Location: Dusk Market – Black Sector of Zenith
Time: 10:19 PM
Vashti pulled her hoodie low and kept her hands in her pockets, fingers resting on the new neural chip Arya had built.
It was a memory stabilizer—if someone triggered a past flash, she wouldn't black out.
She hated needing it.
But after what Shabd showed her… she didn't even know which part of her life was real anymore.
Beside her, Shabd scanned the crowded alley for their contact. They were here to find an ex-scientist—one who'd helped build Project Mirage and allegedly defected.
Arya's voice crackled in their comms:
> "You're looking for a man with a phoenix tattoo. Right arm. Name's Eshan."
"He used to call you 'Vi.' That's what he'll say if he recognizes you."
Vashti's heart stung.
Vi.
She had no memory of ever being called that.
---
10 Minutes Later – A Shady Tent Café
A man walked in. Mid-30s. Scar under one eye. Sleeves rolled up.
Phoenix tattoo.
His eyes landed on her.
He froze.
"Vi?"
She stiffened.
Shabd subtly stepped closer.
The man's voice broke. "You're alive…"
Vashti narrowed her eyes. "You know me?"
He sat slowly. "I trained you. You were the youngest candidate in Mirage's Alpha Protocol. We called you 'Vi' because you hated the name Vashti—it reminded you of needles."
She couldn't breathe.
"You used to hum nursery songs while assembling rifles. You cried the first time you hurt someone. But then they erased it. Because pain made you human."
She clenched her fists. "I don't remember you."
"But I remember you, Vi. You saved me. Got me out of the labs. Told me to run and never come back."
She whispered, "Then why did you?"
He looked her in the eye.
"Because I think they activated Phase 2."
"What's that?"
He paused.
"The memory reversal. They don't just erase now… they return what they altered. Slowly. Randomly. If they do it wrong… you die."
---
Suddenly—
Gunfire.
A bullet slammed into the table.
Screams.
Two masked men rushed in. Mirage agents.
Shabd pushed Vashti down and fired twice.
Eshan pulled a blade and lunged at one.
But the second one—
Grabbed Vashti.
Whispered against her ear, "Welcome back, Vi."
Then vanished in the smoke.
She stood frozen.
That voice.
It cracked something.
A flash:
—blood on her hands—
—a crying child—
—her own voice screaming "I don't want to forget!"—
Then darkness.
---