Part 1 – Toward Omega-2
The sky was overcast as they emerged from the rear ventilation shaft of the burning outpost. Only the sound of their footsteps and the distant echo of alarms remained.
Mirage-9 led the group. No map. Yet every turn, every minefield, he avoided as if he had been there before. Even when a reconnaissance drone passed overhead, he ordered them to hit the ground before the hum grew loud. As if his instincts were built for survival.
The woman with glasses—the doctor—panted. "How many traps did you avoid?"
"Eight," Mirage replied without looking back. "Seven mechanical. One biological."
The skinny woman behind them hissed. "Biological?"
"Cryo-spider. Puppy-sized. But its bite can freeze the nervous system in nine seconds."
They fell silent. He wasn't joking.
After two hours cutting through ruins and industrial woods, they arrived at the edge of a wide ravine. Across it stood an old military post with a faded sign: OMEGA-2.
But it was quiet. Too quiet.
Mirage narrowed his eyes. "It's a trap."
Suddenly, red lasers lit up. Ten dots targeted their heads and chests.
"Hands up and don't move!" a loud voice boomed from a speaker. "Identify yourselves now!"
The woman with glasses called out, "We're from the Southern Base! We brought the subject—Mirage-9!"
A warning shot cracked the ground. Then, another voice—calmer.
"Lower their weapons. Bring them to decontamination."
---
Part 2 – The Prophecy That Threatens
Mirage-9 sat in a white room. Clean. But it felt like an autopsy chamber.
One by one, his body was scanned—retina, DNA, electromagnetic resonance.
None of the data matched their systems.
"He's... not from us. But not from them either," murmured one technician.
Then an older woman entered. White hair, eyes sharp like blades. She wore a light armor coat—with the Omega-2 insignia on her chest.
"Name?" she asked coldly.
"Mirage-9," he replied.
"Real name?"
He shook his head. "I... don't know."
She stared at him for a long time. "We have a legend. About an entity that appears in the midst of ruin. Not human. Not machine. It doesn't remember who it is—and it brings destruction to both sides. Are you... that entity?"
Mirage stared straight ahead. "I don't know who I am. But I know... I don't want this world to end."
The old woman nodded slowly. But didn't trust him yet.
"Scan his brain. Check for abnormal activity."
As the scanner powered up, Mirage-9's body jolted. The screen lit up—displaying a brain with lightning-like pulses.
Then...
A memory fragment appeared.
A young boy running through a laboratory hallway. Terrified. Behind him: explosions, sparks, scientists screaming.
"Subject code: MIRAGE-9. Prepare cryo-phase!"
"Please! Don't take him!" A woman's voice. Like a lullaby in a strange language, but warm. Familiar.
Mirage-9 opened his eyes, breathing heavily.
The old woman observed him in silence. "You're... not just a weapon. You remember."
He didn't reply.
The woman with glasses stepped closer. "We need his help. Southern Base is gone. V Foundation won't stop."
The old woman shook her head. "We're not part of your war. We're revolutionaries. We fight all sides. But if he truly is the entity in the prophecy... we need a collective decision."
Hours later, Omega-2 held a council. Some wanted Mirage-9 eliminated before it was too late. Others believed he was their last hope.
Mirage stood in the center, silent, listening to them debate his fate.
Then a voice echoed from the far end of the room.
"Give him a mission," said a young soldier. "If he survives... we'll know he's not the cataclysm."
The old woman nodded. "You'll be sent to the ruins of Lab Helix. We believe it holds the earliest records of the Mirage Project."
Mirage-9 met her gaze. "And if I don't return?"
She gave a faint smile. "Then you truly... don't belong to this world."
---
Part 3 – Lab Helix: The Source of All Errors
Night fell as Mirage-9 slipped out of Omega-2 headquarters, accompanied by a small squad handpicked by Commander Eldra—the silver-haired elder. Not all revolutionaries supported the mission. But the Commander's word was law.
"You know where to go?" asked the young soldier beside him. His name was Jaro, mohawk hair, ever suspicious eyes.
Mirage simply pointed east, saying nothing.
The journey to Lab Helix was more than reconnaissance. It was a descent into forgotten history—ruins of a world that failed to reconcile technology and humanity.
Every step felt like a walk through time—collapsed comm towers, rusted drones hanging like spider webs, and broken plaques reading: "PROPERTY OF V FOUNDATION – AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY."
"This place was blown up years ago," one team member whispered.
"Not blown up," Mirage corrected quietly. "Buried alive."
Moments later, the ground trembled. The concrete split. From the crack emerged creatures—metal bones, red eyes, insectoid legs.
"Residual Guard Units," Jaro muttered. "They shouldn't be active!"
"But the old system recognizes something in you," a woman said. "They awaken... because of you."
Mirage stepped forward.
The creatures hissed. Then... fell silent. They didn't attack. They backed away—clearing a path.
The Omega-2 team froze.
"Why are they retreating?" Jaro whispered.
Mirage looked into the dark corridor ahead.
"Because they know... I was born here."
The corridor to Lab Helix twisted with dormant tech—offline sensors, bodies frozen mid-motion, distorted recordings looping endlessly:
> "Subject... control failed. Mirage Project terminated... all data sealed..."
Until finally, they reached the core—a spherical chamber, lined with dead monitors and towering glass pods.
One pod still glowed.
Inside: a humanoid body. Half its face covered with a mask. Hands embedded with cables.
"Who is that?" Jaro asked, horrified.
Mirage-9 stepped closer. He touched the glass.
Sudden pain pierced his skull.
A flash—
> A child crying, crawling on steel floors.
Scientist's voice: "He's evolving too fast. If he lives, he'll surpass us all."
Woman's voice: "You're not an experiment. You're my child."
Screams. Sparks. Metal doors locking. Darkness.
Mirage staggered.
A screen lit up.
> SYSTEM AWAKENED: NEXUS ARCHITECTURE
MODE: CONTINUUM ITERATION 087
Highest Access Detected: Subject NEXUS-9 – MIRAGE
Everyone froze. The terminals powered themselves on.
> Iteration 087 Loaded Successfully
Anomalous Object Detected: Mirage.
Role: Catalyst of GENESIS ERROR.
A holographic message played—voice of NEXUS founder: Dr. Vehran Lir.
> "The world isn't broken. We simply never stop repeating the same mistake. So we created NEXUS: a system to monitor, predict, and—if necessary—rewrite reality."
"Each iteration, we assign a trigger. We call it: NEXUS-9. Not manufactured. But a natural anomaly that appears in chaos."
Mirage looked at the body in the capsule.
It wasn't him. Yet somehow... it felt like his reflection.
The system gave its final directive:
> Preparation for Iteration 088: Active.
Full Actualization in: Thirteen Days.
Intervention Privilege: NEXUS-9 Only.
Mirage stood, breath steady.
"Lab Helix isn't done with us," he said quietly. "And I'm not done with this world."