Location; Silverbridge Estate – Inner Courtyard
Moonlight spilled over the courtyard, casting pale silver lines across the stone tiles. Caelum stood shirtless beneath the night sky, his breaths shallow, each exhale fogging in the cold air. Across from him, Juno circled slowly—arms loose, muscles tense.
"Again," Juno barked.
Caelum lunged.
The two collided in a blur of motion—fists, knees, swift takedowns. But Caelum faltered. For a split second, he paused, clutching his temple. A whisper had slithered through his mind.
"Break her spine. You're faster. Stronger. Do it."
"Focus, Caelum!" Juno snapped, sweeping his legs. He hit the ground hard, breath whooshing from his lungs.
Nora ran to his side. "That's enough for today."
Caelum winced, wiping blood from his lip. "I can't afford rest."
"You can't afford possession either," she countered. "If you're exhausted, you're vulnerable."
Juno looked down at him, nodding approvingly. "You've improved. But your fight isn't physical. It's internal. Your real opponent… is in your mind."
Caelum's jaw clenched. "Then I need to be stronger than my own reflection."
---
Location: Tavara Capital – Inner Sanctum of the High Seer
Subject 01B stood facing a monolithic obsidian altar. A ceremonial blade glistened in his hand, humming with bio-coded frequencies. The High Seer watched from the shadows, her face calm, unreadable.
"Your brother resists," she said.
"He will break," Subject 01B responded coldly. "The merge will be completed. One vessel. One will."
"And what of the girl?" she asked. "The doctor. Nora."
Subject 01B turned slightly. "She will die."
"No," the High Seer replied sharply. "She must be captured alive. Her blood is a key. She was engineered to balance you both. Her elimination would risk instability."
He nodded once. "Understood."
She stepped closer, placing a crystal chip on his wrist. "This will link your neural sync with Caelum's the moment you enter proximity. Prepare. You leave for Silverbridge tomorrow."
The twin's pale eyes glowed faintly. "I was born ready."
---
Location: Silverbridge Estate – Nora's Private Study
Nora sifted through her father's old journals—scratched pages, formulas, and encrypted notes. Her mother's voice played through a secure audio log.
"He knew what would happen, Nora. That one twin would become too powerful. So he created a failsafe. A pulse anchor buried beneath Silverbridge, capable of destabilizing shared neural frequencies."
Nora tapped into the estate's mainframe, navigating layers of forgotten schematics. Then she found it—Project Anchorheart. A small room buried beneath the manor, long sealed.
She ran her fingers over the screen. "You brilliant bastard."
Moments later, Damien entered.
"You found something?"
She turned. "My father hid a failsafe. If the merge begins, we can isolate Caelum's consciousness using a pulse anchor. It might prevent complete possession."
Damien crossed his arms. "Might?"
"It's untested. But it's our best shot."
He stepped closer, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Then we'll test it together."
She looked up, heart pounding. "If this goes wrong… Caelum could die."
Damien's voice dropped to a near whisper. "And if we do nothing, he'll be gone anyway."
---
Location: Silverbridge Estate – Guest Wing, Midnight
Charles worked late, wires spread across the table. The twins' biometric patterns glowed on his screen—red for 01B, blue for Caelum. The overlap was growing.
He tapped his earpiece. "Nora. We've got less than twenty-four hours. Subject 01B is en route."
"How do you know?"
"Because the blue trace just spiked. He's here… in Tavara."
---
Location: Silverbridge Estate – Caelum's Quarters
Caelum sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His hands trembled.
Then the whisper came again.
"He's coming. You feel it, don't you? The pull. The flame. He is you… perfected."
Caelum closed his eyes.
But when he opened them again—he wasn't alone.
Standing beside him, within the mirror, was Subject 01B. His twin.
No expression. No emotion. Just purpose.
Caelum stood, rage bubbling in his chest.
"You don't belong here."
The mirror rippled.
Subject 01B spoke, lips unmoving. "I am here. I always have been. You were the shadow. I am the flame."
Caelum raised his hand—and the mirror cracked.
The vision vanished.
He turned as Nora entered.
"He's here," he said darkly. "I saw him."
She nodded. "Then it's time to descend to Anchorheart. We have one shot to prepare your mind."
He walked past her, stopping only once. "If I lose myself…"
"You won't," she said firmly, taking his hand. "Because I'll be there… every step of the way."