The small research bunker was lit by dim lights.
The doctor was trying to crack an old drive, his hoarse voice echoing through the room.
"I found them… old archives about the 'double-eye projects'. And… these are you."
Everyone focused their eyes on it. Noir stood in a corner, arms crossed.
The doctor walked over to the table and read each line from the handheld device.
"Noir – 'Product No. 17'. A perfect version, capable of battlefield analysis and combat control. The organization called you… the Living Blade. They feared you because you were too perfect."
Kaelith clenched her hands, lips trembling.
"Noir…"
The doctor switched to another page.
"Orion – 'Product No. 12'. Enhanced muscle strength, reflexes several times faster than normal, but psychologically unstable, frequently… rebellious. That's why they only saw you as a double-edged sword."
Orion let out a scoff, half self-mocking.
"Yeahh, figures. Branded 'defective' right from the egg."
The doctor tapped lightly on the last page, his gaze stopping on Specter.
"Specter – 'Product No. 14'. Exceptional intelligence, but during the final trial, your body deteriorated severely. They noted that you were… nonfunctional and needed to be eliminated early."
The room sank into silence. Specter looked away, saying nothing.
The doctor turned off the device and sighed.
"You're not monsters. You're just victims of a chain of inhumane experiments… I was part of what made you this way… I'm really sorry…"
Noir frowned slightly, a faint red glint flashing in her left eye.
Orion spoke up to console him.
"What's done is done. At least you know how to regret it. Those dogs don't."
Ari also walked over and gently patted the doctor's shoulder to calm him.
Specter took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, sitting there a bit dazed.
Noir quietly took in the little information about herself, but she still didn't mention the strange symbol from earlier, trying instead to dig up a few more fragments from the past.
Kaelith fidgeted, fingers tapping lightly on the table, her voice small but clear.
"Sir… what about me? Is there anything about me?"
The doctor tried checking again, his face tightening. After a while, he answered slowly.
"There's no name for you. Just a few notes… 'external subject', 'intelligence trial'. It seems you were never an official product, only someone whose natural abilities were used to support the technical team."
Kaelith let out a soft breath, both relieved and disappointed.
"So… that means I'm just a normal person?"
Orion smirked teasingly.
"Right, kid. What, you think everyone here's a beast?"
"Hey!" Kaelith blushed in protest, but her eyes still sparkled with joy.
Meanwhile, Specter stayed silent for a long time. His hand clenched as the doctor's words echoed in his head: "…needed to be eliminated early."
"So that's it…" He gave a bitter smile, his voice unsteady.
"It wasn't because I tried to run, or because I didn't train hard enough. They threw me away from the very start… I'm a failure."
Noir turned toward him, her gaze cold but her words firm.
"You're not a failure. If you were useless, I wouldn't have kept you here."
Orion crossed his arms, grinning crookedly.
"Yep, bro. If you were really trash, I'd have dumped your body days ago. Don't get dramatic. If you're alive, you're still useful."
Specter looked up, meeting Noir's eyes and Orion's energetic smile. In that moment, his self-pity faded, leaving only quiet gratitude.
That night, Noir and Kaelith went to search for the organization's relay station, far from their hideout, old and worn but still glowing faintly in the middle of the forest. They crept closer, dry leaves crunching underfoot, tightening the tension.
"Sister Noir… this place looks really creepy." Kaelith swallowed, glancing around.
"Don't worry. We finish it and leave." Noir lowered her voice.
As they reached the back door, two figures in the organization's uniforms stepped out of the darkness. The place was still guarded.
Kaelith went pale and stepped back. Noir immediately moved in front of her.
"Stay back, Kaelith."
One of them lunged with a dagger. Noir dodged and countered with a clean strike. The other rushed in right after, swinging an iron baton. Noir raised her arm to block—blood seeped from it.
"Noir!" runs over Kaelith panicked, her eyes trembling.
Noir gritted her teeth and struck decisively. Within a few breaths, both men fell, their bodies twisted like puppets with their strings cut. No one was left alive.
The air was thick with the smell of rusted iron and blood. Kaelith stepped closer, shaking as she touched Noir's hand.
"You're hurt…"
Noir wiped the blood away lightly, her expression unchanged.
"It's fine. Just a light wound." She looked at the steel door leading into the relay station, her cold eyes hard with resolve.
"Go in. Destroy it. If there's more data, even better."
Kaelith nodded, clenched her fists, and gathered her courage to follow.
When they reached the control console, a voice suddenly echoed from somewhere, hoarse yet disturbingly familiar.
"It's been a long time… since we last met, Noir."
Noir froze for a split second. Her heart skipped in an unfamiliar rhythm, but her mind was empty, filled only with vague fragments. She frowned, turning around, one hand shielding Kaelith behind her.
"Who?" Noir's voice was icy, without the slightest tremor.
The man chuckled softly.
"What a shame… you lost your memories. But I remember every detail, every day, every time we fought side by side. And yet… you left, abandoning me in that rotten organization."
Kealith tightened her grip on Noir's hand. Noir scanned the darkness, trying to locate him, but the shadows felt endless—harder to pin down than ever before.
The man's voice rang out again, tinged with mockery.
"Too afraid to face me?"
"That's enough. If you want something, step out here and face to face with me." Noir snapped.
The tension was so thick it felt ready to explode. But Noir quickly lowered her voice, whispering to Kaelith.
"Let's go. They're coming."
She turned away, pulling Kaelith out of the relay station, leaving the unseen figure watching from the darkness.
After returning to the base, nothing went wrong—but the mission had failed.
Late at night, the base fell silent. Specter, Orion, Kaelith, and the doctor and his wife were all asleep after a long day. Noir quietly stepped outside, careful not to wake anyone. She walked deep into the forest edge, where only the wind through the leaves and pale moonlight streaking across the ground remained.
In her mind, the strange symbol she had seen earlier with Orion surfaced again. She frowned, digging through her tangled memories, but found only emptiness.
"Do you still remember something?"
The male voice sounded again, gentle yet carrying a heavy depth. Noir spun around, drawing her gun. He stood there as if he had been waiting all along, pale eyes reflecting the moonlight. He wore a simple black suit, fairly tall, with a long scar across his cheek.
Noir lowered the gun slightly, her voice calm but sharp.
"You're the one from the station?"
He nodded faintly and stepped closer. No killing intent, no urgency. Just a presence that made the air feel dense.
"Yes. The one who went through life and death with you. The one who thought… you would always stay by my side."
Noir stayed silent. A strange feeling stirred in her chest.
He smiled lightly, like someone recounting an old story.
"The day you left, I nearly broke. Tortured, forced, turned into an empty shell… but I always believed one thing—that you… wouldn't disappear, that you'd come back to me."
Noir shivered slightly. Fragments of memory rushed in like a passing wind—fighting in narrow corridors, someone calling her name through smoke and fire, a hand pulling her away from an explosion trap… and a smile faded by time.
She exhaled, her voice trembling faintly despite her cold demeanor.
"Who are you…?"
He lowered his head, his eyes reflecting distant sorrow.
"Lysander. The only one who loved you with my whole life. And also the one who never wanted to hurt you."
The words fell like a slow blade slicing into her mind. Noir tightened her grip on the gun, a blue light flashing briefly in her right eye before fading.
He didn't step any closer, only continued softly, like a confession long overdue.
"Even if you forget everything, I'll remind you—until you remember."
Two figures stood in the forest, separated by a void that couldn't be filled.
Noir knew… something was coming back.