Roko: "HP.H.S.?"
Scientist (nervously sweating): "It's— it's their HYPER project… where Project C-Bot…"
Kisimoto (stepping forward, voice sharp): "What the hell does it even stand for?!"
Scientist: "HyperProject… Hatare Sasukan."
Roko: "HyperProject—?!"
He froze mid-sentence, eyes widening like he just got hit with a brick of memories.
Roko (voice lower now, deadly serious): "Wait... Kisi? Isn't that the name I read out that day…? When they listed Otouchan?"
Silence. Serena looked up sharply, her eyes narrowing. The room felt like it dropped ten degrees.
Kisimoto (clenching his fists): "Yeah… you're right."
Roko (in disbelief): "So that wasn't just a damn random codename… That was him. Our Otouchan. He wasn't just involved—he was the project."
Scientist (whispers): "C-Bot was just… one part of it."
Serena: "…Then what else are they building?"
No one had an answer.
But everyone felt the same thing in their gut—
Whatever HP.H.S. truly was…
It had already begun.
________________
Serena stood with her arms crossed tightly, as if bracing herself against something cold. Her brows furrowed. "So Otouchan… wasn't taken. He volunteered?"
"No!" the scientist shouted almost instantly, then backed away as Kisimoto stepped forward with a glare that could ignite steel. "I mean—yes… and no! It wasn't like that! He didn't go in expecting… this."
Kisimoto's jaw flexed. "Explain. Everything."
The scientist fumbled for words, his eyes darting between them like a cornered rat. "Look—he was a genius. Everyone knew it. That's why the board made him lead the HyperProject. But things went sideways. Way sideways. They wanted... more than just a bot. They wanted legacy, weaponry, immortality, control. When he saw the end goal, he tried to back out."
"And?" Roko growled, arms folded.
"They locked him in. Figuratively at first. Then… literally." He gulped. "He disappeared. They said he went rogue. But rumor is, he became… Subject Zero."
Kisimoto took a step back like the floor had just been yanked under him. "Subject… Zero?"
Serena's fingers trembled. "No… no, that was just a rumor in the C-Bot logs. That there was someone they never let out. Not once."
The scientist nodded. "That's the one. No one saw his face again. Not even the top-level techs. Just instructions from a sealed chamber… commands from a ghost."
Serena's voice cracked. "You're saying our Otouchan… became that?"
Roko turned around, pacing like a man unraveling. "So he's not even a prisoner anymore. He is the project now?"
"No one knows," the scientist muttered, clearly shaken. "But if he's alive in there… he might not be himself."
Silence thickened the air. Rain tapped against the window like it was trying to get inside.
Kisimoto sat down slowly, placing both palms on his knees, head lowered.
"He fought it once," he whispered. "He wouldn't let them take him. He resisted till the last second. I remember that."
His voice deepened. "So if there's even one percent of him left… we're going in."
Serena blinked at him. "Into the HyperFacility?"
Kisimoto nodded.
Roko rubbed his face. "Bro, that's just—madness."
"And yet," Kisimoto said, eyes gleaming faintly, "exactly what Otouchan would do for us."
The scientist raised a shaky hand. "I—I know the perimeter layout. The access codes might've changed but… I know a way in."
Serena narrowed her eyes. "Then talk."
He walked over to the table and tore a sheet from the sketchpad Kisimoto had thrown at him earlier. He drew in bursts—erratic but precise. A building, layered with levels like an anthill turned fortress. Hidden doors. Reinforced wings. Heat signature triggers.
"The HyperFacility's under the old observatory," he said. "It looks abandoned, but it's guarded—stealth drones, trap doors, AI cams that track behavior, not just movement."
Kisimoto studied the paper, his jaw tightening. "We'll have to shut that stuff down first. Stealth won't cut it if they can smell us."
"I can forge ID signals for three people," the scientist offered. "Maybe four if I had the right tools."
"Then you'll get them," Serena said coldly. "And you'll come with us."
He blinked. "Wha—what?! No, I can't—!"
"You can," she said firmly. "Or you die here with your secrets."
He shut up.
Roko sat down beside his brother, exhaling loudly. "So this is it, huh? We're going to storm the dragon's den."
Kisimoto stood again, eyes blazing with something deeper than rage—conviction.
"No," he said.
"We're going to bring Otouchan home."
The room fell quiet again. No one dared to speak for a moment. The weight of what they had just decided settled on all of them like a stormcloud pressing down.
The scientist moved toward the corner of the room, rummaging through the bag he'd brought. "I—I still have something... some early blueprints I smuggled out when I escaped. Maybe they'll help."
Kisimoto stepped forward and snatched the folder from his hands, flipping through the yellowed papers. His eyes scanned rapidly—security nodes, mechanical joints, a map of the HyperProject's lower level.
"This is deeper than the C-Bot section," he muttered. "No wonder no one ever found out."
"That's because it was off-grid," the scientist said, lowering his voice. "The moment the board approved H.P.H.S., they wiped the site from the official network. No satellites. No paper trail. Everything was hardcoded and stored internally."
Roko frowned. "So the only way in… is physically."
"Exactly," the scientist nodded.
Serena paced behind the couch, tension visible in every step. "When do we leave?"
Kisimoto looked at her. "Not yet. If we barge in now, we're signing our death certificates."
He pulled a small notebook from his pocket and flipped it open—filled with sketches, time logs, equations… and drawings of Otouchan. Most of them unfinished. As if each one hurt too much to complete.
"I need more prep. I need to get my energy back under control. That last sprint drained me more than I'll admit."
Serena leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "How long?"
"Give me three days," Kisimoto replied, eyes still on the book. "Three days to figure out what they turned me into back then… and how I'm going to use it."
Roko stood up, walking toward the door, grabbing his jacket.
"Then I'll stock up on weapons and gear. We're gonna need all the help we can get."
Serena nodded. "And I'll see what's left of the contact chain. If anyone out there still remembers Otouchan… they deserve to know the truth."
Kisimoto looked up at both of them, his eyes hard, focused.
"No screwups. No hesitation. We go in, get Otouchan, and burn that cursed lab to the ground."
The scientist cleared his throat, eyes wide. "Uh—preferably after we're all out?"
Roko smirked. "Depends on how helpful you are."
The door creaked open. Rain still pattered outside, now joined by distant thunder—like a promise. Or a warning.
As Serena stepped out first, her eyes locked with the fading sky.
"HyperProject Hatare Sasukan…" she whispered.
Behind her, Kisimoto's voice followed like a shadow.
"...we're coming for you."
TO BE CONTINUED WITH A NEW SEASON...