CHAPTER 19: PROLOGUE

The hallway outside Room 406 was too quiet for midnight. The kind of quiet that meant something was wrong.

Tengen leaned against the glass.

Inside, his sister lay still.

Too pale. Too thin.

Only the soft beep of machines and the dim flicker of a blinking light by her temple proved she was still alive.

She used to laugh.

Now... she didn’t even blink.

They called it Anchor Recoil Syndrome.

Said it happened when someone got too close to a Bloom Zone.

Said it shattered the brain’s ability to regulate emotion.

Tengen didn’t care what they said, he didn’t understand it.

All he knew was, she hadn’t woken up.

Not in months.

There were treatments.

Experimental. Unavailable. Expensive.

But a company named Spire offered to pay.

All they wanted... was him.

His phone buzzed again.

He already knew what was coming.

"Phase 2 begins.

Make contact.

Keep the boy distracted."

He didn’t reply. Just stared at the hospital bed a moment longer.

"Plant the trackers," a woman named Velza had told him.

"One on the boy. One on the girl."

"Be careful around them do not alert them, they can be dangerous especially the girl, but she’s also... different."

Velza never used names.

Just codes. Just labels.

"Subject W," they called her.

"She’s dangerous," she said.

"But she’s special."

"There’ll be someone else joining you and will be with her soon.

When it happens, you’ll know."

They never explained what that meant.

They never told him what would happen if he failed.

They just gave him one picture.

A girl with black hair. Thin frame. Holding Kentaro’s hand.

"Your job is simple," Reiden had said.

"Keep him busy. Keep her close.

Let the device do its work."

Tengen didn’t know what device they meant.

They hadn’t shown him anything.

Just told him not to interfere.

Told him not to get involved.

Told him it was for the good of everyone.

But none of this felt good.

This wasn’t research.

This wasn’t protection.

This wasn’t saving anyone.

This was a setup.

And he was the one being used.

Tengen exhaled slowly.

He remembered Kentaro’s awkward grin.

Tenka’s protective stare.

The way they all made him feel like... he didn’t have to pretend.

"Just observe and distract." Velza had said.

"And remember, your sister’s life depends on it."

He looked back one last time.

Her fingers twitched.

Tengen pulled his hood up.

Checked the time.

And walked.

"Tracker deployment prepared.

Subject unaware.

Distraction will begin on arrival."

-Tengen, Message Sent: 12:02 AM

The next morning, he boarded a plane.

He didn’t smile.

Because once he stepped off...

The experiment would begin.