The basement was a graveyard of forbidden technology. The girl with purple hair didn't turn around, her fingers moving across a holographic keyboard like a concert pianist. On her screens, the red alert symbols of the Tokyo Mainframe were flickering, trying to track the "Living Glitch" energy Mi-na was emitting.
"Who are you?" Jin asked, his grip tightening on the Glitch Dagger. "And how did you know we were coming?"
"The name is Rin," she said, finally turning her chair. Her goggles retracted, revealing eyes that were half-mechanical. "And I didn't know you were coming. I just knew that a massive 'Logic Breach' from the Moroccan server was heading this way after the Toubkal event."
She pointed to Mi-na, whose silver veins were still humming. "Your sister is broadcasting a high-level signature. In this city, that's like wearing a neon sign that says 'Delete Me.' Sit down before the Enforcers trace the data-leak to my floor."
Jin sat, but he kept his eyes on the monitors. "You mentioned my father's data earlier. What do you know about K. Jin-Ho?".
Rin's expression darkened. "Your father didn't just find a bug; he found the 'Main Menu' of this reality. He hid a master-file in the Tokyo Central Tower, but he was fragmented before he could execute it. If you want to save your sister from the Mana Poisoning permanently, you need that file to stabilize her 'Living Glitch' status".
Suddenly, the basement ceiling vibrated. A familiar golden light began to seep through the cracks.
"He's here," Mi-na whispered, her electric blue eyes wide with fear. "The golden one... Subject Zero."
The steel door of the basement didn't break; it turned into a shower of gold coins. Subject Zero stepped through, holding a perfect, un-glitched version of Jin's dagger. "The family reunion is over, Jin. Hand over the girl."