with her arms folded, her expression carved from stone.
“All of you, in the briefing room. Now.”
They filed in, taking their usual seats. ARGUS’s holographic projection was already active, its shifting geometric form floating over the table.
ARGUS: “Data recovered from the Yashiro plant matches fragments from classified COMA archives. Requesting clearance to display.”
Elda’s lips thinned. “Granted.”
The hologram flickered, shifting to grainy video footage. The images were… unsettling.
Classified Footage
A sterile white lab. Two scientists in sealed suits stood over a reinforced containment pod. Inside, something humanoid shifted — too fast to catch clearly. The camera zoomed in, revealing flashes of pale skin, golden hair, and glowing eyes.
ARGUS: “Project Codename: Sleeping Gate. Origin: biohuman development under Yuriko Hanabira and Rokuro Korugane. Purpose: adaptive infiltration weapon. Status: unstable.”
Raiden leaned forward. “I thought Yuriko and Rokuro were already dead.”
ARGUS: “Confirmed. However, their research continued posthumously under unknown supervision.”
The footage changed — the pod opening. The entity stepping out, moving with unnerving grace. The scientists didn’t flinch, even when it tilted its head like a predator sizing up prey.
The recording cut to black.
“Wait,” Veer said, “that wasn’t the same guy we saw today. That one was younger.”
ARGUS: “Correct. The entity you encountered is designated SG-01. The subject in archival footage is SG-00 — presumed dormant or destroyed.”
Luce frowned. “SG-01… is me?”
ARGUS: “No. SG-01 is a genetic derivation — 92% match to your genome, with modifications for enhanced sensory processing and altered pigmentation.”
Damien folded his arms. “Clone.”
“Clone with golden hair and glowing eyes,” Ishaan added, “because apparently someone thought regular scary wasn’t scary enough.”
Elda’s voice cut through the room like a blade. “This is no joke. If Sleeping Gate is active again, it means Valken was only a side project. The main weapon… is this.”
The Mission Twist
Avni crossed her arms. “Then what’s our next step? Track him?”
ARGUS’s form pulsed slightly.
“Tracking is complicated. SG-01 utilizes a displacement field that renders him untraceable outside of visual contact. However… he leaves biological traces when feeding.”
Saira’s gaze sharpened. “Feeding?”
ARGUS: “Biological requirement: human cardiac tissue. The subject exhibits preference for targets with strong bioelectric resonance. Heart extraction is performed while host is alive.”
The silence in the room thickened. Even Ishaan’s smirk vanished.
Isolde broke the tension. “So he’s a predator. That means he’ll strike again soon.”
Lev nodded slowly. “We set a trap.”
Elda looked around the table. “Not yet. First, we need intel. Find his pattern. Understand his goal. If you rush this, you’ll end up dead.”
Personal Fractures
As the briefing ended, the teams began to disperse — but Luce stayed behind, staring at the frozen hologram of SG-01’s face.
Sayaka lingered by the door. “…You okay?”
“I’m looking at someone who could be me,” he said quietly. “Except he’s… wrong. And I don’t even know where I came from, Sayaka. What if he knows?”
She stepped closer, her hand brushing his arm. “Then we find out. Together.”
He gave her a small, tired smile — but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Meanwhile, in the corridor outside, Damien and Isolde walked side by side. She glanced at him. “You think Luce is ready for this?”
“No,” Damien admitted. “But he doesn’t have a choice.”
Down the hall, Ishaan and Veer were already arguing about what kind of ‘bioelectric resonance’ would make someone tasty to SG-01, until Saira snapped at them to shut up. Avni and Lev walked ahead, both quiet, their expressions unreadable.
A Shadow Watches
Far from COMA HQ, in an abandoned high-rise, SG-01 stood at a broken window, watching the city below. His golden eyes reflected the neon lights, but his mind was elsewhere.
On the table behind him lay a severed Valken head — and beside it, a heart, still faintly twitching.
Another figure stepped from the shadows, features hidden beneath a hood.
“You’ve been seen,” the hooded figure said.
SG-01 smiled faintly. “Good. Let them come. The game’s more interesting when the prey fights back.”
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and then Add to home screen.