Gunfire cracked the stillness.
Fred ducked instinctively, shielding Mira as bullets tore through the shattered door behind them.
Reeve returned fire without hesitation, every shot a snarl of defiance.
But for every soldier that fell, two more surged forward—faces hidden behind reflective visors, uniforms marked with Selene's insignia.
It was a flood.
And they were drowning.
Fred's eyes flicked to the suspended boy—Subject 0.
Still asleep.
Still trapped.
Time slipped between Fred's fingers like sand.
They couldn't hold out.
Not like this.
---
"We wake him," Mira said breathlessly, hand trembling over the control panel.
Reeve growled, "You're insane."
"No," Fred said, voice steady even as fear gripped his chest.
"It's his life too."
He punched in the override sequence.
The cylinder's fluid began to drain, slow and viscous.
Subject 0's body jerked as the cables withdrew, leaving raw wounds that shimmered unnaturally.
The boy's eyes fluttered—
And opened.
They were not human anymore.
---
The boy collapsed forward, coughing violently.
Mira rushed to him, heedless of Reeve's shouted warning.
"You're safe," she whispered, cradling him.
The boy stared at her, confusion clouding his mechanical-gold gaze.
Bullets whined past, and Fred moved to shield them both.
"Can you fight?" Fred asked.
The boy blinked.
Then something behind his eyes twisted—
A memory.
A scream.
A command buried deep.
His hands spasmed, the skin around his knuckles cracking to reveal glints of steel beneath.
A weapon and a child.
Bound together.
Fred reached out slowly.
"You don't have to listen to her."
The boy shuddered.
Outside the sanctuary, the soldiers regrouped, weapons charged with electric rounds.
They wouldn't show mercy.
Neither could Fred.
"Please," Fred said, voice breaking.
"Fight for yourself."
---
But not everyone believed in mercy.
Reeve, grim-faced, lifted his rifle.
Aimed directly at the boy.
"Fred, move."
"No."
"You don't get it," Reeve hissed.
"Selene built him to kill us. You're risking everything—"
"He's not a monster," Mira cried.
"He's a kid."
Fred stared at the trembling boy and knew the truth:
They couldn't save them all.
But maybe they could save this one.
Or die trying.
---
Outside, a grenade clattered into the room.
Mira screamed a warning.
Fred threw himself over the boy as the explosion ripped through the lab, deafening and bright.
Pain seared across his back.
The world tilted—
—and then hands grabbed him.
Small.
Strong.
Subject 0 was dragging him out of the fire.
Dragging Mira too.
The boy's body shimmered, absorbing the shrapnel meant to tear them apart.
He looked back once, through the smoke.
At the enemy soldiers.
At Reeve, lying still.
At the burning ruins of his own creation.
And for a moment—
He smiled.
A real, broken smile.
Then he ran, dragging Fred and Mira into the unknown.
---