Anny's words echoed relentlessly in Leo's mind:
She is my aunt.
Leo's eyes widened, confusion twisting across his face.
Leo: "If she's your aunt… then how do you know all this?"
Anny: "From my mother… and from fragments we were never meant to find."
She exhaled slowly, as though bracing herself for the weight of what she was about to say.
Anny: "Her name was Sofia Caro. She was married to Brian Shadekai—your grandfather."
Leo froze.His heartbeat thundered in his chest.
Anny: "They married young. At twenty, Sofia divorced him. Brian… was just one month short of twenty."
Leo: "Why… why did they divorce?"
Anny's eyes darkened.
Anny: "No one knows. My mother… she never knew either."
She hesitated, then continued, her voice lowered with fear and reverence.
Anny: "Sofia died at twenty-one. Her death… it was ruled a mystery."
Leo's pulse raced, disbelief crashing over him.
Anny: "The bullet used… it was identified as KJ780."
Leo: "But… that doesn't make sense."
Anny: "Exactly. That weapon was designed by my mother years later.The technology didn't even exist back then."
She leaned closer, her voice barely above a whisper.
Anny: "Which means… her death was impossible."
Silence wrapped around them like cold fog.
Leo: "It's late… we should head back. It's already nine."
They stopped briefly at a café.Their drinks remained untouched, their thoughts racing in opposite directions.
Later, Leo dropped Anny at her house.The weight of unanswered questions pressed down on him.
That night, Leo locked his door and collapsed onto his bed.Questions swarmed his mind like insects trapped inside glass.
His phone vibrated.
Anny (text):That's all I know… I'm waiting for your answer.
Five days passed.
Leo didn't leave his house.He didn't reply.
Anxiety gnawed at Anny until finally—
Leo (text):Sorry. I didn't see your messages. Can we meet tomorrow? Same place. 7.
[NARRATOR]Is Leo broken?Why does he wait?And who was Sofia Caro—a traitor… or a truth buried too deep?
Anny waited.Leo arrived late, carrying two cups and a paper bag.
Leo: "Sorry I'm late. I brought your favourite—cappuccino with chocolate syrup, chocolate ice cream, thin chocolate sticks, vanilla cream on top… and a cherry."
Anny's eyes widened.
Anny: "You… you remembered my favourite?"
Leo: "Of course. But I didn't call you here for that."
She studied his face, sensing the seriousness in his gaze.
Anny: "You want to end the mystery?"
Leo: "No. I want answers."
He looked straight into her eyes.
Leo: "Who was Sofia really?Why did she do what she did?And how… how did she die?"
Anny shook her head slowly.
Anny: "I don't know."
After dropping her home, Leo didn't sleep.
He sat before his terminal and activated his AI.
Leo: "Search Sofia Caro."
AI: "No data available.The name 'Sofia Caro' is restricted.Mentioning or searching this name is classified as a crime.Cannot proceed."
Leo clenched his jaw.
AI: "However… you possess advanced personal technology.You may attempt offline archival access."
The old PC seemed to call out to him.
He rushed to the storage room and powered it on.The folder was locked.
He tried again.And again.Fifty times—nothing.
Frustration boiling over, he carried the entire setup to the lab he shared with Mira.Using a password breaker she had created years ago, he initiated a deep crack.
The lock broke.
A single password appeared:
IAMSORRYBRIAN
Leo whispered,"Sofia…"
Inside was a hidden folder titled SORRY.
He opened it.
Nothing readable—only raw code.
Ten yottabytes of archived data began processing through his private server.
At 2 a.m., the translation completed.
Decoded Message:
*BRIAN,I KNOW YOU WILL READ THIS.I HAVE ONE REQUEST.
THE PLACE WE MET EVERY DAY—RIO MOUNTAIN TOP, THE SEA-SIDE POINT, CLOSED IN 2025.
GO THERE.FIND THE GIANT WHEEL.THERE IS A GATE.
GO THROUGH IT.DESCEND THE STAIRS.
I WILL MEET YOU THERE.
BYE.*
Leo's hands trembled.
He called Mira.Then Anny.
Minutes later, the three of them stood together, staring at the screen.
Shocked.Silent.
[NARRATOR]Will they uncover the truth?What waits beneath the mountain?And is this mystery preparing Leo… for the storm that will arrive in one year?
The password burned into Leo's mind:
IAMSORRYBRIAN
At 3:30 a.m., they left.
Leo: "We're going. Now."
Mira: "It's three-thirty in the morning. Are you insane?"
Anny: "…Let's go."
They drove without stopping.NITITAS ÆON-X locked at 100 km/h, acceleration in 1.5 seconds.
Two hours.Two hundred kilometres.
The park was empty.
Leo ran ahead.
The place was clean—too clean.
Does someone still live here?
He knocked.
The door opened.
A robot stood before them.
Robot: "How may I assist you?"
Leo: "Sofia—"
The robot stiffened.
Robot: "Please… come in."
Inside was a vast private laboratory—advanced technology, human–AI interfaces, familiar designs.
Then… she appeared.
Leo: "You… you are—"
Girl: "Yes, brother. I'm Laura."
She smiled softly.
Laura: "You came searching for Sofia, didn't you?"
Another voice joined them.
Laura: "Sofia is here."
Confusion crashed over them.
Laura: "Before I explain… tell me—what do you think about Sofia?"
Leo: "A broken woman… but also a protector."
Mira & Anny: "A selfish, evil traitor."
Laura: "No. No. No.Only you tried to understand her."
Mira snapped,"Then explain this. She tried to kill the one she loved."
Leo: "But… she's dead."
Laura: "Her body—yes.But her consciousness is not."
Rina stepped forward.
Rina: "I am an AH—Artificial Human.Laura is an AHI—Artificial Human Intelligence."
Laura's eyes softened.
Laura: "Listen carefully."
She begins her story.
"I was a normal girl.School. Friends. Laughter.
I was thirteen, in Class Nine.My best friend and I stayed back every day, talking in the school park.
I had a crush on a boy.But he proposed to her instead.
I wasn't sad.She was like my sister."
Laura's voice softens.
"At fifteen, I changed schools.That's when the bullying started.
Brian protected me.And after one month… we fell in love."
She pauses.
"At nineteen, the tension of war began to rise.One year before it started, Brian brought me here."
Her eyes darken.
"He uploaded me…so that if I died, something of me would still live."
"My best friend lost her boyfriend in an attack.She couldn't bear it.
She lost her sanity.
The enemy took her.They erased parts of her memoryand turned her into a weapon."
Laura's fists clench.
"I turned twenty.My first mission—eliminate an evil robot.
Code name: Broken."
Her voice trembles.
"I found her.She wasn't dead.
When I saw her…the gun slipped from my hands."
"She told me the truth.
Both sides were being controlled.By a single entity.
Code name: Demon090."
Laura swallows.
"She told me where her diary was buried.Everything was written there."
"When the war finally began…I tried to warn Brian.
I said the words you heard—
'Goodbye, darling. It was fun watching you rats crawl.'
I was testing the communicator.It was already damaged."
Laura closes her eyes.
"A bullet came for him.I stepped in front of it.
Just like he always did for me."
She breathes in slowly.
"The second bullet shattered my spine."
"I lay there for hours.No one came.
When Demon090 arrived, he laughed.
'You were going to tell him, weren't you?'
Then he left me there…to die."
Her voice fades to a whisper.
"All I had left…were my memories."
Laura opens her eyes.
By the end, her voice trembled.
Laura: "Sofia is resting now.Laura is active."
Silence.
Then Laura smiled gently.
Laura: "So… shall we go to school together?"
[NARRATOR]Truth hurts more than lies.And storms never ask if you are ready.