Location: Safe Zone Beta / Underground Facility – 06:43 AM
The silence in the underground chamber was almost sacred.
Tama stared at the steel table in front of him, where dozens of paper files were scattered—printouts, maps, handwritten reports that survived the system's purge. His fingers hovered over one photo in particular: an aerial shot of a facility hidden in the thick forests of East Kalimantan.
Site Codename: O-LAB
The Origin Labyrinth.
"You sure this place exists?" Tama asked.
Nira stood beside him, arms crossed. "It's off-grid. Power fed by geothermal sources. It was used to build and train the first generation of mirror subjects. Including yours."
Tama's jaw tensed. "So that's where Dark Tama was born."
Ray entered the room, limping slightly, his shoulder still bandaged from the abduction. "Not just him. We believe there are more."
Tama looked up, eyes narrowing. "You mean other versions of me?"
Ray shook his head. "Other people. Other test subjects who never made it out. Some were digitized, others were... altered."
Nira slid a tablet across the table.
PROJECT FILE – OBSIDIAN WARD Status: Contained. Unauthorized Entry: Fatal. Known Subjects: 9
Survivors: Unknown
Tama swallowed.
It wasn't over.
Destroying Dark Tama wasn't the end—it was just the proof of concept. Now the real work began: burning the rest of the nest.
"Then I'm going in," he said.
---
Preparation Room – 08:05 AM
Ray helped Tama gear up: lightweight tactical suit, EMP chips, neural dampeners, and a pulse watch connected to a remote backup feed. Every detail had to be precise—O-LAB was filled with leftover traps from older security AIs.
"Your goal is simple," Ray said. "Get inside. Find the core. Rip out the original server. Bring out the drive, if it still exists. No mercy."
Tama nodded, checking the locking mechanism on his gloves. "And if someone's still alive in there?"
Ray's voice lowered. "Then you decide who's worth saving."
Tama looked toward Risa, who stood behind the glass wall of the observatory. She gave him a small nod. Her face was pale, but her eyes no longer held fear.
"You better come back," she mouthed.
He gave her a thumbs-up, then stepped into the transport tunnel.
---
Location: Air Drop Zone – Outskirts of O-LAB – 12:32 PM
The forest was silent.
Too silent.
Tama crouched beneath the trees, watching as a drone slowly lifted into the air behind him, returning to base. Before him stood a mountain slope, covered with brush, moss, and stone. But on closer inspection, lines of steel peeked from between the rocks—camouflaged doors.
He approached the center panel, then placed the pulse watch against it.
A voice spoke from nowhere.
"Identity mismatch. Reflection key required."
Tama held up a small device—reconstructed from Dark Tama's wristband.
The panel blinked green.
Access Granted. Welcome, TY-D.
Tama stepped inside.
And the door sealed shut behind him.
---
Location: O-LAB – Level 1 – "Mirror Gate"
Inside was pitch-black for a full ten seconds.
Then rows of fluorescent lights flickered on, one by one, revealing a vast corridor lined with glass tanks. Each tank was empty—but fingerprints smeared the inside.
Tama stepped carefully, ears sharp. He passed a faded plaque:
"REFLECTED NEVER RETURN"
The hallway ended in a three-way intersection.
Each labeled:
A: Neuro Lab
B: Simulation Core
C: Subject Chamber
He took path C.
The moment he turned, lights dimmed.
His pulse watch vibrated violently.
ALERT: Mental Echo Detected. Subject DNA Match – 87%
"What—"
Before he could react, a glass wall slid open.
Inside was a bed.
And someone was lying on it.
Another Tama.
This one thinner, older-looking, hooked to wires, unconscious.
A holographic sign floated beside the bed:
Subject TY-Prototype. Status: Preserved. Cognitive Echo active.
Tama stepped forward slowly.
This wasn't like Dark Tama. This version looked broken. As if someone had built him, then left him in sleep mode for years.
Suddenly, the prototype's eyes snapped open.
"No… no… you're not me…" the voice rasped. "You're the shadow."
Tama froze.
"You're the echo," the prototype muttered. "We're all echoes…"
Then, with a violent shake, the prototype convulsed.
The lights turned red.
WARNING: Subject Unstable. Disengage.
Tama backed out of the chamber just before the door slammed shut.
He heard a scream from inside.
And then silence.
---
Location: Level 2 – Simulation Core
Tama pushed through a blast door and found himself in a dome-shaped room. Dozens of screens flickered—some showing landscapes, others looping fragments of memories.
His memories.
Him and Risa in their childhood home. Him lighting the match. Him waking up in therapy.
The screens whispered:
"What if none of this is real?"
"What if you are the clone?"
Tama yelled, "SHUT UP!"
The system paused.
Then one final message blinked above the central console:
To destroy the Operator, destroy the root.
He inserted the EMP chip Ray had given him.
Countdown began.
60 seconds.
Suddenly—
Behind him, a door burst open.
And a woman entered.
She looked familiar.
She looked like—
"Dr. Surya's assistant," Tama breathed.
She smiled faintly. "You think you've found the root? You haven't even seen the stem."
Tama raised his weapon. "Back off."
But she only walked slowly toward him.
"I was the first to walk out of that fire," she said softly. "Before you. Before the mirror children. I was test zero."
Tama froze.
"You didn't escape," she said. "You were released."
The countdown hit 00:10.
Tama made a choice.
He slammed the override and set the blast for manual detonation.
Then lunged for the back exit.
The room exploded behind him.
He didn't stop running.
---
Location: Forest Edge – Extraction Point – 15:50 PM
Smoke filled the sky.
Tama emerged coughing, bruised, clothes scorched.
The helicopter was already waiting.
Risa ran to him, tears spilling.
"You made it," she cried.
He nodded once, too exhausted to speak.
As they lifted off, he looked back.
The mountain was burning.
But in the flames, he saw something move.
Someone.
Still alive.
Watching.
Smiling.
---
TO BE CONTINUED…