Season 1 – Chapter 12: The Other One

The wind howled above the jungle trees, rustling leaves like whispers from an ancient curse.

Deep in the underground ruins of Project Thorn's first laboratory—long abandoned, lost to history—a heartbeat pulsed against the silence.

Not Thorn's.

This one was darker.

Faster.

Hungrier.

Inside a cracked stasis chamber, fog hissed and spilled onto the metal floor. Red lights blinked back to life. And then—a single eye snapped open.

Gold. Slitted like a predator's.

Subject 02 had awakened.

Back in the safe cave, Serah sat motionless, the weight of Eliara's words pressing heavy on her chest.

"You're glowing with his energy already."

Pregnant.

She hadn't said it aloud, but Eliara had spoken what her heart already knew.

A child.

Thorn's child.

Her hand drifted to her stomach as tears welled up in her eyes—not from fear… but from how much she missed him. Needed him. Loved him.

Drayk broke the silence. "We can't stay here. If she found us, others will too."

Serah stood. "Then we move. We find Thorn."

Eliara raised an eyebrow. "You sure he's still alive?"

Serah looked her dead in the eye.

"I don't need proof. I feel him."

Miles away, Thorn crawled out from the ruins of the collapsed cavern, every limb screaming in pain. His body was bloodied, torn—but not broken.

And then he froze.

The jungle had changed.

It smelled different. Thicker. Colder.

Like him.

Thorn's instincts roared to life. His back bristled—spikes sliding from his skin in anticipation.

"He's awake…" Thorn muttered, staring into the black canopy above.

And far away, in another part of the forest, Subject 02 tilted his head up.

He whispered one word, voice low and haunting.

"Brother."

At the edge of the jungle, Serah, Drayk, and Eliara had set camp for the night.

Rain tapped the leaves above, soft and steady.

Inside the tent, Serah lay awake, staring at the makeshift roof. Drayk was outside, standing guard. Eliara rested, for now, silent and unreadable.

Then, Serah felt it again.

A touch in her mind.

A whisper of heat.

A pulse of thorns.

She sat up straight, heart hammering.

He's alive.

Outside, lightning cracked across the sky—and for a split second, she saw a silhouette watching them from the trees.

Tall. Still. With glowing gold eyes.

But it wasn't Thorn.

Serah grabbed her gun and burst out of the tent. "Who's there?!"

Drayk spun around, weapon drawn.

Branches shook.

But whoever it was, was gone.

Eliara stepped beside her, eyes narrowing. "You saw him too."

"You saw who?" Serah demanded.

Eliara's voice dropped. "Subject 02."

Drayk cursed. "I thought he was destroyed with the lab!"

Eliara shook her head. "No. He was perfected in secret… and he's not like Thorn. He doesn't have a conscience."

Serah's mouth went dry.

"You mean…"

"Yes," Eliara said. "He was built only to kill."

In the heart of the jungle, Subject 02 stood atop a cliff, shirtless under the rain, golden thorns curling along his back like a crown of blades.

He smiled, cold and cruel.

"Time to find you, brother."

He leapt into the dark below—silent, swift, unstoppable.