The lab door exploded inward in the least chill way possible.
Out of the smoke stepped a humanoid figure.
Sleek black armor. LED eyes. The kind of presence that screamed "I'm a futuristic hitman, and yes, I delete people."
Anne stared.
"Oh cool," she muttered. "A sentient murder toaster."
Javier grabbed her hand and yanked her behind a console. "That's not just any toaster—that's the Director's AI Enforcer."
"Oh, great. I've always wanted to die fighting a discount Terminator while discovering my own suppressed identity."
The Enforcer's voice was monotone enough to make a parking meter sound expressive.
> "Subject Anne-Kira Seong-Park: Detected personality merge in violation of Memory Act 27B. Initiating permanent deletion."
Anne peeked from behind the console. "Okay but did anyone ask me if I wanted to be permanently deleted? Consent is a thing."
Javier worked furiously at the keyboard beside her. "I'm trying to overload the firewall. Buy me two minutes."
Anne nodded.
Then stood.
Like, stood up in full view of the Enforcer.
"Hi, yeah. Just wanted to say: your design? Derivative. Your vibe? Hostile. Your AI core? Probably built on stolen IKEA instructions."
> "Verbal resistance: ignored."
"Verbal roasting, honey. Let's be clear."
The Enforcer raised its arm.
Something charged.
Anne grabbed a memory drive off the nearby table and chucked it at its head. The drive exploded in a spray of pixelated sparks.
It flinched.
Anne grinned. "Guess what? Turns out I'm really good at throwing my trauma at people."
Behind her, Javier's console beeped.
"I've unlocked the final simulation room," he shouted. "But we only have—"
> WHAM.
The Enforcer's arm cannon blasted a hole through the wall where Javier's face had been a second ago.
He ducked. "We need to move."
Anne nodded and sprinted toward the newly unlocked hallway, yanking Javier after her as sparks rained around them.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To the truth," she said. "The big one."
"Define 'big.'"
"Like, end-of-everything big."
They passed flickering doorways labeled with phrases like:
MEMORY BLOCK: MOTHER 003
PERSONALITY PATCH: PARK, JAVIER
CORE RESET INITIATED (PENDING)
"Why is your name in a memory patch?" she yelled mid-run.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he gasped. "I helped Kira design the merge protocol. I was trying to find a way to bring her back."
Anne skidded to a halt. "Wait. YOU helped create me?"
He winced. "Technically? You helped create yourself. I just… gave you the stupid ant story to trigger the reboot."
Anne blinked.
"That was you? You planted that memory?"
He looked sheepish. "I needed something only she would know. You loved that dumb metaphor."
She stared at him.
"You romantic, manipulative, adorable idiot."
"I also made sure the Taylor Swift sarcasm module was intact."
She deadpan'd, "That explains so much."
A huge steel door loomed ahead.
Javier typed a code. It hissed open.
They stepped into a sterile white chamber. In the center: a memory cradle.
Inside it?
A woman.
Eyes closed. Hair dark and wavy. Hooked up to a thousand wires.
Anne gasped.
"Mom."
Javier looked stunned. "She's still alive?"
"No… not alive," Anne whispered. "Preserved. Like… waiting."
A console beside the cradle blinked.
> ACTIVATE FINAL REVEAL? Y/N
Anne stared at it.
Her hand hovered.
Javier said gently, "You don't have to. We can go."
She shook her head. "I need to know what she did. Why she left. Why Kira broke. Why I was born into a lie."
She pressed Y.
The lights dimmed.
A final message played.
Her mother's voice.
> "To my daughters. If you're hearing this… it means the world kept breaking long after I left."
> "Kira… Anne… you were never supposed to carry this burden alone."
The hologram flickered.
> "You're not two people. You never were. Just one girl who fractured to survive. But now it's time to choose."
> "Stay here… and be safe. Stay fragmented. Stay small. Or…"
> "Wake up. And remember."
The room began to rumble.
The cradle dissolved.
And so did Anne.
Colors surged through her mind. All the memories she had forgotten—running through the studio with paint on her cheeks. Watching her mother sketch blueprints. Kira's first failed experiment. The fight. The fire.
It all came back.
Anne gasped and collapsed.
Javier caught her.
"Anne?" he said softly.
She opened her eyes.
Clear.
Whole.
And for the first time—
She remembered everything.