They left the Guild an hour later.
Night had fully settled over Nova Helios, and the city had become even louder.
Nova Helios was divided into layers.The upper city belonged to corporations.The lower districts belonged to everyone else.
Transport rails roared overhead as trains shot between skyscrapers. Neon lights reflected across the wet streets like broken mirrors.
Marcus walked ahead of them, hands in his coat pockets.
"So," he said, "you're telling me a Remnant shows you a lab experiment and suddenly we're chasing ghost memories."
Adrian kept his eyes on the street.
"I didn't say we're chasing ghosts."
Marcus glanced back.
"That's exactly what this sounds like."
Kira stretched her arms behind her head as they crossed an elevated walkway.
"Where exactly are we going?"
Adrian nodded toward the lower districts.
"The Memory Market."
Marcus stopped walking.
"You're serious."
"If someone's selling experimental shards," Adrian said, "they won't be in the corporate stores."
Kira smirked.
"Yeah. Those are for rich idiots who want to relive their vacations."
Marcus sighed.
"The Memory Market is three districts away."
"Good," Adrian said.
Marcus studied him for a moment.
"You really think someone there knows something?"
Adrian looked down at the glowing streets below them.
Rows of memory booths lined the sidewalks.
Inside the glass chambers, people sat silently while extraction machines hummed.
"I don't know," he said.
"But if that memory came from somewhere…"
His eyes drifted toward the darker part of the city.
"…that place probably knows."
The Memory Market never slept.
Even in the middle of the night, the district was alive with neon lights, music, and quiet desperation.
Adrian stepped out of the transport line and pulled his jacket tighter against the rain.
The air smelled like ozone and cheap synthetic coffee.
Above the street, dozens of holographic advertisements flickered through the mist.
Relive Your Greatest MomentsCertified Memory Shards AvailableEmotional Experience Guaranteed
Adrian walked past them without looking up.
He had been here many times before.
But the place still made him uneasy.
Marcus walked beside him, hands in his coat pockets.
"You sure this is the place?" he asked.
Adrian nodded.
"If someone's selling experimental memories in Nova Helios, it's here."
Kira snorted.
"That's comforting."
The deeper they moved into the district, the stranger the shops became.
Glass displays filled with glowing Memory Shards lined the street.
Each one contained a fragment of someone's life.
A small sign hovered beside one display case.
FIRST LOVE — 12 MINUTESAuthentic Emotional Memory3,200 Credits
Kira leaned closer.
"People actually buy these?"
Marcus shrugged.
"Better than living their own lives, apparently."
A few meters further down the street, another shop window displayed something darker.
COMBAT EXPERIENCEMilitary Memory Package18,000 Credits
Adrian stopped walking.
Behind the glass was a shard glowing faint blue.
He stared at it.
Memories like these were dangerous.
Not just emotionally.
Echo users could sometimes trigger abilities from them.
Which meant the shard might have come from someone very powerful.
"Don't touch anything," Marcus said quietly.
Adrian nodded.
They continued walking.
The real market was deeper inside.
The official stores were just the surface.
Soon the streets narrowed.
The lights dimmed.
And the advertisements changed.
The holographic signs here didn't show smiling faces.
They showed encrypted codes and private auctions.
Kira glanced around.
"Yeah," she said. "This is definitely illegal."
A man sitting beside a stall watched them approach.
His cybernetic eye flickered faintly.
"Hunters," he said calmly.
Marcus stopped.
"Relax. We're not here for trouble."
The man smiled slightly.
"Everyone says that."
Adrian stepped forward.
"We're looking for a shard."
"Everyone says that too."
Marcus pulled a small device from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Credits.
The man's smile widened.
"Now we're speaking the same language."
Adrian leaned closer.
"We're looking for something unusual."
The man tapped his metal fingers on the table.
"You'll have to be more specific."
Adrian hesitated.
Then he said quietly:
"A memory from an experiment."
The man's smile vanished.
For a moment, he said nothing.
The sounds of the market seemed to fade around them.
Then the man spoke.
"You shouldn't ask about those."
Marcus crossed his arms.
"That wasn't a suggestion."
The man studied Adrian carefully.
"You're not corporate," he said.
"No."
"Not government either."
"No."
The man leaned forward.
"Then you definitely shouldn't ask."
Kira sighed.
"We're not leaving without answers."
The man's cybernetic eye flickered again.
Then he turned his gaze back to Adrian.
And something about his expression changed.
"Wait," he said slowly.
Adrian frowned.
"What?"
The man stood up from his chair.
He stepped closer.
Closer than necessary.
His mechanical eye scanned Adrian's face.
Then he whispered:
"…that's impossible."
Marcus stiffened.
"What are you talking about?"
The man ignored him.
He was staring directly at Adrian now.
"You look exactly like him."
Adrian felt the cold again.
"Like who?"
The man hesitated.
Then he glanced around the market.
Lowering his voice, he said:
"The boy from the experiment."
The words hung in the air.
Kira stepped forward.
"What experiment?"
The man shook his head quickly.
"I've said too much."
Marcus grabbed his arm.
"You don't get to stop now."
The man pulled free.
"You don't understand."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Then explain."
The man stared at him for a long moment.
Then he said quietly:
"There was a project."
Adrian's pulse quickened.
"A secret one."
"Run by who?" Marcus asked.
The man shook his head again.
"Doesn't matter."
"It matters to us."
The man leaned closer to Adrian.
"So listen carefully."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"They were trying to create something new."
Adrian felt the tension rising in his chest.
"Using memories," the man continued.
"Human memories."
Kira frowned.
"That doesn't sound new."
"No," the man said.
"This was different."
He paused.
Then he said the words slowly.
"They were trying to create a person who could control Echo itself."
Silence.
The market noise returned around them.
Adrian felt the world tilt slightly.
"Did it work?" Marcus asked.
The man looked directly at Adrian.
Then he gave a quiet, uneasy laugh.
"That's the problem."
He pointed at Adrian.
"…I think it did."