The soft hum of the servers was the only sound between them as morning light filtered through the dusty, bulletproof glass of the lab's skylight.
Ruoxi lay in silence, her cheek pressed against Zeyan's bare shoulder. His breathing was steady, arm resting protectively around her waist. She could still feel the heat of last night — not just from their closeness, but from the way it had finally burned away the distance between their wounded hearts.
She wasn't sure when she had drifted off, but she knew exactly when reality returned: with the sharp beep-beep-beep of an alert flashing on the central console.
Zeyan sat up instantly, grabbing his shirt. "Something's wrong."
Ruoxi followed, pulling on her jacket. The screen lit up with a countdown.
ACCESS REQUEST – SERVER A17
Location: External Terminal – Code: M.H.
Zeyan's eyes narrowed. "Mo Haoran."
A cold wave crashed over Ruoxi's spine. "He's trying to wipe the system."
Zeyan's fingers flew across the keyboard. "There's one last file. It's marked as… Emergency Backup: MQ / Audio Only."
He clicked it.
A distorted voice filtered through the speakers. It was Mo Qinghua — but not the calm, controlled version from the video yesterday. This was her final message, recorded in fear.
"They found out… about her… about both of them. Haoran is going to shut it all down. If you find this, get out. I couldn't protect them both."
"I left something with Prototype Zero — she knows the truth… the whole truth. Find her. She's in Isolation Pod 6. I injected her with a slow-recovery serum. She should be waking up… soon."
The recording cut.
Ruoxi looked at Zeyan. "Isolation Pod 6… that's not in this building."
"It's in the northern wing," he said grimly. "The abandoned one."
Ruoxi's breath hitched. "You mean the part that's—"
Zeyan nodded. "Scheduled for demolition."
He grabbed his wristband and activated the internal tracker. "We have maybe thirty minutes before they remotely detonate that section."
As they sprinted through the winding tunnels of the underground facility, Zeyan's thoughts spun. Prototype Zero wasn't just another test subject — she was the key. If she held the truth Mo Qinghua never dared write down, then everything — every mystery, every lie — was about to unravel.
They reached the northern wing just as the power flickered again.
The corridors here were older, rustier. Dust and debris covered the floor, and the emergency lights cast everything in sickly red hues. A sensor buzzed to life.
"Pod 6," Ruoxi whispered, stopping in front of a reinforced chamber door.
Zeyan tapped the override. The hydraulics hissed, and the door creaked open.
Inside, suspended in blue light, floated a girl.
Not more than seventeen in appearance, she looked eerily familiar — not to Ruoxi, but to Linyue.
Her features were softer, more delicate, but she carried the same bone structure. Same eyes.
Ruoxi stepped closer, heart pounding.
"Zeyan… she looks like both of us."
Zeyan's voice was low. "That's not an accident."
The pod released a slow exhale of mist, and the girl's eyes fluttered open.
They were violet.
Not blue like Ruoxi's. Not grey like Linyue's. Something else entirely.
She blinked rapidly, struggling to move. Her voice was dry, raspy.
"Which… one of you… is real?"
Ruoxi flinched. "What?"
"Which… twin… survived?"
Zeyan stepped forward. "Who are you?"
She blinked slowly. "I was meant to be Ruoxi. But I never woke up. They kept me here… because I remembered too much."
She looked straight into Ruoxi's eyes. "They made me from you."
Ruoxi's knees buckled.
Zeyan caught her, arms wrapping around her waist.
Prototype Zero whispered, "There's a video drive… beneath the pod. Take it. It'll show you what Project Phoenix really was."
Ruoxi gasped. "Phoenix? Not Twin Flame?"
She nodded weakly. "Twin Flame was just the name they gave to the public donors. But the true project… was never about making twins. It was about merging memories. Creating a living backup of someone's mind."
Zeyan's jaw clenched. "That's why some of your memories bled into Ruoxi's."
The girl's voice trembled. "Because I was programmed to become her. But you became yourself first."
The lights overhead flickered violently.
Zeyan's wristband buzzed.
Countdown Initiated: Evacuation Required
"Zeyan," Ruoxi whispered, "we need to get out."
He reached beneath the pod, grabbing a tiny, dusty drive.
Prototype Zero's hand reached out, grabbing Ruoxi's.
"If I don't make it… tell the world. I existed."
Ruoxi's eyes stung. "You're coming with us."
Zeyan activated the transport chamber on the far wall. He moved fast, lifting the girl into the chamber's harness. It would send her directly to the surface transport bay.
As the chamber glowed, the countdown hit 00:02:00.
They ran.
The entire corridor groaned as automated charges began firing in the distance. The shockwaves threw dust and debris in their path.
Ruoxi stumbled. Zeyan caught her again.
"Not letting go," he said.
They burst into the main corridor just as the far end caved in behind them.
By the time they reached the surface, the building behind them was ablaze — a mushrooming cloud of smoke rising into the dawn sky.
Prototype Zero lay on a stretcher, breathing weakly but alive.
Zeyan handed the drive to Ruoxi. "This... ends it."
Ruoxi looked back at the fire. "No… it begins everything else."
She reached for his hand, and this time, he didn't hesitate.