Kiran's quiet investigation into the missing children and the recurring black sand hadn't gone unnoticed. He felt eyes on him, a subtle tightening of the invisible net. Other survivors from the Eclipse Foundation, ghosts like him, were being systematically picked off the digital grid, their last known locations vanishing, their digital footprints scrubbed clean. They were either being re-captured or permanently silenced.
One rain-slicked night, tracking a faint energy signature he'd detected near a recent disappearance, Kiran found himself caught in a trap. He moved like a shadow through an abandoned industrial complex, the air thick with the scent of ozone and something metallic. A voice, cold and precise, cut through the darkness. "Subject 07. We knew you'd resurface."
From the shadows, Lux (Subject 03) emerged. Her power, "fractal duplication," was horrifyingly efficient. She moved, and three, then five, then seven copies of her shimmered into existence, each identical, each mirroring her movements with chilling synchronicity. They weren't solid, but semi-tangible constructs, fading and reforming, making her impossible to pin down. "The Foundation taught us well, didn't it, Kiran?" Lux purred, her voice devoid of emotion. "Though it seems you've squandered your potential. Still running."
The fight was a brutal, disorienting dance. Lux's copies swarmed him, striking from impossible angles. Kiran stutter-stepped, creating tiny pockets of frozen time, dodging blows, seeking an opening. Each use of his power sent a fresh jolt of pain through him, his vision blurring at the edges. He could feel the accelerated aging taking its toll; another streak of white hair appeared at his temple, more pronounced this time. Lux's taunts were razor-sharp, cutting deeper than any physical blow. "Liam was a fool. A sentimental relic. The collapse was a necessary culling, Kiran. Phase 2 demands a higher caliber of vessel."
She confirmed his terrifying theory: the facility's collapse wasn't an accident. It was a controlled demolition, a brutal severing to prune the weak and prepare for the next stage under the banner of Neo-Eclipse, a corporate leviathan he now knew was far more sinister than a mere tech giant. Kiran, pushing his power past its breaking point, managed to create a momentary breach in Lux's duplicates, allowing him to escape into the sprawling, indifferent city, leaving a trail of shimmering black sand in his wake. He was no longer just hunted; he was deeply, intrinsically embroiled in a conspiracy far larger and more terrifying than he could have imagined.