The passage was narrow, the air thick with the smell of stale earth and damp metal. It was a tight squeeze, forcing them to move in a single file, their backpacks scraping against the rough-hewn walls. After a few tense minutes of careful navigation, the space opened up into a small, forgotten laboratory. Dust motes danced in the single beam of Jin's flashlight, illuminating the frozen-in-time chaos of overturned workbenches and shattered glass beakers.
At the center of it all, Clara was uncharacteristically quiet. The journal lay in her lap, but she wasn't looking at it. Her gaze was fixed on her own hands, resting in her lap, as if they belonged to a stranger.
"You know," Rosa said, her voice uncharacteristically gentle, her pink hair catching the light as she shifted, her cryo-suit's torn shoulder revealing more porcelain skin. "Those girls… they're counting on us. Makes you wonder who we were before all this, doesn't it?" Her fingers brushed Jin's arm. "What made us… chosen?"
Jin's gaze fell on Clara's bowed head. He saw the uncertainty in her posture, the way her shoulders slumped under a new, heavier burden. He thought of his own empty hands, of the void where his past should be.
"Yeah," he said softly, his voice steady despite the hollowness he felt. "We're all here for a reason. I… I don't remember anything about my past. Not my parents, not my name, not what I did. Just… a blank space." He looked at his scarred hands. "Sometimes I think I feel something... but it's gone before I can grab it."
Clara glanced up at him, her surprise softening into a shared, weary sympathy. "Y-you really don't remember... anything?"
'Your neural imprint suffered partial corruption during your resurrection," Asha's voice explained calmly in his mind.
Jin just shook his head. "It's empty."
Rosa chuckled, the sound easing the tension. "You're like a puppy that wandered into a science experiment." She leaned against a workbench, her expression growing thoughtfully. "My father always said I was chosen for my diplomatic skills. President Alistair Thorne of the North American Federation—always making deals, always negotiating. He taught me how to read people, how to find their weaknesses and strengths." She sighed, running a hand through her pink hair. "I remember the last conversation we had. He said, 'Rosalie, the world is ending, but humanity doesn't have to. You'll be the one to bring people back together.'" She looked at Jin, her usual playful demeanor replaced by something more vulnerable. "I never thought I'd actually have to do it."
Clara finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "But what if... what if we're not who they thought we were?" She looked down at her hands again. "My father... he believed in a hope that wasn't real. What if the skills they chose us for... what if they're not enough? What if we can't live up to... They're expectations?" Her voice cracked on the last word.
Jin saw the crushing weight of responsibility on both their shoulders. He stepped closer and placed a hand gently on Clara's arm. His touch was light. "Then we'll carry it together," he said, his voice quiet but firm, filled with a sincerity that cut through the gloom. "We'll figure this out together. You won't be alone in this, Clara. Any of us."
Sera, who had been leaning against a bulkhead with her arms crossed, finally spoke. Her voice wasn't cold this time; it was heavy with memory, but her gaze was fixed solely on Jin.
"My parents were lead researchers on Project Phoenix," she began, her voice distant. "But that's not what's important here. The day the world ended. There was a boy...."
Jin watched her, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He noticed the way her arms tightened around herself, a shield against a painful past.
"When the chaos started, when the things... the Crawlers... came, he was the only one who didn't panic," Sera continued, her voice dropping. "He saved us. He fought them off with a pipe, giving us a chance to escape. He led me to the roof, told me to signal for help." Her breath hitched. "He held off a whole pack of them so I could light the flare. I watched them... I watched them take him down."
She finally looked up, her amber eyes locking with Jin's, filled with an intensity that made the air crackle. "And it's you, Jin."
Jin stood there, stunned into silence. He didn't try to logic his way out of it or dismiss her story. He just listened, his heart aching for the pain in her voice.
"I don't... I don't remember that," he said, his voice quiet and sincere. He took a small step closer, his posture open and non-threatening. "But I believe you."
His simple, direct acceptance seemed to break something in Sera. Her composure, usually an impenetrable wall of ice, now cracked, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek. "You saved me."
As if on cue, Jin's HUD flickered to life, synthesizing the emotional weight of the moment with cold, hard data.
---
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION – DATA CORE SYNCHRONIZED]
[Lore Entry Unlocked: The Phoenix Mandate]
Event: The Sunflare Scorch (2057)
Result: 90.4% population loss, global collapse, mutation of infected humans.
Response Initiative: Project Phoenix
Objective: Secure elite genetic and cognitive assets in cryogenic containment.
Parameters: Subjects chosen for high adaptability, psychological resilience, and interdependent skill profiles.
Confirmed Assets:
• Seraphina Valerius: Child of lead researchers. Tactical & strategic acumen.
• Clara Vance: Daughter of the chief diplomat. Engineering & systems expertise.
• Rosalie Thorne: Daughter of Federation President. Diplomatic & social influence.
• [11 Others: Data locked. Requires Command Center access.]
• Subject Jin [PHOENIX PRIME]: Unique genetic marker. System integrator. [Memory expunged by design.]
---
The glowing panel faded, but the information settled in Jin's mind. It wasn't just a list of names; it was a team, assembled with a purpose.
"Asha mentioned the main control room should have detailed files on the other eleven girls," Jin said, his voice clear and decisive, pulling them back to the present. "Their backgrounds, their specializations, why they were chosen. That's our next stop."
As he spoke, his HUD updated with the critical parameters of their next objective, and this time, the implications were staggering.
---
[QUEST UPDATED – PROJECT PHOENIX: AWAKENING PROTOCOL]
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
Access the Vault Command Center Archives.
Unlock individual profiles and cryo-status logs of the remaining [11] subjects.
CRITICAL CONSTRAINT:
Awakening Limit: [2 Subjects / 7 Days]
The cryo-cooling matrix requires 168 hours to safely recalibrate between activations.
Overload Penalty: Forcing additional awakenings results in subject death.
•Exception:• Sera, Clara, and Rosa were reanimated by Jin's initial power surge. No further exceptions are predicted.
POTENTIAL REWARDS (Per Successful Awakening):
• [Team Passive Boost] – Based on subject's specialization.
• [Skill Fusion Chance] – Evolve personal skills through affinity.
• [Group Synergy Buffs] – Increased Morale, Coordination, Efficiency.
• [Affinity Path Unlocked] – Personal storylines & progression.
PROGRESSION:
• Subjects Active: [3/14]
• Remaining in Cryo-Stasis: [11]
• Status: [SAFE]
---
The text hung in the air for a moment before the reactions hit. Jin conveyed the message.
"T-Two... a week?" Clara whispered, her face paling. The engineer in her immediately did the math, but it was the human cost that made her voice tremble. "That's almost two months to save them all! But... what if something goes wrong in that time? What if we're too late for one of them? We can't just... leave them waiting, not knowing if they'll ever wake up." Her fear was no longer about her own inadequacy, but for the lives of the sleeping girls.
Sera's expression hardened, her tactical mind kicking in despite the emotional turmoil. "It's a triage scenario," she stated, her voice cold and logical. "We can't just wake them randomly. We have to prioritize based on skills. Who do we wake first? A medic? An engineer? Another soldier? Waking the wrong person at the wrong time could get us all killed."
The room fell silent, the weight of their impossible choice pressing down on them. They had a purpose, but it came with a devastating moral and logistical price.
Jin listened to them all, his expression serious. He let their fears and frustrations hang in the air, acknowledging them without dismissing them. He looked at Clara's fear, Rosa's anger, Sera's logic. He felt the weight of Sera's story, the hope in Clara's, the burden in Rosa's.
"Okay," he said, his voice calm but firm, cutting through the rising panic. "This changes things. It makes our next step even more important." He looked at each of them, his gaze unwavering.
He paused, making sure they were with him. "First, we get information. We go to that control room. We find out who they are, what skills they have, what they were chosen for. Then, and only then, do we make the *right* choice."
His simple, clear directive cut through the complexity. It wasn't a solution, but it was a path forward. It was a promise that no one would carry this burden alone.
Clara let out a shaky breath, nodding. "Okay. Information first."
Sera's shoulders relaxed a fraction. "Logical."
Rosa managed a small, grim smile. "Together, huh? Fine by me, hero."
The shared weight of their pasts and the daunting task ahead had forged something unbreakable between them. They were no longer just survivors; they were a team with a mission, and a leader they could trust.
"Let's go," Jin said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "The control room is waiting."
Together, they turned from the lab of ghosts and stepped forward into the unknown, united by a purpose that was finally, terrifyingly, clear.