Three days after the Hollow Tree mission, Silenne stood again in S.I.N's sanctum vault—coin repaired, eyes sharp, but voice unsteady.
"I feel her thoughts sometimes. Her doubts. Her dreams."
Petal, across from her, adjusted her gloves.
"Then don't listen too closely."
Silenne smirked.
"You think I want to hear you talking to Lio in your sleep?"
The coin-link between them—"Echo Thread"—was stabilizing.
But untested.Uncontrolled.And possibly dangerous.
So Shin gave them a mission.
A quiet one.
A deep-cover infiltration of a border-state neutral zone known for coin trafficking, memory surgery, and whisper-forged identities.
Mission Name: "Gemini Veil"Objective: Infiltrate the Twin Spire Auction posing as rival noble heiresses.Determine if ex-S.I.N coin blueprints are being sold.Test the stability of the merged coin under full psychological strain.
Disguises Assigned
Petal: Posing as "Lady Verona Sire," an icy noble of crimson magic descent.Elegant, distant, terrifyingly intelligent.
Silenne: Posing as her protective sister, "Lady Eirisse."Soft-spoken, demure, with a secret sharp tongue and subtle grace.
They were convincing.
Too convincing.
Arrival at the Auction Hall
Gold chandeliers.Whispers in six languages.Dozens of masked nobles and bounty brokers.
But beneath the decadence was a current of corruption:Coin-forging. Memory implants. Shadow-mark resale.
Silenne scanned the crowd.
"Three bounty lords. One fake priest.Two coin engineers. And someone watching us with a familiar pattern."
Petal sipped her glass of frostberry wine.
"Familiar how?"
"Like someone who trained me to see through illusions."
Tension Within the Coin
As the night progressed, Petal's vision began to flicker.
She saw flashbacks that weren't hers.
Silenne bleeding in Gravemire.Silenne begging the Hollow Tree to let her live.Silenne remembering Petal as a girl… and whispering:
"If I survive, I'll give you your name back."
At the same time, Silenne saw herself through Petal's eyes.
Cold.
Legendary.
Irreplaceable.
Their minds swam.
They staggered—synchronizing unconsciously.Two hands reaching for one blade.
The Attack
A rogue coin-engineer moved to inject a corruption seed into a bound S.I.N-designed coin.
Petal saw it.So did Silenne.
But neither moved—because each thought the other had already moved.
That 1.3 seconds of delay…
Nearly cost the mission.
Recovery and Triumph
But they adapted.
Merged.
"Don't think. Just echo me," Petal whispered.
"No. You echo me," Silenne hissed back.
And then—
They struck as one.
Two blades. One body flow. One mind.
They intercepted the injection, shattered the corruption node, and extracted the buyer list from the engineer's memory without killing him.
— SYSTEM NOTIFICATION —
[ MISSION COMPLETE: Gemini Veil ]
Coin Link Stability: 91%Drift Rate: ControlledCombat Sync: 87%Passive Unlock:"Reflex Copy" – When working together, Petal and Silenne may instantly share one combat movement per encounter without communication
Back at HQ, Shin waited in his usual place.
"You danced well."
Petal sat across from him.
"We slipped once."
"You're not dancers," Shin replied. "You're mirrors. Imperfect. But terrifying when aligned."
Silenne raised her glass.
"Cheers to trauma bonding."
Petal rolled her eyes.
But didn't disagree.
The Sanctum Vault's lower chamber was rarely used—too unstable, too reactive to overlapping coin signatures.
But today, Shin stood at its center.
Waiting.
Behind him, five black cases.Each marked with a new symbol:
∞ — An Echo. Two coins, one purpose.
Petal and Silenne entered together, boots silent on the polished obsidian floor.
Shin greeted them with one question:
"Are you ready to become mirrors for others?"
The Echo Initiative
"Coin-link combat is rare. Dangerous.Your survival proves it can work."
Shin paced slowly as shadows moved in the walls behind him.
"I'm giving you five candidates.Each one was selected because they share a broken bond.A sibling lost. A partner abandoned.A mirror they can't find anymore."
Petal's coin pulsed once in her palm.
Silenne said nothing.
Shin gestured to the vault door.
"Build me a team. Echo-trained.Double resonance. Shared combat flow.If it works… you'll rewrite how we fight wars."
The Recruits
Tress & Vale – Half-elf twins, formerly street runners. One fights. One plans. Always apart.
Mira & Corren – Ex-bodyguards from a fallen kingdom. Once lovers, now fractured by betrayal.
Junna & Roq – A mute girl and her beastkin partner—can only "speak" through coin pulse.
Eira & Melos – Former mercenary siblings who lost their coin resonance in trauma.
Nox & Nali – A mystery pair. Records erased. Trust sealed. Only respond to Petal and Silenne.
Each had potential.Each could fail.
But Petal stepped forward.
"Give me 6 days. If they're not syncing by then—we'll return them."
Shin simply handed her a single black coin etched with the ∞.
"Then let the echoes begin."
The First Drill: Movement Mirror
Day 1.Petal and Silenne stood in the open vault. No words. Just motion.
Each pair stood opposite each other.
Petal moved first—an elegant blade draw.Silence.
Then… Vale mimicked it. Half a second off.
Junna twitched.Eira fumbled.Corren refused.
"Again," Petal said.
"They won't mirror if they don't trust each other," Silenne muttered.
"Then we'll break what's between them."
The Second Drill: Coin Press
Day 3.They stood in coin-pressure zones—runes designed to simulate life-or-death fear spikes.
If one cracked, the other would feel it instantly.
Tress collapsed.Roq snarled and ran.Corren blocked Mira's pain. She cried silently.
Nox and Nali?
They stood unmoving—until Petal tried to approach.
Then both raised weapons.
"Still testing us," Silenne whispered.
The Breakthrough
Day 5.
Corren reached for Mira's hand. She flinched—then nodded.Roq leaned down and Junna touched his fur. A flicker of coinlight formed between them.
Tress finally said:
"Vale… I never blamed you."
The pulse that followed shook the room.
Three pairs.Resonating.
One step behind Petal and Silenne.
— SYSTEM NOTIFICATION —
[ ECHO UNIT ESTABLISHED ]
Active Pair Links: 3Dormant Link: Nox/Nali – Status UnknownTraining Level: Phase 1: Combat MimicryUnit Name: ECHO CELL: Veillight
Passive Effect: "Tandem Surge" – Echo-linked units may double critical chance when synced for more than 8 seconds
That night, Shin watched the training feed replay.
Silenne sat beside him, drinking something stronger than tea.
"You think we're training soldiers," she muttered.
"You're not," Shin replied.
"Then what are we making?"
Shin looked toward the vault.
"Symphonies."
The training chamber was shielded with seven layers of arcane dampeners.It had survived everything—explosions, failed rituals, controlled coin detonations.
But today… it would face something unwritten.
Live-Fire Trial: Echo Phase II
Objective:All Echo pairs must respond to simultaneous, unscripted threats and protect their twin above all else.
Test Area:Maze Sector 7 — Real traps. Real injuries. No coin interference from command.
Pairs entered.
Petal and Silenne watched from the control room, Shin seated in shadow behind them.
All was normal…
Until it was Nox and Nali's turn.
The Moment It Broke
Nox stood motionless, expression blank behind his obsidian mask.
Nali adjusted her gloves—soft, fidgeting.They entered Maze 7 side by side, not speaking.
Petal frowned.
"They haven't spoken once."
Silenne's coin pulsed.
"Or needed to."
Inside, flame traps ignited.Kinetic mines activated.One clawed drone leapt toward Nali—
And everything stopped.
Nox turned his head 12 degrees.
Nali raised one hand.
Two coin pulses ignited.Not white.Not blue.
Red.
A scream—inaudible—tore through the chamber.
All other Echo pairs fell to their knees.
Shin stood instantly.
"They're not syncing.They're overlapping."
True Connection: Soul Mirror
In a flash, the maze evaporated into light.
The drones exploded.
The flame traps dissolved.
The mines reversed gravity and floated up like petals.
Petal and Silenne could only watch as—
Nox and Nali moved like one being with two shadows.
A blade swipe from Nox—reflected in reverse motion by Nali.
One fought reality.The other re-threaded it.
Coin resonance hit 500%.
The walls of the chamber cracked.
— SYSTEM ALERT —
[ WARNING: OVER-SYNC DETECTED ]
Coin Compatibility: 99.7%Type: ForbiddenEffect: Twin Loop (Auto-repeat mirrored actions, 3-second delay window)Danger Level: CATASTROPHIC if destabilizedTerm: Soul Mirror Link
Shin pressed a sigil.Emergency null-field engaged.
Even through the field, Petal's ears bled slightly.Silenne grit her teeth.
The twin pulses finally faded.
In the center of the room, Nox and Nali stood back to back.
Still.Alive.Breathing as one.
Nali whispered:
"...Sorry."
Nox whispered back:
"Not yet. We're not done being broken."
Aftermath
In the infirmary, Shin stared at the twin masks laid out before him.
He wrote one word across each:
Nox – Crimson Echo
Nali – Crimson Mirror
Petal asked:
"Are they safe to deploy?"
Shin stirred his tea once.
"Not yet.They're what happens when a mirror reflects too perfectly…and begins to see things beyond its frame."
"If they stay merged too long, their minds may break.If they don't merge at all, they're just broken twins."
Shin's voice echoed softly in the operations vault as he signed the mission slip.
Mission: Dagger Spiral
Objective: Intercept a memory trafficker operating under a false S.I.N coin signature.Terrain: Urban alley maze, abandoned quarter, zero civilian presence.Operatives: Nox, NaliObserver: Agent Silenne (Shadow Protocol active)
Test Parameter: Maintain Soul Mirror link under real combat stress.Measure synchronization duration, neural strain, coin drift.
Deployment
The city of Caldrin's Edge had long since rotted from the inside.No law. No light.A perfect ghost town for memory smugglers.
Nox and Nali entered in silence.
Back-to-back.Breathing synchronized.Blades hidden.Masks on.
Silenne followed from above, wearing her veiled observer suit—non-intervention protocol unless death was imminent.
The Encounter
They found the trafficker fast.
A coin forger with five synthetic enforcers and a defense system built from S.I.N blueprint fragments.
"Mirror junkies?" the trafficker laughed."You're just ghosts walking in the wrong grave."
"Incorrect," said Nox.
"We are the right ghosts," said Nali.
Synchronization: 0:00
The air hummed.
Their coins lit up—red threads dancing between them like blood in light.
The first enforcer charged.
Nox moved forward, feinted left.
Nali moved back, mirrored him—perfect reversal.
Two kills.One heartbeat.
Synchronization: 1:17
The trafficker panicked and launched an illusion burst.
A memory fog—designed to fracture thought patterns.
Silenne cursed.
"That'll tear a coin-link in seconds."
It didn't.
Because Nox took the fog, letting Nali read his distortion and reverse-sculpt it.
"I see it.""Then I shape it."
They cut through the illusion like a dance.
Synchronization: 3:46
Blood trickled from Nali's nose.
Nox's hands trembled slightly.
Their minds began to blur.
"Nox—" Silenne whispered from the com. "Break the link. Now."
But Nali answered instead:
"Not yet. We haven't mirrored the end."
They leapt together.
One up. One down.Twin blades.Time inverted.
The trafficker blinked—
And fell.
Synchronization: 4:33
The link fractured.
The red glow dimmed.
Both dropped to one knee, breathing ragged, but conscious.
Silenne emerged from the shadows, placing a coin-stabilizer sigil between them.
"You went past safety by 73 seconds."
Nox coughed.
"We needed to know."
Nali clutched his shoulder.
"Now we do."
— SYSTEM UPDATE —
[ MISSION COMPLETE: Dagger Spiral ]
Soul Mirror Duration: 4 min, 33 secNeural Strain: 81% (manageable)Coin Drift: 6% (within bounds)Result:Soul Mirror Threshold raised to 5:00Passive Unlocked:"Ghost Memory" – For 30 seconds after desync, each twin retains partial reflexes of the other
Back at HQ, Petal asked Shin:
"Is it safe?"
Shin replied:
"They're not safe."
He sipped his tea.
"They're necessary."
It began in silence.
No light. No motion. No interface.
Just Shin, kneeling alone beneath the Black Wisteria Tree that grew from no soil, inside no forest—only within the sealed heart of the Sanctum.
This was Coinroot.The hidden core of S.I.N.A place even Petal hadn't been permitted to see.
Shin placed a single cracked coin into the base of the tree.
It belonged to a fallen agent who had once said:
"I just wanted to protect one life."
The coin pulsed once, then went still.
Shin didn't blink.
He reached for it.
And spoke new words—ones the system had not taught him.
"I am not your savior.I am your echo's rest.Return not to glory—But to yourself."
— SYSTEM RECOGNITION —
[ Forbidden Seed Absorbed ][ Divinity Fragment Awakened ]
Origin: Shin's WillClass: RestorationStatus: Unique
— SKILL ACQUIRED —
[ Reclaim: Coin Restoration Protocol ]
A direct link between Shin and the broken agent.When activated:• Coin cracks are sealed• Memory distortions are flushed• Physical body is restored to combat-readiness• Echo drift is recalibratedRequires: One touch. Eye contact. Mutual consent.
Cooldown: 48 hours per agent.Side effect: Shin absorbs 1% of their burden—permanently.
Shin stood as petals fell from the void tree.
The coin now pulsed softly, whole again.
He whispered to the air:
"No one else has to shatter."
First Use: Petal
Later that week, Petal collapsed mid-simulation.The link with Silenne still strained.Her coin had begun flickering during mission prep.
Shin caught her before she hit the ground.
"It's not broken," she said.
"Not yet," he replied. "But I can hear it cracking."
She opened her eyes weakly.
"Will it hurt?"
"No," he said softly."But I'll remember everything you don't want me to."
She didn't protest.
He placed two fingers on her temple.
Her coin—still pressed to her chest—glowed.A soft ring of sigils spun outward.Her memories surged. Her scars hummed.
But Shin… stayed calm.
His own coin flickered.His suit glowed faintly.And then—her breathing slowed. Her coin turned pure silver again.
She blinked. Clearer than before.
"You... look older," she whispered.
He didn't respond.
But in the mirror behind her,a faint silver strand now marked Shin's black hair.
— SYSTEM UPDATE —
[ Reclaim Used on Agent: Petal ]
Coin Stability: 100%Memory Corruption: ClearedPhysical Damage: RegeneratedEmotional Residue: Transferred (1%) to ShinMental Cost: Logged (0.9%)
The next day, rumors spread:
That Shin could "resurrect" coins.
That he was absorbing the agents' burdens.
That he was giving up pieces of himself for each of them.
Shin, sipping tea as always, said only one thing:
"A good suit doesn't wrinkle when it carries weight.It adapts."
Silenne stood at the balcony above the Sanctum vault—arms crossed, gaze locked on Shin below.
He had just finished his third Reclaim in two days.A junior Echo pair—barely seventeen—now stood upright again, coin threads whole.
But Shin...
He moved slower now.The silver streak in his hair had spread to his temples.And for the first time in her memory...
He sighed.
Confrontation
That night, she entered his private chamber uninvited.
No mask.No sarcasm.Just Silenne.
"Stop."
Shin didn't look up from the tea he was steeping.
"They needed it."
"They need you more," she snapped."Whole. Unbroken. Functional."
He gently poured the tea into two cups.
"Then I'll stay functional longer than my burden."
Silenne stepped closer. Her voice lowered.
"I saw the logs. Every Reclaim transfers 1% of their pain.You're not erasing it—you're hoarding it."
"It's mine now," he replied. "So they can move forward."
"At what cost, Shin?"
He looked at her finally.
His eyes—always calm—held a strange depth now. Like oceans remembering storms.
"I chose this.I don't flinch.I don't fear.And if that means bleeding silently so a broken agent can stand again…Then I'll drink tea with trembling hands before I let them fall."
Silence
Silenne stared at him.At the cup he'd poured for her.At the man who once trained her to hide her fear—and now was hiding something worse.
She took the cup.
Sat down.
And whispered:
"You can't carry us all."
Shin sipped his tea.
"Then I'll carry one at a time."
— SYSTEM NOTICE —
[ Mental Load: 6.3% ][ Coin Fragment Memory Retention: Locked. ][ Emotional Leak Risk: Low. ]
Later that night, Silenne watched him from the vault's entrance.
He sat alone under the Black Wisteria Tree, coins arrayed before him like a prayer circle.
And though his back was straight,and his breath calm...
She saw the faintest shake in his left hand.