Chapter 10: The Point Of No Return

The informant lit a cigarette, his hands trembling slightly. He took a drag and sighed.

— Alright… I'll tell you what I know. But I warn you: once you've heard this, there's no turning back.

Mayu crossed her arms, her gaze still burning with anger.

— Speak.

The man glanced at Akira, who remained impassive.

— The Black Lotus isn't just a criminal organization. It's a cover for something much bigger… A covert military program.

— A military program? Mayu repeated, her heart racing.

The informant nodded.

— Project A.O. aims to create biologically and technologically enhanced assassins. Not just killers… but living weapons.

He pointed at her.

— And you, Mayu… You are proof that their project worked.

A cold shiver ran down her spine.

— That's not true. I'm just… a normal girl.

— Normal? The informant scoffed. Haven't you ever noticed that you're faster, stronger than others? That you can instinctively anticipate attacks?

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

Of course, she had noticed.

From a young age, she reacted faster than other children, her body moving before her mind could analyze the situation. She thought it was just… a natural talent.

— What did they do to me?

The informant crushed his cigarette in an already overflowing ashtray.

— Genetic experiments. Neurological simulations. Mental conditioning…

His gaze darkened.

— They wanted to see how far they could push a human being.

Mayu clenched her fists.

— Why was I abandoned, then?

— Because they thought you were dead.

A heavy silence settled.

The informant leaned forward.

— Seven years ago, one of the Black Lotus facilities was attacked. Several experiments were destroyed… but only one escaped. A little girl.

Mayu's blood ran cold.

— Was it me?

The informant slowly nodded.

— They lost track of you after that night… until recently.

He pulled out a tablet and scrolled through files. Then he turned the screen toward them.

An image appeared.

It was a photo of her, taken recently, blurry, like a snapshot stolen from a surveillance camera.

— They know you're alive, Mayu. And they want you alive this time.

She felt her stomach churn.

— Why?

The informant tapped on the screen.

— Because you're the only successful prototype. They want to understand why you survived… and how they can recreate that result.

Mayu closed her eyes for a moment, trying to control her breathing.

Her existence had never been a coincidence. From the beginning, she was just an unfinished project, a forgotten experiment that the Black Lotus wanted to reclaim.

— So, what do we do? she asked, her voice tougher than she expected.

Akira took the tablet, studied the data, then turned to the informant.

— Where is their main base?

The man shook his head.

— You're crazy. You have no chance against them.

Akira drew his knife and stabbed it into the table, right in front of the informant.

— The address.

The man swallowed hard, then grabbed a pen and wrote a series of numbers on a piece of paper.

— It's an old underground laboratory, beneath a derelict building in the eastern district. But I warn you… if you go there, you might not come back alive.

Mayu snatched the paper from his hands and stared at it.

She was terrified.

But she was also ready.

She turned to Akira.

— When do we go?

A smirk appeared on his face.

— Tonight.