Kian didn't move.
The woman sat quietly beside the window.
She had Mara's face.
The same eyes.
The same shape of her smile.
Even the small mark near her cheek was there.
But something was wrong.
Kian knew his mother.
This wasn't her.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
"You know me."
Kian shook his head.
"No, I don't."
She stood.
She looked exactly like Mara, but she moved differently.
Too smoothly.
Like someone who had spent years studying how a person was supposed to move.
"You've grown."
Kian stepped backward.
"Where are my brothers?"
The woman ignored the question.
"You still protect them."
Kian frowned.
"How do you know that?"
"I know everything about you."
The room suddenly changed.
The walls disappeared.
Kian found himself standing in the alley where he had lived as a child.
Mara's small home was there.
The fruit stall stood across the street.
The same old buildings.
The same cracked pavement.
Kian stared.
"What is this?"
"A memory."
"I've never seen this before."
"You have."
The woman walked past him.
"You just don't remember."
Kian followed.
The scene changed.
He saw Mara.
She was younger.
Pregnant.
Standing outside a clinic.
Kian stared.
"That was before we were born."
The woman nodded.
Mara was speaking to someone.
A man.
Kian couldn't see his face.
But he recognized the voice.
Elias.
"I don't trust them," Elias said.
Mara answered:
"Then what do we do?"
"We leave."
The scene flickered.
Kian watched helplessly.
Elias placed his hand on Mara's stomach.
"Whatever happens, don't let them separate the children."
The memory disappeared.
Kian looked at the woman.
"What does that mean?"
She smiled.
"You'll find out."
"Who are you?"
She finally answered.
"My name doesn't matter."
"It does to me."
The woman stepped closer.
"My name was never given."
Kian stared at her.
"What?"
"They gave me a number."
She touched her chest.
"Four."
Kian's eyes widened.
"Subject 04."
The woman nodded.
"Yes."
"But you're a girl."
"I was."
Kian didn't understand.
The woman continued.
"They changed many things."
She looked at her hands.
"My face."
"My voice."
"My memories."
"My body."
Kian felt a chill.
"Why?"
"Because they wanted to know how much of a person they could remove before the person stopped being human."
Kian stepped backward.
"That's horrible."
"Yes."
The woman looked at him.
"And your father tried to stop them."
Kian looked down.
"Did he save you?"
She smiled sadly.
"No."
"Then why do you like him?"
"I don't."
Kian frowned.
"You said he tried to save you."
"He did."
"But you don't like him?"
"He failed."
The room darkened.
"He saved himself."
Kian shook his head.
"He wouldn't."
"You don't know him."
"I do."
The woman stared at him.
"You've known him for less than an hour."
"He's my father."
"And I'm your sister."
Kian froze.
The woman smiled.
That was the first time Kian looked genuinely frightened.
"No."
"Yes."
"You can't be."
"I can."
"But my mother had three children."
The woman's expression became sad.
"Your mother had three children she knew about."
Kian stared at her.
The room disappeared again.
He was back in the underground facility.
But something was different.
The woman was gone.
Kian was standing in a long corridor.
At the other end stood Kane.
"Kian!"
Kian ran toward him.
Kane grabbed him.
"Where were you?"
"I don't know."
"We thought you were gone."
Kian looked at his brother.
"Where's Kade?"
"Behind me."
Kade appeared around the corner.
He rushed toward Kian.
"Don't ever do that again!"
Kian almost laughed.
"You missed me?"
"No."
Kade hugged him.
Kian smiled.
Kane stepped back.
"What happened?"
Kian looked at him.
"I met someone."
"Who?"
Kian hesitated.
"A girl."
Kade frowned.
"Here?"
"Yes."
"What did she look like?"
Kian looked toward the corridor.
"She looked like Mum."
Both brothers froze.
"What?"
Kian shook his head.
"But she wasn't Mum."
Kane's expression hardened.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
Kade looked around.
"Did she hurt you?"
"No."
"What did she want?"
Kian hesitated.
"She said she's our sister."
Kade stared.
"Our what?"
"Sister."
Kade looked at Kane.
Kane looked at Kian.
Then all three heard footsteps.
Mara appeared at the end of the corridor.
She rushed toward them.
"Kian!"
She pulled him into a hug.
"My baby."
Kian hugged her back.
"Mum."
Mara held his face.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
She looked at Kane and Kade.
"Are you both okay?"
"Yes," Kane answered.
Adrian and Elias appeared behind her.
Elias looked at Kian.
For a moment, relief crossed his face.
Then Kian noticed something.
Elias wasn't looking at him.
He was looking at Mara.
Mara noticed too.
"What?"
Elias shook his head.
"Nothing."
Kian stared at him.
"Dad."
Elias looked down.
"Did Mum have another child?"
Mara went completely still.
Adrian slowly looked away.
Kane noticed.
Kade noticed.
Elias closed his eyes.
Mara whispered:
"Where did you hear that?"
Kian answered honestly.
"She told me."
Mara's face lost its color.
"Who?"
"The fourth."
Silence.
Mara looked at Elias.
"Tell them."
Elias shook his head.
"Not here."
Mara's voice hardened.
"They deserve to know."
"I know."
"Then tell them."
Elias looked at the three boys.
"You had a sister."
Kade stared.
"Had?"
Elias didn't answer.
Kane stepped forward.
"What happened to her?"
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
"We thought she died."
Kian looked at her.
"She didn't."
Mara shook her head.
"How do you know?"
"She told me."
Mara looked terrified.
Elias stepped closer.
"Kian, listen to me."
Kian looked at him.
"If she speaks to you again, don't believe everything she tells you."
"Why?"
"Because she doesn't remember everything."
Kian frowned.
"She said they changed her memories."
Elias looked away.
"That's true."
Kane stepped closer.
"Then why shouldn't we believe her?"
Elias didn't answer.
Adrian finally spoke.
"Because the people who made her didn't just change her memories."
Everyone looked at him.
Adrian continued.
"They changed what she could do."
Kade frowned.
"What can she do?"
Adrian looked toward the facility's control room.
"We don't know."
A loud alarm suddenly sounded.
The lights turned red.
A monitor switched on.
The screen showed the underground facility.
Then another image appeared.
The woman.
She was standing in a different room.
Alone.
Looking directly into the camera.
Kian stepped closer to the screen.
She smiled.
Then she spoke.
"I know you're watching."
Elias went pale.
The woman continued.
"Dad."
Elias froze.
"You don't remember me."
The screen flickered.
"But I remember you."
A second screen activated.
Then a third.
All of them showed different parts of the facility.
The woman was suddenly appearing everywhere.
Walking through corridors.
Standing in rooms.
Watching cameras.
Then the screens changed again.
They showed Mara.
Kane.
Kade.
Kian.
Four separate images.
Each one taken from somewhere inside the facility.
Adrian's expression changed.
"She can access the cameras."
Elias shook his head.
"No."
The woman appeared on every screen at once.
She looked directly at Kian.
"She isn't watching you through the cameras."
Elias stared.
The woman smiled.
"She is watching you through me."
Kian stepped backward.
"What does that mean?"
The woman raised her hand.
Kian's body suddenly flickered.
His vision blurred.
And somewhere inside his head, another voice whispered:
"Come find me."
Then Kian collapsed.