Chapter 8: Ghost Protocol

Kazuki gasped as he woke up in darkness, drenched in cold sweat.

No mirrors.

No voices.

Just the hum of a machine nearby and a faint green glow from a monitor beside him.

His wrists were bound.

Not by rope—but smooth, metallic cuffs magnetized to the table beneath him. The surface was warm, almost alive.

> "Not a dream… Not a dream…"

He repeated it like a mantra, but the sting of reality never let go.

Across the room, footsteps echoed.

Out of the shadows stepped a figure in a white lab coat—mask over their face, clipboard in hand. But Kazuki recognized those eyes.

> Her.

The girl who was supposed to be his sister.

"I thought you were dead," he rasped.

She didn't reply immediately. She just stared. Cold. Mechanical.

"You weren't supposed to wake up," she finally said. "The override was incomplete."

> "Override…? What are you talking about!?"

She turned the monitor toward him.

There it was again.

PROJECT REFLECT — SUBJECT K-06

Status: AWAKENED

Memory Sync: Compromised

"You're not Kazuki," she said flatly. "You're just one of many."

His mind cracked again.

> "Then who… who am I!?"

"You're a copy," she whispered. "One of twelve. A mirror of a boy who never survived the original test."

Silence.

He didn't know if it was rage or fear rising inside him. Maybe both.

"But you… you called me your brother."

"I had to," she said, her voice softening for the first time. "You were the only one who lasted this long without breaking."

A sudden jolt of electricity surged through the cuffs.

Kazuki screamed.

The lights above flickered. Then went black.

When they returned, she was gone.

And the monitor now read:

SUBJECT K-06: STATUS — ESCAPE MODE ENGAGED