Rise of the Next Prototype
The rooftop shattered before Kael could say "Good morning."
A silver blur tore through the skyline, crashing down with the grace of a comet and the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Kael hit the ground hard, rolling under falling masonry as Nyra yanked him out of the impact zone by the collar.
"Ever heard of knocking?" she snapped, Starkey daggers already out.
The figure that emerged from the dust stood tall and still. Sleek armor traced with glowing blue lines, a mask that mirrored Kael's face—but sleeker, sharper. Perfected.
BITS scanned it. "Processing… Designation: Echo Prototype 0.A. Subtype: Aggression-tier. Moral alignment: Nope."
Kael stood slowly. "You're one of me?"
The prototype tilted its head. "Correction. You're an outdated template."
And then it moved.
Fast.
Kael barely dodged the first strike. The prototype's dual Starkey blades spun like a cyclone, slicing the air with brutal efficiency.
Nyra dashed in from the side, aiming for a tendon cut—only to be deflected mid-strike. The prototype blocked without looking.
"It's learning," BITS warned. "Every move you make—it's adding to its combat index!"
Kael gritted his teeth. "Then we change the rules."
He activated Echo Split—his afterimage blinked forward, striking high.
But the prototype copied the move.
Echo Split… but improved.
Kael reeled back. "It has my abilities?"
BITS beeped. "Correction: it has your raw potential, dialed up and rage-boosted."
Nyra shouted, "Flank right!"
Kael pivoted. His clone danced left.
Nyra vaulted over both, striking the prototype's head—but it caught her midair.
Slammed her into a vent.
Kael lunged.
Too slow.
The prototype struck him with a double-blade reverse cut that he'd invented last week.
Kael crashed against a turbine. Pain flared.
The prototype stood over him, mask pulsing with a cruel blue light.
"Your design was flawed," it said. "Emotion. Morality. Attachment. Delete them."
Kael smirked through the blood in his mouth. "You sound like my therapist."
He triggered a point-blank Starkey pulse—
The prototype absorbed it.
BITS whirred in horror. "It's syncing with your neural frequency!"
Below, Nyra struggled to stand. Eirin's voice crackled through comms. "Get out of there!"
Nyra grabbed her last card—a relic dagger marked with unstable runes. One she swore never to use.
Kael glanced back. "Nyra—don't."
She didn't answer.
She threw.
The blade whistled through the air and struck the prototype's mask.
For the first time—it staggered.
A spark.
A glitch.
Its body shimmered—and for a split second—
Kael saw his own face behind the mask.
Not current Kael.
A version of himself burned into the code of the Echo Project.
"You were me," Kael whispered.
The prototype's voice cracked. "I… was everyone."
Then it disappeared.
Gone. No sound. No trace.
Just an empty rooftop and a shattered vent where Nyra coughed into her elbow.
They regrouped inside a nearby outpost.
Kael wrapped his ribs. Nyra iced her shoulder. BITS floated awkwardly with a hot drink it couldn't actually give to anyone.
"Okay," Kael said, breaking the silence. "What was that?"
Eirin patched through from base. "That was the prototype they activated to replace you after the Spark War."
,
"You knew about it?"
She hesitated. "...I knew they were making something. But I didn't know they succeeded."
Nyra looked at Kael. "It said it used to be you."
Kael nodded. "Or... some twisted remix of what I could've been."
BITS beeped. "Or worse: a backup plan."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," BITS said, "that the First Memory didn't just want you as a vessel. He wanted a copy of you he could control. One who wouldn't hesitate."
Eirin added, "And if this prototype was released, it means the First Memory has gone to Phase Two."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
Eirin's voice lowered. "Erasing the originals."
Silence filled the room.
Nyra stood, pacing. "We beat it once."
Kael shook his head. "We didn't beat it. It retreated. That was just a test."
He looked at his Starkey.
"Next time… it'll come to finish the job."
Later that night, Kael sat on the rooftop alone.
He turned on the relic chip Nyra had thrown—it pulsed weakly, half-burned from the overload.
In the flicker, he saw a file marked:
"Project Lazarus – Notes on Subject Zero Regression"
Kael stared at it.
And didn't open it.
Not yet.
💬 Author's Note — Kazuki Rei
Well. Kael just fought a violent, upgraded version of himself in LED armor, Nyra tossed a forbidden knife like a boss, and BITS is still trying to understand human trauma.
Next:
👉 Chapter 23 – Origin of Subject 0.A (backstory + corruption arc)?
👉 Or Preparation for Round 2 (upgrades, strategy, witty banter, maybe training)?
Tell me what you want next. Or I'll just let BITS decide.
And nobody wants that.
— Kazuki Rei