Before I learned to run... I had to learn how to scream.

The sound of a heartbeat. Faint. Distant. This is followed by static—like a broken signal trying to speak. Then, silence.

A flash.

Two chambers. Side by side.

In one: a girl, no older than six, suspended in a glowing tank of blue liquid. Wires snake into her spine. Her mouth is open in a silent scream. Her eyes twitch but stay closed.

In the second: a boy, barely older, sits still in a similar chamber. His eye twitches faintly. A red hue pulses around him.

SUBJECT 0A — AIKO.

SUBJECT 0K — KAEL.

PROJECT EMOTRIX.

The chambers glow violently as monitor spikes.

"Both specimens showing aura instability. Separate them!"

But it’s too late.

A surge of conflicting aura waves erupts. The glass explodes. White light consumes the scene.

---

Neo-Tokyo. Seventeen years later.

Kael Renjiro walks alone through the decaying edges of the city. Rain lashes down. He pulls his hood lower, his red-tinted left eye faintly glowing under the shadow.

He pauses in front of a vendor tucked beneath a ruined overpass.

"Memory decoder. I need this cleaned."

He slides a corrupted chip across the table. The vendor raises a brow.

"Government-level encryption. Are you trying to die early, stranger?"

Kael doesn’t answer. He just stares. The vendor gets to work.

On-screen: glitching, fragmented footage of two children. One girl. One boy. Both restrained. Both glow. The screen crackles, and Kael leans closer.

Then—

"Error: footage incomplete. Recovery at 62%."

Kael pockets the drive. Says nothing. He walks off.

---

Back alleys. Lower district.

Aiko stumbles into the alleyway, soaked and trembling. Her locket pulses. Her shoulder bleeds. She doesn’t remember where she came from—only pain. Her thoughts are a fog of broken images and loud screams.

She collapses against a trash bin, gasping. Neon light flickers overhead. A silhouette appears. Boots crunch through puddles.

Kael.

He kneels beside her. Studies her. Her aura glows weak blue—unstable but familiar.

"You’re hurt," he says quietly.

Aiko barely opens her eyes. "Who... are you?"

He pauses.

"No one. Yet."

She tries to speak again but passes out.

Kael gently lifts her up. The pendant around her neck buzzes faintly—he notices the initials etched into the back: A.T.

His own cracked locket, hidden beneath his coat, hums in response.

He walks deeper into the shadows, carrying her.

---

In a workshop far beneath the surface, Kael lays her on a cot. Old tech flickers in the background.

Hajime, the cybernetic scavenger, steps in from the next room.

"That another broken one?"

Kael nods. "She was alone. Injured."

Hajime squints. "You don't usually pick up strays."

Kael doesn’t respond. He watches her breathe. Watches the locket pulse.

---

Later.

Aiko wakes up, bandaged and disoriented. The workshop hums around her.

She grips the sheets.

"Where am I?"

Kael is nearby, working silently on a display.

"Safe," he replies without turning.

She stares. "Do I... know you?"

He turns, finally meeting her gaze.

"No. But maybe I knew who you used to be."

She looks down. Her locket buzzes. A flash—her in a chamber. But it fades too fast.

Kael watches her carefully but hides his expression. Deep in his coat, the old footage continues to decode.

The audio crackles faintly through his earpiece.

> "Subject 0A and 0K are reacting to each other. Possible emotional sync. Terminate if unstable."

Kael shuts the file. His hand trembles just slightly.

---

That night.

Aiko sits at the edge of the bunk, watching the rain beyond the broken glass.

Kael stands silently across the room. Watching the city. Watching her reflection.

He says nothing. But in his chest, the memory plays again.

Two children in two chambers.

Both glow. Both screaming.

Both forgotten.

---

FADE TO BLACK.

**AIKO (V.O.):**

"The world thinks I’m dangerous. They’re right. But I’m not the only one."