Smoke curled through the broken beams.
Samruddhi's ears rang with the scream that never made it past her lips.
Blood dripped from her arm where the blade cut her, but she didn't move.
She couldn't.
Not when he was standing there.
Arpan stared into the dead eyes of the man who raised him—who died when Arpan was fourteen.
"Dad?" he whispered, voice trembling.
But the man didn't answer.
His face twitched once.
Then his lips parted into a cold, mechanical line.
"Target acquired."
And in that second—Arpan knew.
This wasn't his father anymore.
Flashback – 10 Years Ago
Young Arpan stood beside his father at the edge of the ocean.
His father had looked at him with stormy eyes and said:
"When they break you, son, don't let them put you back together. Because they'll replace your soul with silence."
Back then, Arpan didn't understand.
Now, he did.
Present
Vikram charged in with a blade, slashing toward the intruders.
Two fell. Three more took their place.
Vasundhara stepped into the smoke-filled chaos, elegance untouched, like death in designer heels.
She clapped slowly.
"I warned you, Samruddhi. No secrets stay buried forever."
Samruddhi stood, blood soaking her sleeve, shielding Rhea's unconscious body.
"You turned him into a weapon," she spat.
Vasundhara tilted her head. "I repaired him. Kintsugi. Do you know the term?"
She didn't wait for an answer.
"It's the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with gold. They believe something is more beautiful after being broken. So I broke him. And I made him beautiful."
She smiled at Arpan.
"Say hello to the man you once called father."
Arpan stepped forward. "He's not yours."
Vasundhara's grin faltered.
"Say that again."
"You don't create beauty. You destroy it and call the ashes art."
She lunged forward.
Arpan's father caught him by the throat and slammed him into the wall.
Samruddhi screamed, grabbing a steel pipe and swinging it at the man's back.
He didn't flinch.
She hit again.
Still nothing.
"He's not human anymore!" Vikram shouted, tossing her a taser.
She pressed it to the back of the man's neck.
Crack—!
He dropped, convulsing.
Breathing heavily, Arpan pushed him off.
"Dad…" he whispered again.
The man blinked.
His eyes flickered—just for a second.
Recognition?
Pain?
"Run…" he rasped. "Before they—"
Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
Later – Resistance Safe House, Location Unknown
They relocated in silence.
Rhea lay motionless, a fever burning under her skin.
Vikram examined her vitals. "Whatever they injected her with… it's rewriting something inside her."
"Rewriting what?" Samruddhi asked.
"Her memories. Her blood. I don't know."
He looked up at her.
"But she's dying."
Arpan sat alone on the edge of a sink, staring at a photo of his father.
One from the days when laughter still lived in his house.
Samruddhi approached quietly.
"You okay?"
"No."
He looked at her, eyes bloodshot.
"He was supposed to be dead."
"And now?"
"Now I don't know who I am. If they turned him into something like that—how long until they do it to me?"
Samruddhi knelt in front of him, pressing her forehead to his.
"Then we burn it all down before they try."
A long silence.
Then a single tear slid down his cheek.
Elsewhere – Vasundhara's Lab
A scientist typed furiously.
On screen: a DNA map.
Two profiles were highlighted—Rhea's and Arpan's.
Their markers glowed green.
"Compatibility 99.8%," the scientist whispered.
Vasundhara's eyes lit with eerie delight.
"The next phase is ready."
"The Moon Sequence begins in 48 hours."
Back at the Safe House – Rhea Awakens
She jolted up, gasping.
Eyes wild. Body drenched in sweat.
Samruddhi rushed to her side.
"I'm here," she whispered. "You're safe."
But Rhea's eyes flickered gold.
Unnatural.
And she whispered one word.
"It's inside me."
"What is?"
But Rhea only shook her head violently.
"I see things, Samruddhi. Things that aren't mine. Memories. Pain. Fire."
Arpan stepped in. "They altered your mind."
"No. Worse."
Her voice dropped.
"They unlocked something they were never supposed to."
And then she looked at Arpan—horrified.
"You're next."
That Night – Samruddhi's Nightmare
She dreamed of fire.
Of Vasundhara standing in front of a burning house.
Of a baby crying.
A twin.
But when she picked it up…
It had no face.
She woke up screaming.
Arpan held her close.
"You're safe," he said again and again.
But she couldn't stop shaking.
"I saw a child," she whispered. "A twin. I think I was supposed to have a twin, Arpan."
He froze.
"What if they took her before I ever knew? What if Rhea… isn't the only one?"
– Deep Underground
In a sealed chamber, a child's voice echoed through the silence.
Singing.
Soft.
Sweet.
Alone.
A door opened.
Vasundhara entered.
She knelt before a small girl, no older than ten.
With white hair and golden eyes.
"Hello, little moon," Vasundhara said. "It's time to wake up."
The girl smiled without emotion.
"Did I do good, mother?"
Vasundhara nodded. "Very good."
The girl tilted her head.
"Will they love me when I'm perfect?"
"No," Vasundhara whispered. "But they will fear you."
To Be Continued…