Chapter Nine: The Hollow Truth
"Monsters aren't born. They're built — from broken memories and the lies we choose to believe."
The scream wasn't human.
It ripped through the east wing of the hideout — deep, guttural, animalistic. It vibrated through steel walls and concrete floors like a war drum.
Sora ran.
Not away. Toward it.
She found Dez in the training hall, down on all fours. His back arched unnaturally, his muscles spasming, veins dark and pulsing black beneath his skin like liquid shadows.
His eyes — once gold — were now burning silver. The change was happening again.
"Dez," Sora said carefully, voice steady but low, "you need to breathe."
He snarled — not in anger, but fear. His jaw clenched as he turned away, slamming his fists into the floor.
"I can't stop it!" he roared. "It's inside me — and I don't even know what the hell it IS!"
Earlier that day, Sora had been digging into Authority black archives — encrypted files hidden under layers of corrupted data.
She found it. A project buried beneath twenty-seven failed subjects.
Project HOLLOWBLOOD.
A gene-splicing initiative. Human embryos combined with Hollow essence. Designed to create "sympathetic monsters" — weapons with a conscience.
Dez was Subject 0028.
And he never knew.
Back in the training hall, Dez collapsed, panting. His transformation halted — incomplete, twitching, unstable.
Sora knelt beside him, placing a trembling hand on his shoulder. His skin was ice cold, steaming where it touched her.
"You weren't supposed to find out this way," she whispered. "But you're not a monster. Not to me."
He laughed bitterly. "That's because you don't feel it. You don't hear them."
"Them?"
He sat up slowly, eyes still glowing faintly.
"The memories. They're not mine. I see people I've never met. I kill people I don't know. I hear screaming in a voice that's mine… but not mine."
Sora's chest tightened.
She knew what she had to do. There was only one way to reach him now. A neural link. Highly experimental, incredibly dangerous — and illegal.
She didn't hesitate.
Neural Dive: Inside Dez's Mind
Sora connected the wires to her temple and Dez's. Her heart raced as the world flickered and bent.
And then—
Darkness.
Not silent — screaming. Not cold — burning. Dez's mind was a storm.
Sora stood in a hallway that twisted like intestines. Doors lined the walls, each leaking light and sound. Some screamed. Some wept. One growled.
"Dez," she called. "Where are you?"
No answer. Just footsteps — bare, wet, dragging.
A younger Dez emerged. Sixteen, maybe. Blood on his mouth. Eyes blank. He looked through her.
"I didn't mean to do it," he whispered.
"Do what?"
"Rip him apart."
Sora swallowed her fear and stepped forward.
"You were forced into this. Your memories… they aren't real. The Authority built them to break you."
"Then what am I without them?" he asked, voice trembling. "Just hollow?"
The hallway began to crumble, pieces of memory crashing down like stone. The real Dez appeared beside her, older, scared, furious.
"I don't want to lose control again," he whispered. "I can't kill anyone else."
Sora reached out, gripping his hand. "Then remember me. Hold onto that."
The storm stilled.
The walls around them dissolved into a soft golden haze.
Sora stood at the edge of the memory void, her hand still in Dez's. They were no longer enemies of fate , they were tethered.
Reality: Return
They awoke gasping. Sweat soaked through both their shirts. Dez's eyes were dull gold again , exhausted but human.
Sora collapsed against his chest, breathing hard.
"You found your way back," she murmured.
"No," Dez whispered, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "You brought me back."
She buried her face into his chest, letting her tears fall silently. His heart , chaotic and hot, was still beating.
And for now, that was enough.