The rain grew heavier as they entered the storage facility.
Water dripped from the metal roof in uneven patterns, echoing through the narrow lanes between the units. The atmosphere felt strangely hollow, like the place itself had been abandoned long ago.
But Luna's heartbeat said otherwise.
Every step closer to unit 317 made the pressure in her chest worse.
Ethan stayed beside her, alert and silent. Adrian walked a few steps behind them, calm as ever, which somehow made him more unsettling.
No one trusted anyone.
Yet somehow—
they were still moving forward together.
The number appeared at the end of the row.
317.
Luna stopped instantly.
A strange feeling washed over her so suddenly that she almost lost balance. Ethan's hand moved to her arm automatically, steadying her before she could stumble.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
She nodded once.
But she wasn't.
Because now that she stood in front of the unit—
the memories felt closer.
Not clear.
Not complete.
But alive.
Her eyes slowly lifted toward the lock.
It wasn't normal.
A small biometric panel glowed faintly beside the handle, covered in dust from years of neglect.
Adrian spoke first. "Your father installed it himself."
Luna stared at the scanner silently.
"He really believed someone would come back for this," she murmured.
"Not someone," Adrian corrected. "You."
Ethan's expression darkened slightly. "Enough."
Adrian only smiled faintly and stepped back.
The tension between them had become almost unbearable now. Luna could feel it constantly—like standing between two sides of a war she didn't remember starting.
She looked back at the scanner.
Her reflection stared back faintly through the dark screen.
For a second—
another flash hit.
Her father kneeling beside her.
Rain pouring around them.
His hands trembling slightly as he held her shoulders.
"If anything happens… you don't trust anyone."
Luna inhaled sharply.
Ethan noticed immediately. "What did you remember?"
She looked shaken.
"…My father."
The rain continued falling around them as silence settled again.
"What did he say?" Ethan asked carefully.
Luna hesitated.
Because repeating it out loud felt dangerous.
"…He told me not to trust anyone."
That answer changed the air instantly.
Adrian looked away first.
Ethan's jaw tightened subtly.
Because whether they admitted it or not—
that warning included both of them.
Luna slowly raised her hand toward the scanner.
Her fingers hovered for a second.
Then touched the screen.
A soft beep echoed through the corridor.
The scanner lit up.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
Luna's breath caught.
The system wasn't rejecting her.
It recognized her.
A second message appeared.
VOICE AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.
Ethan frowned slightly. "Your father made this complicated."
"He made it impossible for anyone else," Adrian corrected quietly.
Luna stared at the blinking screen.
Then another memory surfaced.
Small.
Simple.
But clear.
Her father smiling faintly.
"What's the one thing you never forget?"
Her younger voice answering immediately—
"The stars."
Luna's eyes widened slightly.
Without thinking, she whispered,
"Even the darkest sky still remembers the stars."
Silence.
Then—
a mechanical click echoed from inside the unit.
The lock released.
All three of them froze.
For a moment, no one moved.
Because after ten years—
the truth was finally in front of them.
Ethan stepped closer first, carefully pulling the metal door upward.
The sound scraped loudly through the empty facility.
Then the inside became visible.
Luna expected boxes.
Documents.
Maybe weapons.
Instead—
there was only one thing.
A black steel case sitting alone in the center of the unit.
That was it.
No dust around it.
No signs of damage.
Almost like someone had been there recently.
Ethan noticed it too.
His expression sharpened instantly.
"…Something's wrong."
Adrian's gaze narrowed slightly, but he stayed silent.
Luna stepped forward slowly, unable to look away from the case.
Every instinct in her body screamed at her to stop.
But something stronger—
pulled her closer.
She knelt carefully in front of it.
No lock.
No markings.
Only a small symbol carved into the surface.
A crescent moon.
Her breath caught again.
Because she recognized it.
Not from memory.
From feeling.
"I've seen this before," she whispered.
Ethan crouched beside her. "Where?"
"I don't know."
But even as she said it—
another fragment surfaced.
A room filled with monitors.
Voices arguing.
Her father saying one word clearly—
"Project Luna."
Her vision blurred instantly.
Pain shot through her head.
Ethan grabbed her shoulder before she could fall again. "Luna."
She looked up at him, shaken.
"…That wasn't my name."
Silence.
Adrian's expression changed for the first time since arriving.
Not amusement.
Not confidence.
Concern.
Real concern.
Luna's breathing became uneven again.
"What does that mean?" she whispered.
No one answered immediately.
Because suddenly—
everything felt different.
The drive.
The memories.
The other version of her.
None of it felt accidental anymore.
Ethan looked toward the black case again, his voice lower now.
"…Open it."
Luna stared at it silently.
Her hands trembled slightly as she reached forward.
Because deep down—
she already knew.
Whatever was inside this case—
was going to change everything.