Neon lights from Tokyo Bay spilled like a galaxy into the twilight as the Reverse Scale Squad's hovercar halted before an aged apartment building. Inside, voice-controlled lights flickered on and off in the corridor, where peeling paint revealed dark gold glyphs beneath—"glyph seals" once covered in red paint, now oozing eerie purple light.
"Something's wrong here." Xiaotao's star meteorite bracelet burned hot, deep blue energy condensing into a warning symbol in her palm. "Glyph fluctuations feel like... someone crying."
A Jiu's shadow crows burst from her hair, circling the corridor. Dark purple mist seeped from their feathers, forming a faint face in the air—a schoolgirl with tears in her eyes.
"Is that... Xiaokui?" Sakura's Cherry Glyph glowed pink as her fingertip touched the wall. "The middle schooler who went missing three years ago. News said she 'fell accidentally'..."
Lanye's Glyph Core trembled violently. He sensed an unprecedented resonance between the building's spiritual energy and the Reverse Scale Core—a call from "unfinished life", laden with unspoken regret and fear.
"Let's check upstairs," he told the team. "Watch your step."
—
The second-floor corridor was cluttered with debris, its wall calendar frozen on June 15th, three years ago. The innermost room's door hung ajar, leaking denser purple light. As Lanye pushed it open, the air in the entire room suddenly solidified—
A half-drunk milk tea sat on the desk, condensation trickling to form words: "Mom, I'm so scared."
The wardrobe creaked open, revealing a blood-stained school uniform. A Jiu's crows shrieked as dark purple mist wrapped the uniform, sketching a girl's silhouette: she stood on the balcony edge, black fog roiling behind her, hands clutching a glyph pendant at her chest.
"That's..." Su Li's voice shook as her Cherry Glyph resonated with the Time Glyph cocoon. "A glyph pendant! All missing persons three years ago wore the same!"
Lanye's Glyph Core blazed, golden flames intertwined with pink Cherry Glyphs, deep blue star meteorite light, and dark purple crow shadows, weaving the Reverse Scale totem in mid-air. When the flames touched the girl's form, her outline clarified—she wasn't a ghost, but a life fragment "frozen" at the moment of death by some force.
"She's calling for help." Xiaotao's eyes reddened as her bracelet flared. "I can feel her consciousness is still there, like a butterfly in a glass jar."
The wall clock suddenly spun backward. The hour hand moved from "9" to "8", the minute hand from "30" to "20", disrupting time in the room. A Jiu's crows wailed, their feathers turning white and fading into translucent "time afterimages"—footage from three years ago: the girl calling on the balcony, arguing voices in the background; her storming out, a half-photo falling from her pocket, showing her with a man in a white coat.
"It's the Gene Research Institute!" Wu Wang's voice crackled over the comms. "The 'accidental falls' three years ago weren't accidents! They were secretly researching a 'Glyph Enhancement Plan', using teenagers for live experiments!"
Lanye's Glyph Core burned. He sensed the girl's consciousness held tampered memories—she should have attended a glyph awakening test that day, but was forcefully taken as a test subject, ultimately falling during resistance.
"Reverse Scale Squad, coordinate!" he shouted. "Xiaotao, stabilize time with star meteorite; A Jiu, crows track the timeline; Sakura, Cherry Glyphs awaken her consciousness!"
Xiaotao's bracelet glowed deep blue, star meteorite energy flooding the room to form a stable light cocoon amidst time turbulence. A Jiu's crows dissolved into dark purple mist, diving into time fissures to retrieve a wisp of consciousness— the girl's final memory fragment: "Mom said... glyphs are gifts... not weapons..."
Sakura's Cherry Glyph bloomed, pink petals floating to the girl's form. As they touched her, the girl's tears fell—three years of sealed grievance and fear.
"I hear you," Lanye's voice was gentle as his Blazing Heaven Flame Glyph Core resonated with her pendant. "You weren't a test subject. You were brave."
The girl's form began to fade. Her fingers brushed Lanye's Glyph Core, sending a memory: three years ago, her mother knelt at the institute's door begging for her release, while her father, a "researcher", had signed off on the glyph core experiments.
"Dad... why?" the girl's voice was a sigh.
Lanye's Glyph Core lit golden flames, writing in the air: "Because of love."
The girl's form froze. Her pendant glowed, its spiral glyphs matching the Reverse Scale Core perfectly. Warm light poured from the pendant, enveloping her consciousness.
"So... glyphs are marks of love." She smiled, tear tracks turning to stardust. "Mom said true glyphs protect what's important..."
The light cocoon exploded. The girl's form dissolved into stardust, merging with the Reverse Scale Core. A new engraving appeared on Lanye's Glyph Core: "To Xiaokui—Your courage taught glyphs to be gentle."
—
Morning light poured through the window onto the girl's desk. The half-milk tea remained warm, its condensation refracting rainbow light.
"We did it..." Xiaotao wiped tears as her bracelet dimmed.
A Jiu's crows regained their black feathers as she stroked one: "Time isn't an enemy; it's a witness to love."
Sakura's Cherry Glyph petals landed on the girl's photo: "She'll live on in everyone who remembers her."
Wu Wang's bone ornament shimmered silver: "Glyph power isn't control—it's connection. Connecting past regrets, present warmth, future hope."
Lanye looked at the Reverse Scale Core, sensing a gentle warmth in global glyph fluctuations—Xiaokui's consciousness resonating with countless strangers.
"Glyphs' meaning," he said, "is to remind us: every life is a unique miracle."
As the hovercar started, its glyph light trail stretched long in the morning mist. The squad's glyphs shone together in the sun—star meteorite blue, cherry pink, crow purple, time silver—weaving a new totem like a star track to the future, unfurling across the city's skyline.