Facility ZETA-9 – Underground Vault, Sector 7
The hiss of decompression echoed like a breath held too long.
Inside the cryo-tank, a pair of eyes snapped open—fiery amber glowing in the blue fluid.
Sleeper 03: Ashline had awakened.
She didn't gasp. She didn't panic.
She smiled.
Observation Room
Christine watched the monitors with arms folded across her chest. Behind her, the same shadowed man—Director Rane—typed into a control pad.
"She's stabilizing faster than expected," he muttered. "Faster than Echoheart."
Christine didn't reply.
Ashline's fingers twitched in the tank. Then curled into a fist.
Flashback Fragment – Ashline's Mind
Pain. So much pain.
A screaming girl tied to a gurney. Surgeons in visors.
"Resonance instability detected—inject Protocol 3—no, increase dosage—she's fracturing—"
She wasn't Elira. But they treated her like a backup. Like a contingency.
Then one voice stood out. Cold. Familiar.
Christine.
"Let her fracture. Let her break. That's the point."
Present – Tank opens
Ashline stepped out, soaked but poised. She didn't stumble.
She stared straight at Christine through the reinforced glass.
Christine tensed. "She remembers."
Rane cursed. "Get the kill circuit ready—"
"No," Christine said. "Let's see what Elira's shadow does when she has the freedom to move."
Safehouse — Morning
Elira sat in the living room, scrolling through fragmented data on Kael's cracked tablet. Files. Old logs. Memories pieced together. Jane brewed bitter coffee in the corner.
Kael entered with quiet footsteps.
"Something's wrong," he said.
"What is it?" Elira looked up.
"Christine's gone dark."
Jane cursed under her breath. "That never means anything good."
Elira's voice was steady. "Then it's time we stop waiting for the next hit."
Kael approached the tablet and showed a blinking icon.
"There's another sleeper file. Activated last night."
A name flashed: Ashline.
Status: Live. Dangerous. Location: Unknown.
Scene Shift – Docks, Lower Sector of the City
Bodies lay scattered. Not dead—disabled. Nerve disruptors. Sleep gas.
Ashline walked through them in a leather jacket two sizes too big and combat boots like she owned the ground.
She didn't speak.
She just scanned for targets. For Elira.
They'd made her a ghost. A placeholder.
But ghosts had teeth now.
Scene Shift – Surveillance
Christine reviewed multiple monitors as Ashline slipped through sectors undetected.
"She's too smart. Too efficient," Rane said, frustrated.
"That's the point. You engineered her to be Elira's mirror. Her contrast."
"She's a threat."
"She's a weapon," Christine corrected. "And I'm the only one who can control her."
Rane narrowed his eyes. "Then prove it."
Christine smiled thinly. "I will."
Back at the Safehouse
Elira stared at the file. "They built a version of me… without the fear."
Jane snorted. "Sounds like the opposite of you."
Elira didn't flinch. "Exactly. She's what I might've become if I had no breaks. If I didn't beg Kael to erase it all."
Kael spoke quietly. "They didn't just build her. They left her behind."
Elira met his gaze. "Then she probably wants to burn all of us."
Scene Change – Rooftop Confrontation, Later That Night
Rain fell in sheets.
Elira stood under a flickering neon billboard. Alone. Waiting.
A blur landed behind her. Quiet. Controlled.
She didn't turn.
"So," Elira said softly. "You're real."
Ashline's voice cut like frost. "You're me, broken. I'm you, unchained."
Elira turned now—silver eyes locking onto amber flames.
"No. You're me without mercy. That's not the same as strength."
Ashline smiled faintly. "We'll see."
Then she lunged.
Fight Scene — Intimate, Fast-Paced, Internal Conflicts
Ashline's strikes were surgical. Fast. Elira blocked, dodged, countered—flashes of memory guiding her reflexes.
Each move was like dancing with a reflection that hated its original.
"You gave them your will!" Ashline snarled, landing a knee to Elira's ribs.
"You gave them your rage!" Elira retorted, twisting her wrist to break a grip.
The rooftop cracked under the weight of Resonant energy surging between them. Rain steamed off their skin.
Then:
Ashline halted. Blinked. Her hand trembled.
Elira backed away, breathing hard.
"You're not just a weapon," Elira said. "They gave you pieces of my pain, too. That's why you hesitate."
Ashline's voice was quiet now. "You… remember me?"
"I always did. I just didn't know what it meant."
Final Scene – Elsewhere
Christine stood in front of a locked vault. Behind her, the final file on a handheld tablet flickered open:
PROJECT ECHOHEART – FINAL ENTRY
PHASE 4: ECHO COLLISION TRIAL
TARGETS: ELIRA | ASHLINE | UNIT 01 (DEEP VAULT)
INITIATE NEXT RESET?
Her finger hovered.
She smiled."Let the sisters choose."
Click.
Trial of the Three
Elira and Ashline must now face the truth behind their creation—and someone neither of them expected to be alive still waits in the shadows of Vault Unit 01.