The figure reached the bottom.
A man—tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a matte black uniform with no insignia. His face was partially obscured by a visor that reflected the blue glow of the core. He looked less like a scientist and more like containment personnel.
Behind him, two more stepped off the ladder.
Palo's grip tightened on the metal pipe.
"Ash… that's not a research team."
Ash's voice lowered.
"No. They're enforcement."
The lead officer raised a device—sleek, silver, pulsing faintly with blue.
Ash recognized it instantly.
A stabilizer injector.
Palo whispered, "What does that thing do?"
Ash didn't blink.
"It forces the original and the copy into the same space. It's… not safe."
Palo's breath caught.
"That's why the copy warned you."
The officer's visor turned toward them.
"Subject Eleven," he spoke, voice modulated and cold.
"You have triggered a restricted zone."
Ash didn't move.
"What do you want?"
"Compliance."
"No."
The officer didn't hesitate.
He raised the injector.
The device glowed brighter—charging.
Palo stepped back, panic rising.
"Ash—run!"
Ash didn't.
He stepped forward.
---
The Copy Appears
Just as the officer fired—
—a streak of grey static shot across the chamber.
The boy-copy materialized between Ash and the injector blast, catching the bolt of blue energy with both hands.
The impact rippled through him like electricity hitting water.
His form flickered wildly—almost breaking apart—before stabilizing again.
Palo gasped. "He saved you!"
The copy turned its head toward Ash, eyes glowing faintly with strain.
Then he moved.
Blindingly fast.
He darted toward the officers, the air cracking around him as if he was bending space itself.
The first officer barely registered the movement before the copy slammed into him, knocking the injector out of his hand and sending him skidding across the floor.
The other two men raised their weapons—
"Down!" Ash shouted.
Palo dropped to the floor as blue bolts of light filled the chamber.
The copy weaved through them, flickering like a glitch in reality.
He wasn't attacking outright.
He was blocking every shot directed at Ash.
Palo whispered, shaking, "He's protecting you. Again."
Ash stared, stunned.
"He's choosing to."
---
A Decision Forced
One of the officers yelled,
"Replicate is unstable! Initiate hard containment!"
The remaining officer lifted a heavier device—this one with a cylindrical barrel and a pulsing yellow core.
Ash's face drained of color.
"A neural disruptor," he whispered.
Palo's heart dropped. "Is that—bad?"
"It can kill the copy."
Before Palo could react, the officer fired.
The yellow bolt streaked across the room—
—straight at Ash.
The copy blurred in front of him, taking the hit full force.
He crashed to the ground, his form flickering violently.
Static crackled along his skin like he was dissolving.
"Ash!" Palo cried. "He—he intercepted it again!"
Ash dropped to his knees beside the copy.
The boy's breathing was shallow, glitching, fading.
"Ash…" Palo whispered, "he's not going to last."
The copy's hand twitched.
Reaching for Ash.
Barely existing.
Ash grabbed it without hesitation.
The copy's voice came out fractured, distorted, painful.
"Go… core…"
Ash looked up sharply at the central pillar.
"He wants us to shut it down," Ash realized.
"If the facility is active, it's pulling him apart."
Palo looked toward the officers struggling to stand.
"Ash—if you shut the core down, won't they stop you?"
Ash met his eyes, expression hardening.
"They're already trying."
The chamber lights flickered violently—
red alarms blaring—
the hiss of steam vents filling the room with cold mist.
The officers regrouped, weapons aimed.
The copy's hand tightened weakly around Ash's.
"Go…"
Ash stood.
And for the first time, Palo saw something in him that the scientists never accounted for:
Determination born from choice—not programming.
Ash reached toward the core.
The officers shouted.
Weapons charged.
Palo grabbed the fallen injector from the floor.
"I'll cover you!"
Ash hesitated. "Palo—"
"Go!" Palo shouted. "Just go!"
---
The Core's Heartbeat
Ash sprinted across the chamber.
The core pulsed faster—recognizing him.
Calling to him.
Reacting like it was alive.
He reached the pillar, placing both hands on the glass.
The blue light inside swirled violently, forming shapes, symbols, flashes of memory.
Palo fought to keep the officers back—swinging, ducking, barely staying upright.
The copy struggled to lift his head, flickering like a dying star.
Ash's fingertips pressed deeper against the glass.
The core glowed—
Brighter.
Hotter.
Louder.
Palo shouted over the noise,
"Ash—what are you doing?!"
Ash's voice was steady.
"Ending the experiment."
And the core answered—
By beginning to crack.
---