[Palm – Nexus Spire, Central Corridor]
The moment we stepped through the reinforced door, two sleek security drones dropped from the ceiling.
They moved fast—but not aggressively. Smooth. Controlled. Almost polite.
Before I could react, one of them took the crowbar from my hand. Another slid Win's pipe away. Kao's axe was lifted from her grip just as easily.
No resistance. No warning.
Just a soft chime.
"Weapons will be returned upon clearance."
And that was it.
We were unarmed.
The corridor ahead stretched long and empty.
Too clean.
Too quiet.
The air here was even colder than before, filtered to the point it barely felt real. The walls shifted from white to soft silver as we walked, reflecting us back in distorted, ghost-like shapes.
I flexed my fingers.
They kept twitching, like they were searching for something that wasn't there anymore.
Win walked on my left.
Kao on my right.
The three of us, stripped of everything that had kept us alive.
I didn't like it.
I glanced at Win. His jaw was tight, his shoulders tense. He looked ready for a fight, even here.
I almost reached for his hand.
I didn't.
Not here.
Not under all these unseen eyes.
The corridor opened into a wide, circular chamber.
And I stopped.
A single black glass desk stood at the center.
Behind it—
Naree.
My mother.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
She looked the same. Exactly the same. Neat hair tied back, blouse perfectly pressed, posture straight like she was still at work on a normal day.
But her eyes—
They weren't the same.
They were red. Tired. Like she hadn't slept in days.
The moment she saw me, everything broke.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"Palm…"
Her voice cracked.
I froze.
Every memory hit at once. Her calling me for dinner. Scolding me for being late. Packing snacks I always pretended I didn't want.
"Mom…" The word came out quiet. Smaller than it should have.
She took a step forward—
Then stopped.
Like something held her back.
Like she remembered where we were.
Her eyes searched my face, like she was trying to make sure I was real.
"I thought I lost you," she whispered. "Every night… every single night… I kept thinking about the last time I saw you. You were rushing out, complaining about the Children's Day fair like it was the worst thing in the world…"
Her voice broke completely.
Tears slipped down before she could stop them.
"I didn't even say anything properly. I just told you not to be late."
My chest tightened so hard it hurt.
"I'm here," I said, stepping closer without thinking. "I'm here, Mom."
She let out a shaky breath, like she'd been holding it for days.
"You're here," she repeated, almost to herself.
For a second, she reached out—like she wanted to hold me—but stopped halfway, fingers trembling.
Her gaze dropped to my arm.
The bandage.
Something in her expression changed.
Fear.
Understanding.
Then she looked at Win.
Her eyes filled again.
"Thank you," she said, voice unsteady. "For saving him. For everything you did. I saw it—through the drones. The transfusion… the way you didn't hesitate…"
Win shifted slightly, uncomfortable under her gaze.
"I'd do anything," he said quietly. "To keep the person I love alive."
The words landed heavier than anything else in the room.
Naree swallowed hard, nodding.
"Then I owe you more than I can ever repay."
Her eyes moved to Kao.
She studied her for a moment, like she was piecing something together from memory.
"I saw you too," Naree said softly. "The way you fought. The way you stood between them and the others… more than once."
Kao stayed still.
But I saw it.
That small shift in her expression.
"I don't know everything yet," Naree continued, "but I know enough to understand what you did. Thank you."
Kao gave a small nod. "I did what I could."
Naree's lips pressed together, emotion flickering across her face again—but before anything more could be said—
The far door opened.
And the room changed.
Sirin stepped in.
Win's mother.
She looked exactly like she always had—sharp, composed, perfectly put together. Not a single detail out of place.
Like the world hadn't ended at all.
Her eyes moved over us once.
Calculating.
Me.
Kao.
Win.
"Win," she said calmly. "Palm. Kao. You've come a long way."
Win went still beside me.
I could feel the tension in him.
This wasn't just another person.
This was her.
Kao stepped forward before anything else could happen. She didn't waste a single second.
Her voice was steady—but there was something underneath it. Something sharp.
"Where is Lin?" she asked. "What actually is a Naïve? How did all this start? And why do I have distorted memories?"
The room went quiet.
Sirin didn't react immediately.
She just looked at Kao.
Studied her.
"Those are not small questions," she said finally. "And they do not have simple answers."
Kao's grip tightened slightly, but she didn't interrupt.
Win spoke immidiatly.
"Why did we skip medical?" he asked. "Why just us?"
Sirin turned her attention to him.
"You already know why," she said.
Win's hands clenched.
I could see it building—the frustration, the fear.
"Why am I immune?" he asked, his voice quieter now. "What did you do to me?"
Kao's expression changed because we never told her about this. But she trusted us enough to let it go
Sirin didn't hesitate.
"I saved you."
That was it.
No explanation.
No apology.
Just that.
I watched the shift in Win's face. The way his expression hardened, then faltered for a second.
Like something inside him cracked.
I know what's he thinking. How can a mother experiment on her own child? How can she make her a lab rat? That's exactly what Win was thinking too.
Sirin's gaze moved to me next.
It stayed on my arm a second longer than it should have.
"Your condition is… unique," she said. "But it is not your priority right now."
A chill ran through me.
She knew.
Of course she knew.
She's like Omniscient. It's like She's the author of this story or maybe there are things that Sirin knows but Author doesn't.
Then she stepped back slightly.
A door beside her opened without a sound.
"Naree," she said, not looking away from us, "see to the others."
My mom hesitated.
Her eyes found mine again.
So much in them.
Fear.
Relief.
Love.
Then she nodded and stepped away.
I watched her go until she disappeared behind the glass doors.
Then it was just us again.
Sirin turned.
"The three of you will come with me," she said.
We followed her.
The next corridor was narrower. Quieter. The light dimmer, colder.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
My heart wouldn't slow down.
Win's mother had just confirmed she had done something to him.
She had dismissed whatever was happening to me.
And Kao still had no answers.
The door behind us slid shut.
A soft click echoed.
Sirin stopped walking.
She didn't turn around immediately.
When she finally did, her gaze landed on Win.
And for the first time—
There was no distance in it.
No calculation.
Just something direct.
"I need your help, Win."
Silence filled the corridor.
And the weight of those words settled in.
We didn't move.
We just stood there—
At the edge of something we couldn't see yet.
And whatever came next—
There was no going back.
___