"Kian!"
Kane caught him before his head hit the floor.
"Kian, wake up!"
Kade dropped beside them.
"What happened?"
"I don't know."
Kian's eyes were closed.
His breathing was steady, but his body felt strangely cold.
Mara knelt beside him.
"My baby…"
Elias pushed through the group.
"Move."
Kane looked up.
"Can you help him?"
"I don't know."
That answer frightened Kane.
Elias placed two fingers against Kian's neck.
His eyes moved toward the monitors.
Every screen had gone black.
Except one.
The woman was still there.
She was no longer smiling.
She looked almost sad.
Elias stared at her.
"What did you do?"
The woman shook her head.
"I didn't do anything."
"Then why did he collapse?"
"Because he remembered."
Elias's expression tightened.
"Remembered what?"
The woman looked toward Kian.
"Something you made him forget."
The screen went black.
Kade stood.
"What does she mean?"
Elias didn't answer.
Kade grabbed his sleeve.
"Dad."
Elias looked at him.
"What did you make Kian forget?"
"I didn't."
"Then who did?"
Elias looked at Mara.
Mara looked away.
Kane noticed.
"Mum?"
She closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Kane's voice softened.
"Please."
Mara looked at her sons.
"I swear I don't."
Elias stood.
"We need to get out."
Kade shook his head.
"Every time we ask a question, somebody says we need to leave."
He stepped closer.
"I'm tired of running."
Elias stared at him.
Kade continued.
"You say people are after us. Adrian says Dad was investigating something. That man says we were being watched before we were born. Then we find a girl who says she's our sister."
His voice cracked.
"And now Kian is on the floor because apparently somebody erased his memories."
Kade wiped his eyes angrily.
"I just want somebody to tell us the truth."
Nobody answered.
Kane placed a hand on Kade's shoulder.
"He's right."
Elias looked at them.
"You're six years old."
"So?"
"So there are things you shouldn't have to carry yet."
Kane stared at him.
"We're already carrying them."
Elias had no answer.
Kian suddenly moved.
His fingers twitched.
Mara leaned closer.
"Kian?"
Kian's eyes opened.
But he didn't look at her.
He stared straight ahead.
"Kian?"
His lips moved.
"I remember."
Elias froze.
"Remember what?"
Kian slowly sat up.
"The room."
"What room?"
"The white room."
Elias's face changed.
Kian looked around.
"They put me there."
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
Kian continued.
"They put all of us there."
Kane stepped closer.
"All three?"
Kian nodded.
"But…"
He looked confused.
"There was someone else."
Elias crouched in front of him.
"Kian, listen to me."
Kian suddenly grabbed Elias's wrist.
"You knew."
Elias stared at him.
"You knew."
Kian's grip tightened.
"You were there."
Elias didn't pull away.
"Yes."
Mara covered her mouth.
Kade looked between them.
"What is he talking about?"
Kian closed his eyes.
A memory returned.
A white room.
Bright lights.
Cold metal.
Three small beds.
Kane crying.
Kade screaming.
Kian staring at the ceiling.
And a fourth child standing behind a glass wall.
A girl.
Watching them.
Kian opened his eyes.
"She was there."
Elias nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She was part of the experiment."
Kian's face tightened.
"Why were we there?"
Elias hesitated.
"Because they wanted to see whether your abilities would appear naturally."
Kane looked at him.
"And did they?"
"Yes."
"Then why did they need the fourth?"
Elias looked toward the floor.
"Because she was different."
Kade asked:
"How?"
Elias didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"She could copy things."
Kade frowned.
"Like shapeshifting?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Elias looked at Kian.
"She could copy abilities."
The room went silent.
Kade's eyes widened.
"So she can use our powers?"
"Not exactly."
Elias stood.
"She could take an ability from one person and reproduce it in herself."
Kian stared at his hands.
"That means…"
"Yes."
Elias looked at him.
"She can use Phase Shift."
Kian's face went pale.
"And yours?"
Elias nodded.
"Your father can shapeshift."
Kane's eyes narrowed.
"What about mine?"
Elias looked at him.
"Memory."
Kane froze.
Kade looked at him.
"Your power?"
Elias nodded.
"You haven't fully awakened it yet."
Kane stared at his father.
"What does it do?"
"Later."
Kane's expression hardened.
"No."
Elias sighed.
"It can interfere with memory."
Kane looked confused.
"How?"
"You can blur, alter, or remove short-term memories."
Kade stared.
"That sounds dangerous."
"It is."
Kane looked down at his hands.
He had never felt anything unusual.
Not like Kian.
Not like the strange flickering.
Nothing.
"Then why haven't I used it?"
"Because you're controlling it without knowing."
Kane looked up.
"What?"
Elias stepped closer.
"That's why people sometimes forget small things after talking to you."
Kane remembered.
A shopkeeper forgetting that he'd been standing at the counter.
A boy forgetting an argument.
Mara occasionally walking into a room and forgetting why.
He had always thought it was normal.
It wasn't.
Kane stepped backward.
"I did that?"
Elias nodded.
"You've been doing it for years."
Kane looked horrified.
Kade placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay."
Kane shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Elias.
"What about Kade?"
Elias turned toward him.
"You're different."
Kade raised an eyebrow.
"Different how?"
"Your ability hasn't appeared yet."
Kade's expression changed.
"So I don't have one?"
"You do."
"What is it?"
Elias hesitated.
"Echo."
Kade frowned.
"Echo?"
"You'll understand when it appears."
Kade looked at Kane.
Then Kian.
"So everyone has something?"
Elias nodded.
"You have your shared abilities. Then each of you has another."
Kian looked at him.
"Why?"
Elias didn't answer.
The facility shook.
Everyone looked toward the ceiling.
A crack appeared across one of the walls.
Adrian grabbed his weapon.
"We need to move."
Kade sighed.
"Of course."
Mara helped Kian stand.
Elias looked toward the corridor.
"The facility is collapsing."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
He pointed toward the monitor.
The cameras were still active.
But now they showed the outside world.
The city.
Buildings.
Cars.
People walking through the streets.
Everything looked normal.
Then one camera changed.
A military convoy was moving through the city.
Another camera showed helicopters.
Another showed armored vehicles.
Adrian's expression changed.
"They're here."
Mara stared.
"Who?"
Adrian looked at Elias.
"The government."
Elias shook his head.
"Not the government."
Adrian frowned.
"What?"
Elias pointed toward the vehicles.
"Look at the symbol."
Adrian zoomed in.
A black circular symbol appeared on the side of the lead vehicle.
The same symbol from Elias's map.
The same symbol from the underground facility.
Elias's face went pale.
"They found the entrance."
Kane looked toward the corridor.
"Then we leave."
Elias nodded.
"Yes."
They began moving.
But Kian stopped.
"What?"
Everyone turned.
Kian was staring at the wall.
His eyes had become distant.
"Kian?"
He whispered:
"She's coming."
Kane stepped toward him.
"Who?"
Kian slowly turned.
"The girl."
The wall beside them suddenly became transparent.
Beyond it stood the woman.
She was on the other side of the solid wall.
But unlike before, she wasn't trapped.
She smiled.
Then she raised one hand.
Kian's body flickered.
His feet began to disappear through the floor.
"Kian!"
Kane grabbed him.
Kade grabbed Kane.
Mara grabbed Kade.
Elias rushed toward them.
The woman's voice came through the wall.
"You can't keep him from me."
Elias shouted:
"Stay away from my son!"
She smiled.
"He isn't only your son."
The wall cracked.
A strange energy spread through it.
Kian screamed.
Then his body vanished completely.
Kane was left holding nothing.
"KIAN!"
His voice echoed through the corridor.
No answer.
Kade stared at his brother's empty hands.
Then something inside him changed.
For the first time, Kade felt something move beneath his skin.
A strange pressure.
Like another heartbeat.
He looked beside himself.
Someone was standing there.
Someone who looked exactly like him.
Same face.
Same blue eyes.
Same clothes.
Kade stared.
The other Kade stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then the duplicate smiled.
And whispered:
"Run."