The air in the old cathedral was thick with dust and secrets.
Kairo moved ahead of Lia, flashlight sweeping across fractured stained glass. This place was off the grid, buried beneath the ruins of the old world. But the intel they'd intercepted from Caine's data drop had led here—coordinates tagged with one word: VALEN.
Lia knelt by a symbol etched into the stone floor. "This is Genesis code. Looks like… a family seal."
Kairo frowned. "I don't have a family."
"You had to come from somewhere."
Suddenly, a light flickered behind the altar. A hologram buzzed to life—a recording. Static gave way to the face of a man, stern, gaunt… and unmistakably familiar.
Lia's breath caught.
"Kairo… he looks like you."
The man spoke.
"Subject 07—Designation: KAIRO VALEN. Part of the original Genesis pairing initiative. You are not the byproduct of war… You are its blueprint."
Kairo backed away, heart pounding. "No—no, I was born in Sector 12. My parents were rebels, they—"
The voice cut in again. "Your memories were constructed. You were grown. Designed to be the stabilizer for Subject 01: Lia Wong."
The message ended.
Silence.
Lia stood frozen, the truth hitting her like a flood. "Kairo… they made you for me."
He stepped back, jaw tight. "So what am I? A lab-grown bodyguard? A failsafe?"
"No," she said, stepping toward him. "You're you. I don't care where you came from."
But Kairo's world had tilted. Everything he'd believed—his childhood, his losses, even his bond with her—felt like glass cracking underfoot.
"Why didn't Ada tell us?" he muttered.
"Because it would've changed everything," Lia whispered. "But it doesn't have to now."
Before Kairo could speak, an explosion rocked the cathedral. Shrapnel rained down. Outside, engines roared.
Lia pulled him close. "We'll figure this out. But first—we survive."