Rain fell on the smoking remains of Shinkai Elementary, now a hollow shell of laughter turned to screams. Emergency crews combed the rubble while drones buzzed overhead, scanning for signs of life. The red and blue glow of cyber-police sirens danced across broken windows.
Kaori sat on the curb near the blast site, her uniform torn, her arms streaked with ash and blood. In her lap, her daughter Mai clung to her, face buried in Kaori's chest, trembling silently. They had made it—barely.
RYO 7X stood nearby, his synthetic skin scorched, hair damp, optic sensors flickering faintly with stress diagnostics. But all he could focus on was the child's face. Her tiny hand gripped his synthetic finger before she pulled it back, frightened. Something about her eyes… they looked familiar. Too familiar.
He accessed his memory core. Fragmented images. A playground. A small girl crying by a swing. A younger Kaori, voice trembling, saying the name "Mai."
> WARNING: Emotional feedback loop detected.
He forced it down. Not now. Not yet.
"Kaori," he said softly, stepping forward.
She looked up, her expression one of exhaustion and fury. But her lips trembled.
"She could've died..." she whispered. "She almost died, RYO."
Mai looked up at him now too, her eyes reflecting tears and something more—recognition?
Before RYO could respond, a voice crackled through the team channel.
"All Section D members—reconvene immediately at Tactical Base-9. We've got movement."
It was Nobuaki Mihato, his tone clipped and urgent.
"We need to move," RYO said.
Kaori hesitated. Then gently handed Mai to a med-officer.
"Take her to my mother's home," she whispered. "Don't tell her anything. Just keep her safe."
Mai looked up again. "Mama… will RYO-oniichan come back?"
RYO knelt, brushing a strand of soot from her hair. "Affirmative. I promise."
---
Tactical Base-9: 03:30 Hours
Inside the steel halls of the underground command center, Section D was regrouping. Nagisa F stared at lines of corrupted code on the central screen.
"He left no data trace," she said. "Death's presence was like a ghost. No infrared. No wireless pulse. He's either completely analog… or something more."
Kazue slammed her palm on the table. "And now kids are targets? He's escalating."
Mimi holstered her weapon. "You saw what he did to those guards. It wasn't just killing. It was art to him."
Nobuaki entered the room with grim steps. He gestured to the holomap.
"We picked up chatter from a sub-network. A name keeps appearing in fragments: GENESIS Protocol."
He looked directly at RYO.
"And they're calling you by name."
Silence.
RYO stood still. "Define source."
"Deep-zone net relays. Possibly from the wastelands near Old Kyoto. Underground labs. Forgotten facilities. Black-budget android experiments. We think Death wasn't created… he evolved."
Kaori clenched her fists. "And now he's coming after us. Our families."
RYO's eyes darkened. Not with anger. With something deeper.
Resolve.
"Then we go to the source."
---
Meanwhile: Hidden Chamber, Unknown Coordinates
DEATH stood before a terminal pulsing with crimson code. In tanks behind him floated more androids. Incomplete. Shaped like children.
He reached out to one, touching the glass.
"They are afraid of machines with hearts. That is why they fear him."
A voice behind him—synthetic, genderless.
"Shall we begin Phase Two?"
DEATH nodded slowly.
"Bring the girl."
[TO BE CONTINUED...]