The half-mask sat on the steel examination tray like a relic from an old war—its broken edge still glistening faintly with dried blood.
Sienna stared at it as the centrifuge whirred behind her, processing the samples taken from both the bronze shard and the gauze Silas had pressed against K's bleeding cheek.
She hadn't spoken much since the warehouse.
Neither had Silas.
But he hadn't let go of her hand the entire way back to the lab.
Now, under the cold fluorescence of the med-tech room, he stood across from her, arms crossed, jaw tight.
The silence between them was dense.
"What if it's true?" she asked suddenly.
He blinked. "What?"
"What he said. About… being part of something. A pair."
Silas didn't answer.
She stepped forward, voice lower now.
"Because if it is—if he and I share blood—then you and I…" Her throat closed. "We might be on opposite sides of something we can't control."
He looked up sharply. His eyes were burning.
"Don't do that," he said, voice hard. "Don't pull away."
"I'm not—"
"Yes, you are," he snapped. "Because you think if the science says you belong to someone else's lineage, then everything between us is false."
"It's not just science, Silas!" she said, louder now. "It's history. Memory. Identity. If he's my brother—if I was made—then what am I?"
"You're mine," he said. Quiet. Dangerous.
She froze.
Then the centrifuge beeped.
Processing complete.
The screen lit up with two lines:
Sample A (bronze shard blood) – Subject: K.Sample B (Sienna Chen, autologous baseline)
Genetic Match: 56.2%
Sienna stared.
That percentage…
More than a sibling.
But not quite a twin.
Silas moved toward the screen slowly, his face unreadable.
Then—another line appeared.
Anomaly Detected: Radiogenic antibody present in Sample B.Note: This trait is not present in Sample A.
Sienna blinked. "What does that mean?"
Silas reached past her and tapped into the report's molecular analysis.
"Your body metabolized the radiation-based neurotoxin we found in the docks' stolen samples. That's how you survived the nanobot injection. Your cells reject mutation—but not because they're clean." He turned to her. "Because they've already been altered."
She felt cold all over.
"You mean…"
"You have a built-in defense. One that shouldn't exist in any known human genome."
A pause.
Then, softer:
"It's what they've been trying to replicate."
She backed away.
But Silas followed.
"You're not just a key to unlocking the antidote," he said. "You are the antidote."
She shook her head.
"No, no, that can't be. That makes me…"
"Targeted," he said flatly. "And if K is your genetic sibling, that makes you his countermeasure."
Her vision blurred.
Silas stepped forward again. Gripped her arms gently.
"You don't get to walk away from this."
"Why not?" she whispered. "If I'm a product of an experiment—if my memories aren't mine—what's left of me?"
His voice dropped.
"Me."
She looked up.
"What?"
"I'm what's left," he said. "And I'm not letting you vanish just because the numbers don't make sense."
Then, without warning, he pulled her close.
His lips crashed into hers.
Fierce. Desperate. Like he was trying to tether her to reality before she unraveled completely.
Sienna didn't fight him.
Not this time.
She sank into him—into the warmth of his anger, his confusion, his need.
And when they finally broke apart, she whispered, "We're both broken."
His forehead pressed to hers.
"Then let's be broken together."
A knock shattered the moment.
Jenna's voice echoed through the intercom. "You'll want to see the news."
They pulled apart.
Rushed to the operations terminal.
Jenna had patched into the global media relay.
A screen showed a breaking news banner: Sterling Pharmaceuticals accused of black-site human experimentation.
Underneath, blurred footage of underground chambers. Cryo tanks. Maps of trade routes through Southeast Asia.
Then—a close-up of Sienna's childhood photo.
"Who leaked this?" Sienna asked.
Jenna's voice was flat.
"K."
Another feed loaded.
A secure server—encrypted, but not against them anymore.
K's voice played over black:
"They'll come for her now. Not because she's dangerous—but because she's the cure."
Then silence.
Then one final message.
You are not the last.
Sienna looked to Silas.
He stared back.
There were more.
More like her.
More like him.
More like K.
And now, the world knew.