CHAPTER 7
That morning, Akira woke before the alarm went off. He opened his eyes in the darkness.
For the first few seconds, he didn't move. Then his breathing changed.
Something was wrong.
It wasn't pain. Not a nightmare.
A voice. Very faint.
As if someone were calling to him from somewhere far away.
"Akira..." His eyes opened fully.
The room was still empty.
The clock on the table read 4:31 a.m. Akira slowly sat up.
His palms felt cold.
He stared at them. There was nothing there.
Yet his body still held on to that strange sensation.
As if he had just woken up not from sleep... but from something much deeper.
He stood and walked to the bathroom. When he turned on the light, the face in the mirror looked pale.
Akira washed his face. Once. Twice.
When he raised his head, his reflection looked different for a fraction of a second.
Not an adult detective. But a little boy in white clothing.
A-001. Akira spun around.
There was no one there. He looked back at the mirror.
His reflection was normal.
Akira let out a long breath.
"Memory..." He touched his temple. "Or something else?"
At 7:10 a.m., Akira arrived at the office. Sota was already waiting at his desk.
The moment he saw Akira, he stood up.
"You look awful." "I'm fine."
"That's what people who are absolutely not fine usually say." Akira set down his bag.
"Any developments?" Sota shook his head.
"Nothing from digital forensics yet." Akira nodded.
Then Sota added, "But there is one thing."
"What?" "The last victim's case."
Akira stopped. "Why?"
"Rina found another connection." Sota handed him a tablet.
A medical report appeared. "It turns out the victim underwent a neurological examination about three months ago."
Akira read it. "Where?"
"A private hospital." "The doctor's name?"
Sota pointed at the screen. Dr. Reina Aizawa.
Akira fell silent.
Reina was in the examination room when Akira arrived. She didn't notice him right away.
Her hands were busy going through files. Akira stood in the doorway.
"Dr. Aizawa." Reina turned.
"You came." Her tone was different from yesterday.
Calmer. More familiar.
Akira stepped inside. "I found something."
Reina set down the file. "About the victim?"
"Yes." Akira handed her the report.
"Your name is listed here." Reina read it quickly.
Then she frowned. "I remember this patient."
"How well?" "They came in for a neurological examination."
"Why?" Reina tried to remember.
"Headaches, sleep disturbances, and several episodes of disorientation." Akira watched her.
"Disorientation?" "They said they sometimes felt as if they'd been somewhere before, but couldn't remember where."
Akira fell silent. "Deja vu?"
"More or less." "Did they mention Genesis?"
Reina shook her head. "Not that I remember."
"Did they say anything about Eclipse?" Reina stopped. Her eyes slowly lifted.
"Eclipse?" "Yes."
"I never heard that term from the patient." Akira studied her expression.
"Why?" Reina didn't answer.
Instead, she opened a drawer. She took out a folder.
"Because a few days ago, I found the same term in an old archive." She handed it to him.
Akira opened it. The victim's examination records.
In the corner of the page was a small symbol.
A circle. A line through it. And three short lines.
The Genesis symbol.
Akira stared at it. "Why is this on a medical report?"
"I don't know." Reina pointed to the bottom.
"But look at the date." Akira read it.
The victim's examination had taken place three months ago. Yet the document had been created using an old template.
Very old. A template that should no longer have been in use.
Akira looked at Reina. "Someone entered Genesis data into the hospital system."
Reina nodded. "Looks that way."
The door opened. Sota entered with more news.
"Akira." He stopped when he saw the document on the desk.
"You've seen it?" "Seen what?"
Sota handed him his phone. An old news report appeared.
FORMER BIOTECH RESEARCHER FOUND DEAD AT HOME
A photo of Dr. Haruki Mizuno appeared on the screen. Akira immediately frowned.
"Mizuno?" Sota nodded.
"Local police found his body this morning." "Was he murdered?"
"They don't know yet." Akira looked at Reina.
Mizuno was the person they had been looking for. Someone had emptied his house before they arrived.
Now he was dead. Too soon.
"Location?" Sota gave him the address.
Akira grabbed his jacket. "Let's go."
Mizuno's house was once again surrounded by police tape. But this time, the atmosphere was different.
There was no doubt that someone had come to make sure of one thing— Mizuno would never talk.
Akira stood in front of the door. He studied the floor.
There were no signs of a struggle. Nothing was out of place.
The body had been found in the study. Reina entered with the medical examiner.
She examined the victim's condition.
"Akira." "Yeah?"
"This isn't an ordinary murder." Akira moved closer.
Reina pointed to the victim's neck. There were no major wounds.
But there was a tiny mark behind the ear. "An injection site."
Akira looked at her. "Poison?"
"We don't know yet." Reina took a sample.
"But there's something strange." "What?"
"The victim had a seizure before he died." Akira looked at Mizuno's body.
"How do you know?" "The muscle position."
Reina looked at the portable monitor. "A severe seizure."
She fell silent.
Then her eyes moved to the victim's hand. There was a small scratch on the palm.
Akira recognized the shape immediately.
A symbol. Genesis.
He crouched down. "He drew this before he died."
Reina nodded. "Maybe."
Akira studied the scratch. Then something happened.
Very quickly. The sound of a monitor. White lights.
His hands were small. His body was restrained.
Someone shouted, "Hold A-001 down!"
Akira jerked violently. His breath caught.
He stepped back. Reina immediately grabbed his arm.
"Akira." "I..."
He closed his eyes.
The voice was still there. "Don't let his resonance rise!"
Then another voice. Softer.
"Akira, look at me." Reina.
Akira opened his eyes. Reina was standing in front of him.
Her hand still gripped his arm. "Breathe."
Akira followed her lead.
Slowly.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The sensation faded. But his body was still trembling.
Reina didn't let go of his hand. "Did you see something?"
Akira looked at her. "Yes."
"What?" "A room."
"Genesis?" "Maybe."
Reina was silent. Akira looked at their hands.
Then at Reina's face. "I heard your voice."
Reina froze. "My voice?"
"When I was little." Silence.
Reina slowly drew a breath.
"I also..." She closed her eyes. "...heard your voice."
Meanwhile, Sota was checking Mizuno's desk. "Akira."
Akira turned. Sota was holding a photograph.
"This was found in the drawer." Akira took it.
An old photograph. Genesis.
But it was different from the previous photo. There were only two people in it.
Seiji and Mizuno.
Behind them was a research board. A diagram.
Two overlapping circles.
Written beneath them: A-001 / R
And one sentence: RESONANCE IS NOT INDEPENDENT.
Akira read it slowly. "Resonance doesn't exist on its own."
Reina stood beside him. "What does it mean?"
Akira stared at the diagram.
"It means..." He looked at the two intersecting circles. "...maybe from the beginning, they never considered us two separate subjects."
Reina looked at him. "What are you saying?"
Akira didn't answer.
Because beneath the diagram was another code that only became visible after the photo was enlarged.
Not A-001. Not R.
But: E-00
Sota frowned. "What's that?"
Akira stared at the code. He didn't know.
Yet for some reason, his body felt as if it recognized it.
His heart began to beat faster.
And from somewhere very deep in his memory, a small voice whispered: "Don't let them find the third one."
Akira froze. Reina looked at him.
"What is it?" Akira raised his face.
"I just remembered something." "What?"
He looked at the photograph. "Genesis didn't only have A-001 and Subject R."
Sota stepped closer. "How many were there?"
Akira stared at the E-00 code. "I don't know."
He stopped.
"But it looks like..." His eyes fixed on the symbol on the back of the photograph. "...there's something they deliberately hid even from us."
Outside the window, the sky darkened again.
And without their realizing it,
a small camera in the corner of the room was recording everything.
The tiny camera blinked once. Then went dead.
No one noticed. Inside Mizuno's house, Akira was still standing in front of the desk.
The old photograph was in his hand. A-001 / R
And the code they still didn't understand. E-00.
"Don't jump to conclusions," Sota said. Akira nodded.
"I know." But he couldn't stop thinking about the code.
He looked at the photograph again. Something felt wrong.
Not with what was visible. But with what wasn't.
"Rina should examine this photograph." Sota nodded.
"I'll send it now." Reina was still standing near the desk.
Her eyes were fixed on Akira. "Are you okay?"
Akira looked at her. "Yeah."
"You almost fell just now."
"I just..." He stopped. "It felt like something was trying to remind me."
Reina was silent. "I felt the same thing."
Akira looked at her. "When?"
"When I saw this photograph." Reina touched her temple.
"It felt like I'd seen that symbol before." "Genesis?"
Reina shook her head. "The one next to it."
Akira looked at the photograph again. The code E-00.
Reina stared at it for a long time. Then she whispered,
"It feels like..." She stopped. "...a name."
6:42 p.m.
They returned to the office. Rina was already waiting.
The photograph they had sent her had been enlarged. "This isn't an ordinary scan," she said.
Akira stood behind her. "Why not?"
"Because this photograph has been modified." Rina pointed to the back.
"There's a layer of ink deliberately covering the original writing." "Can it be read?"
"I've already tried." She pressed several keys.
The image changed. The writing that had previously been faint slowly appeared.
ECLIPSE — EMOTIONAL RESONANCE
Several lines appeared beneath it.
Subject A-001: Primary Subject R: Secondary
Then one final line. Subject E-00: Undefined
The room suddenly fell silent. Sota stared at the screen.
"Undefined?" Rina nodded.
"It means they didn't know what it was." Akira stared at the words.
"Or they deliberately left it unrecorded." Rina opened another file.
"There's more." A table appeared.
A-001
R
E-00
Three columns. But the E-00 column was almost entirely blank.
There was only one note.
DO NOT ESTABLISH RESONANCE.
Akira read it slowly. "Don't establish resonance."
Reina repeated it. "Why?"
There was no answer. Rina shook her head.
"The data is corrupted." Akira stared at the screen.
"Who made this note?" Rina enlarged the metadata.
"Researcher ID." A code appeared.
S.A. Seiji Amamiya.
Night deepened.
Sota and Rina left the room.
Akira was still there. So was Reina.
There was no clear reason they hadn't gone home yet. Maybe they were both afraid to face the night.
Akira stood in front of the window. Reina sat in a chair.
"Akira." "Yeah?"
"If E-00 really exists..." Akira looked at their reflections in the glass. "We'll find them."
"What if they're still alive?" Akira fell silent.
The question made sense. Genesis had been destroyed.
But if part of the experiment had survived— maybe it wasn't only Akira and Reina's memories that had been buried.
Maybe there was another victim. "I don't know," he answered.
Reina lowered her head. "I'm scared."
Akira turned toward her. Reina rarely said that.
"I'm not afraid of Genesis." She toyed with the end of her sleeve.
"I'm afraid that part of me still belongs to them."
Akira moved closer. "Reina."
He stopped in front of her. "What they did to us wasn't our choice."
Reina raised her face. "And what we do now?"
Akira answered without hesitation. "That's our choice."
Reina looked at him. A few seconds later, she gave him a faint smile.
"Thank you." Akira nodded.
11:16 p.m.
Rina returned to the digital forensics room. She was alone.
Or so she thought. The main computer was still on.
She reopened the Genesis data. Something was bothering her.
Not the E-00 code. But one number.
The number of subjects.
In the official archive: 2
A-001. R.
But on the old server:
3 A-001. R. E-00.
Rina frowned. "Why was one subject deleted?"
She opened the logs. The last access had occurred
fourteen years ago.
Then a file opened automatically. There was no command.
No click. It simply appeared.
E-00_STATUS
Rina froze. Its status was only one word.
ACTIVE.
The room lights flickered. Rina stared at the screen.
"Who..." The computer chimed.
An incoming connection.
Not from the police network. Not from the hospital network.
The address was unknown.
Rina was about to terminate the connection. But a message appeared.
{You found that code too quickly.]
Rina typed: [Who are you?]
The reply came almost instantly. [That's not the right question.]
Rina stared at the screen. [Then what is the question?]
A few seconds later: [Who made you remember each other?]
Rina froze. A file was sent.
She opened it. An old photograph appeared.
Young Akira. Young Reina.
But there was another child standing behind them. The face had been deliberately crossed out.
Rina enlarged the image. On the back of the photograph was handwritten:
THREE WERE CHOSEN.
Rina swallowed. "Oh, my God..."
The next morning.
Akira received a call from Rina.
<Come now.> <What's wrong?>
<I found something.> <How bad is it?>
Rina was silent for a moment. <Very.>
Akira immediately stood up. When he arrived, Rina was already waiting with Sota.
Reina arrived a few minutes later. Rina displayed the photograph they had found.
Akira stared at the screen. Three children.
He and Reina were in front. One child stood behind them.
The face wasn't visible. But the uniform was different.
There was no A code. No R.
Only the Eclipse symbol.
Akira felt a stabbing pain in his head. He closed his eyes.
The voice came again. This time, it was clearer. A young boy.
"Akira..." He opened his eyes.
"I know him." Reina looked at him.
"Who?" Akira shook his head.
"I don't know." But his body told him otherwise.
His heart began pounding faster. His hands trembled.
A small voice surfaced in his memory.
Not Reina's voice. Not Takumi's voice. Not Seiji's voice.
Another child's voice.
"If they separate us..." Akira held his breath. "don't trust anyone."
Then the voice vanished. Akira opened his eyes.
Rina looked at him. "Do you remember something?"
Akira looked at the photograph. "A little."
"What?" He swallowed.
"He used to be between us." Reina moved closer.
"Who?" Akira looked at the child whose face had been crossed out.
"He's not a stranger."
The room fell silent. Akira rubbed his temple.
"He was our friend." At that same moment, far from the police station, a dark room was lit by a single monitor.
Someone sat in front of it. On the screen was footage of Akira and Reina in the office.
Footage from the hidden camera in Mizuno's house. Someone stopped the image precisely when Akira said:
"He was our friend." The figure gave a faint smile.
"Your memory is starting to return." Its hand moved across the keyboard.
A folder opened. GENESIS — SURVIVORS
Inside were only three names. A-001 — AKIRA KISARAGI — ACTIVE R — REINA AMEMIYA — ACTIVE
The third name was displayed as E-00 — [REDACTED] — ACTIVE
The figure closed the folder. Then whispered,
"In that case..." It looked at the screen. "...the game can begin again."