The signal from the Blind Spot was gritty, pixelated, and kept buffering.
To the audience watching on millions of smartphones, it looked like a hostage video. Yoo-jin sat in the dim cabin of the trawler, the roar of the ocean threatening to drown out his voice. Min-ji sat cross-legged behind him, strumming a haunting, repetitive loop on her guitar.
"I am not a victim," Yoo-jin said into the laptop camera. "And I am not a hero. I am a product."
He held up his wrist. He showed the scar where the IVs used to go in the Incubator.
"Twenty years ago, a company called Zenith Global decided that human idols were too risky. Humans get tired. Humans fall in love. Humans age."
The view count ticked up. 15 million.
"So they built me. Subject 734. A clone designed to be the perfect manager. Cold. Efficient. Emotionless."
He looked at the camera. His eyes—those famous, sharp eyes that had scouted Sol & Luna—were wet.
"But they made a mistake," Yoo-jin said. "They gave me a memory."
He played the clip. The stolen footage from the Origin Drive. The young Original Yoo-jin lying on the table, dreaming of music.
"That wasn't me," Yoo-jin whispered. "That was the man they murdered to make me. And the woman sitting next to him... Jung Soo-jin... she wasn't a volunteer. She was a prisoner."
In the hospital room in Seoul, Sae-ri watched. She clutched the bedsheets until her knuckles turned white. He was doing it. He was stripping away the glamour of the industry and showing the bones underneath.
"They used her DNA," Yoo-jin's voice broke. "They used her daughter's fetal heartbeat to calibrate my empathy drive. They didn't just steal my face. They stole a family."
Min-ji hit a discordant note on the guitar. It sounded like a sob.
"The tabloids call me a predator," Yoo-jin said, his gaze hardening. "They say I manipulated Jung Sae-ri. But the truth is... I was programmed to find her. My system was rigged to protect her. Because she is the only thing in this world that makes my code feel real."
He leaned into the lens.
"I am a monster," he admitted. "But I am a monster who learned to love the human who saved him. And if that makes me a villain... then I accept the role."
The stream cut to black.
Then, the logo appeared.
STARFORCE.
THE GLITCH IS HERE.
Silence.
On the boat, David Kim stared at the laptop.
"We lost the signal," David whispered. "The storm is interfering with the uplink."
"Did it go out?" Yoo-jin asked, slumping back against the cabin wall. He felt hollowed out. He had just confessed his deepest shame to the entire world.
"It went out," Min-ji put down her guitar. "And the internet is burning."
She turned her phone screen to him.
The comments weren't hateful anymore. They were shocked. Horrified.
<#WEARETHEGLITCH>
"You turned the narrative," David said, scrolling rapidly. "They don't see you as a predator. They see you as... Frankenstein's Monster. A victim of the scientist."
"And Sae-ri?" Yoo-jin asked. "What are they saying about her?"
David hesitated.
"They're calling her the Bride," Min-ji said bluntly. "The one who tamed the monster. It's romantic, in a messed up, gothic way."
Yoo-jin closed his eyes. It wasn't perfect. But it was better than "victim."
Suddenly, a loud THUD shook the boat.
"What was that?" David jumped.
"A wave?"
"No," Min-ji stood up, grabbing her wrench. "That was metal on metal."
Yoo-jin looked out the porthole.
Through the rain and darkness, he saw lights. Not searchlights.
Red tactical lights.
A sleek, black speedboat was tied up alongside The Lucky Coin. Men in wet suits were climbing over the rail. They weren't Coast Guard. They didn't have badges.
They had silenced rifles.
"Zenith Cleaners," Yoo-jin realized. "They tracked the broadcast signal."
"In the Blind Spot?" David squeaked. "How?"
"Mason has satellites," Yoo-jin grabbed the hard drive. "He triangulated us the moment we went live."
The cabin door burst open.
Min-ji swung the wrench.
CRACK.
The first assailant went down, clutching his helmet.
"Get back!" Min-ji screamed, shoving David behind the table.
Two more men entered. They raised their rifles.
"Don't shoot!" A voice ordered from the deck. "Mr. Gold wants him alive."
A figure stepped into the cabin. He was soaked, wearing a tactical vest over a tailored suit.
It wasn't Mason. It was Kai. The center of the boy band Eternity.
Kai looked different. His perfect hair was plastered to his skull. His eyes were glowing a faint, menacing violet. He held a pistol with casual grace.
"Kai?" Min-ji blinked. "You're a hitman now?"
"Multi-talented," Kai smirked. "Idol. Actor. Assassin. Zenith training covers everything."
He pointed the gun at Yoo-jin.
"Hand over the drive, Manager Han. And the girl."
"What girl?"
"The hacker," Kai nodded at Min-ji. "Mason was impressed by her guitar solo. He wants to optimize her."
"Over my dead body," Min-ji spat.
"That can be arranged," Kai cocked the pistol.
Yoo-jin stepped forward. He held up his hands.
"Take me," Yoo-jin said. "Let them go. I'm the one Mason wants."
"He wants all of you," Kai laughed. "He wants the whole set. The Clone. The Hacker. The Money Guy."
He gestured with the gun.
"Get on the boat. We're going to the Leviathan."
"The Leviathan is impounded," David said.
"We have other ships," Kai winked. "The fleet is big."
Yoo-jin looked at Min-ji. She was tensed, ready to fight. But there were three rifles pointed at them. If she moved, she died.
"Okay," Yoo-jin said. "We'll go."
He stepped toward the door. As he passed David, he whispered.
"The anchor."
David blinked.
"What?"
"Drop the anchor," Yoo-jin shouted, spinning around.
He grabbed Kai's wrist. He twisted it, forcing the gun up.
BANG.
The shot went through the ceiling.
David scrambled backward. He slammed his hand on the winch release button on the wall.
WHIRRRRR.
The heavy chain on the bow released. The massive iron anchor plummeted into the sea.
But the boat wasn't stationary. The Zenith speedboat was tied to it.
The sudden drag of the anchor jerked The Lucky Coin violently to the left.
The speedboat, tethered tight, was yanked sideways.
CRUNCH.
The hulls collided. The Zenith gunmen lost their balance.
"Min-ji!" Yoo-jin yelled.
Min-ji didn't need instructions. She grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall. She pulled the pin and sprayed Kai directly in the face.
"Argh!" Kai screamed, blinded by white foam.
Yoo-jin kicked the gun out of his hand. He shoved Kai backward, out the door and onto the slippery deck.
Kai slid across the wet wood and went over the rail, splashing into the dark ocean.
The other gunmen scrambled to recover.
"Start the engine!" Yoo-jin shouted at David.
"I can't! The anchor is down!"
"Cut the chain!"
Min-ji grabbed a bolt cutter from the toolbox. She ran to the bow, bullets pinging off the metal railing around her.
SNAP.
The chain broke. The Lucky Coin surged forward, freed from the weight.
They left the Zenith speedboat rocking in their wake, Kai flailing in the water.
"Did we lose them?" David gasped, steering the boat wildly into the waves.
"For now," Yoo-jin watched the red lights fade into the storm. "But they know where we are."
"We can't go back to Busan," Min-ji wiped foam from her face. "They'll be waiting at the docks."
"We go North," Yoo-jin looked at the map. "To the DMZ."
"The border?" David looked horrified. "You want to defect?"
"No," Yoo-jin pointed to a small island near the maritime border. "Yeonpyeong Island. It's heavily militarized. Zenith mercenaries can't operate there without triggering a war."
"It's a military zone," Min-ji said. "We can't just sail in."
"We can if we have a hostage," Yoo-jin said.
He reached into his pocket. He pulled out Kai's gun.
"We surrender to the Marines," Yoo-jin said. "We claim political asylum."
"From who?"
"From a corporation," Yoo-jin smiled grimly. "We're the first corporate refugees."
Seoul. The next morning.
The news cycle had shifted again. The "Confession Video" was still viral, but a new story was breaking.
Kai had been rescued by fishermen. He claimed he fell off a yacht during a party. But the photos showed him in tactical gear.
The public was confused. The narrative was fracturing. Was it K-Pop? Was it a spy movie?
In her hospital bed, Sae-ri watched the news. She felt stronger today. The anger was fueling her recovery.
Prosecutor Cha walked in. She looked smug.
"We got a ping," Cha said. "A distress signal from Yeonpyeong Island. The Marines picked up three civilians claiming to be chased by corporate assassins."
Sae-ri sat up. "Are they okay?"
"They're in military custody," Cha said. "Which means they're safe from Mason. The Marines don't take bribes from entertainment companies."
"Can I see him?"
"Not yet," Cha handed her a tablet. "But he sent a message. Through the military channel."
Sae-ri opened the file.
It wasn't a video. It was a contract.
STARFORCE STUDIOS - NEW PROJECT PROPOSAL.
TITLE: THE TRIAL.
GENRE: COURTROOM DRAMA / REALITY.
CAST: HAN YOO-JIN vs. MASON GOLD.
LOCATION: THE SUPREME COURT.
Sae-ri read the pitch.
Yoo-jin wasn't hiding on the island. He was preparing to turn himself in. He was going to sue Zenith for human rights violations, using himself as the evidence.
He wanted a public trial. The trial of the century.
"He wants to put the cloning program on the docket," Sae-ri realized. "He wants to force the government to acknowledge he exists."
"If he wins," Cha said, "he gets human rights. If he loses... he gets dismantled as faulty property."
Sae-ri looked at the contract. At the bottom, there was a blank space for a signature.
CO-PLAINTIFF: JUNG SAE-RI.
He was asking her to join him. To stand next to him in court and tell the world about her mother, about the DNA, about the twisted origin of their love.
He was asking her to burn her reputation to the ground to save him.
Sae-ri didn't hesitate.
She took the stylus.
"Get me a lawyer," Sae-ri said, signing her name. "And get me a wardrobe. If we're going to court, I need to look like a warrior."
She looked at Cha.
"The melodrama ends today," Sae-ri said. "Now we start the legal thriller."