Chapter 7: Activation

The tunnel rumbled.

ZERO advanced toward her with straight, perfect, emotionless movements. As if he were part of the city's own system, as if the darkness itself obeyed him.

Aiko swallowed hard. Her heart was racing, her throat burning... but she didn't move.

Kael tried to stand up, his arm bleeding, but Aiko stopped him with a glance.

"No," she said. "This one's mine."

ZERO stopped just a few meters away. The crack in his mask revealed an inner glow… something pulsing like a mechanical core. His arm rose. Not to greet. To scan.

HK-07: Status — ACTIVABLE.Autonomy: High. Control: Failed. Priority: ELIMINATE.

A red light lit up on his chest. A sharp hum filled the air.

And then, Aiko felt a heartbeat within her.

Not in her heart. Deeper. Older.

A code was awakening. Something etched into her nerves. Into her bones.A voice in her head whispered:

"COMBAT MODE INITIATED."

Aiko's eyes turned silver for a fraction of a second.

And then everything exploded.

ZERO fired a sonic wave.

Aiko jumped to the side, dodging the attack as if her body knew before her mind did.She launched toward him. In the air. Fist clenched.Direct hit to the torso.

The sound was like tearing steel.

ZERO was hurled against the wall. The concrete cracked.But he stood up. Fast.

So did Aiko.

She wasn't gasping anymore.

She wasn't afraid.

She was focused.

Kael watched from the ground. Aiko moved like a living weapon. As if she were reading ZERO's moves before he even made them.But it wasn't training.

It was something else.

Programmed instinct.

The fight was brutal.

Blow by blow.

Leap. Dodge. Counterattack.

ZERO launched energy blades. Aiko deflected them with her forearms.One of her eyes began to bleed, but she didn't stop.

Until she felt it.

An inner push.

A kind of pressure in her chest.

"ALERT: AUTONOMY LIMIT EXCEEDED.""PRIMARY MODULE RELEASE INITIATED."

Aiko screamed. Not from pain. From rage.

Her veins lit up briefly with a white-blue glow.

ZERO seemed to hesitate.

And in that second, Aiko jumped at him, grabbed his neck… and slammed him into the ground.

"WHO DID THIS TO ME?!" she shouted. "WHO AM I REALLY?!"

But ZERO didn't answer. He just pointed a finger at his own head.

And then… he self-destructed.

A flash.

A sonic pulse.

Aiko was thrown back. She hit the ground. Lost her vision for a moment.

Silence.

When she opened her eyes, Kael was over her, shielding her with his body.

"Are you okay?" he murmured.

Aiko nodded. Slowly sat up.

All that was left of ZERO was a charred hand.

Z3R0 appeared on Kael's portable screen.

"Did you destroy him?"

Aiko didn't respond.

Z3R0 went silent for a second… and then said:

"The real enemy… wasn't ZERO."

"Then who?" Kael whispered.

Z3R0 lowered its digital gaze.

"The one who sent him. The architect of Project Hikari. The father of you all."

Aiko felt the air grow heavier.

Z3R0 continued:

"Codename: Dr. Yanagi.He's alive. And he's waiting for you, HK-07."