Location: Secret Safehouse, Zenith Mountains
Time: 3:41 AM
Shabd paced.
Vashti lay unconscious on the bed, her body still twitching. The neural chip Arya installed sparked once, then went completely dark.
"She's seizing," Arya said. "It's Phase 2. Her brain is trying to access erased memory fragments—but the pathways aren't stable."
"She's dying, Arya."
Arya's voice cracked, "No. She's fighting. From the inside."
Shabd knelt beside Vashti, gripping her hand. "Vashti… come back to me."
---
INSIDE VASHTI'S MIND
It looked like a hallway.
Endless. Dark. Flickering lights. Her boots echoed on the metal floor.
Doors lined the corridor—each marked with numbers, files, or drawings in crayon.
One door read:
"Subject V: Termination Rejected."
She pushed it open.
Inside: a training room.
And there… a girl.
Six years old. Wearing a bloodstained white dress. Eyes hollow. Knees bruised.
"Who are you?" Vashti whispered.
The girl turned slowly.
"I'm who you were before he made you forget."
Vashti dropped to her knees.
"No… I didn't want this. I just wanted to become a neurosurgeon… save people… not be part of some weapon."
The girl stepped forward, touching her cheek.
"You wanted to save everyone… even when no one saved you."
Behind the girl—another figure appeared. Shadowy.
The Mirage Agent who whispered "Welcome back" in the market.
He laughed. "You really think you're the hero in this story?"
"I'll become one," Vashti hissed. "Even if I have to kill the past to do it."
She turned to the child version of herself.
Held her hand.
"Let's go. We're done being afraid."
The doors burst open. Light flooded in.
---
BACK TO REALITY
Her eyes snapped open.
Shabd jerked back in shock. Arya dropped the tools. "You're awake?!"
Vashti sat up slowly, breathing heavily.
"I saw her… the little me."
Shabd looked into her eyes—something had changed.
"What did she say?"
Vashti's jaw clenched. "That I always wanted to save everyone. Even the people who tried to break me."
Arya whispered, "And what are you going to do now?"
Vashti stood.
"Tear Mirage down from the inside out."
---