THE FRACTURED MIND
Monday – 2:30 A.M. | The Mirror Medical Bay
Kian thrashed against the bio-restraints, his silver eyes wide with panic.
"Don't plug me in! Don't—you'll wake him—"
His voice dropped into something guttural.
"I said... don't."
Then silence.
The sensors flatlined for a moment before flaring red.
Echo tapped the console urgently.
"Neural fluctuations are off the charts. He's... fighting something inside."
Rick stood at the glass, fists clenched.
Ava joined him. "You sure about this? Pulling him back may trigger another break."
Rick didn't blink.
"We're not leaving him like that. He's not the monster they made."
4:00 A.M. | Dreamlink Protocol
Inside a sealed chamber, Rick lay on a slab, neural patches connected to his temples. Echo initiated the Dreamlink, a high-risk mental dive allowing synced consciousness between two fragmented minds.
The world went dark.
Then Rick opened his eyes.
He was standing in a child's bedroom... his childhood bedroom.
But the walls were cracked, photos torn. The ceiling above them shimmered like broken glass.
Footsteps behind him.
"Rick..." Kian's voice echoed.
"You shouldn't be here."
Rick turned.
Kian stood in the corner, but his eyes were completely black. And behind him—
A mirror, swirling with shadows.
Inside the Mindscape
Rick moved closer, but Kian snapped:
"He watches from the other side. He is the other side."
Suddenly, the mirror fractured. Out stepped a tall version of Kian—but twisted, eyes glowing red, smile too wide.
"I've had enough of waiting."
"Let me out."
Rick stood his ground.
"You're not real."
The dark Kian grinned.
"Neither are you. Not the way they made you."
He lunged.
Mental Combat
Rick dodged the first strike, but in the dreamscape, pain was real. The dark Kian moved like liquid shadow, warping space around them.
Rick fought back with memory—throwing moments into the air like shields.
His mother's voice.
Laughing with Ava.
Sketching dragons with Kian.
Each memory struck the shadow Kian, tearing at his form.
But the shadow howled and swelled larger.
"He's stronger than me!" the real Kian cried.
"He is me."
Rick gritted his teeth. "Then maybe... it's time to stop running from him."
The Fusion
Rick turned toward the real Kian.
"Don't fight him. Accept him. Own it. You're not one or the other—you're both."
Kian's form flickered. The shadows wrapped around him—but this time, instead of resisting, he pulled them in.
Light and dark collided.
When the light cleared, Kian stood alone. Whole. Changed.
"I... remember now."
Rick walked to him.
"Are you okay?"
Kian smiled faintly. "Not yet. But I'm me. For the first time in years."
7:00 A.M. | Waking World
Rick's eyes snapped open. He gasped.
Across from him, Kian sat upright, breathing deeply. The shadows were gone from his eyes.
Echo stared, amazed.
"You did it. You re-integrated his psyche."
Ava exhaled.
"That was impossible. Illegal. Dangerous."
Rick smiled tiredly.
"And exactly what had to be done.
Kian stood slowly.
"You gave me back control, Rick. Now let's make sure no one else ever loses theirs."
9:00 A.M. | The briefing room
With Kian's mind stable, the Mirror's leaders gathered.
They had a location.
The Hollow Core — the last and most heavily guarded lab.
Where it all began.
Where the final weapon was being built.
Mara looked around the room.
"We may not get another shot."
Rick stood tall beside Ava, Echo, Kael, and now Kian.
"Then let's make it count."