When The Rain Fall

Mia staggered backward, gasping.

Liam caught her. "What happened?"

She grabbed onto his arm, steadying herself. "There was someone… someone I knew."

Jonah frowned. "Who?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember his name. But he saved me."

Evelyn gestured to the vault door. "Then maybe his name is in there."

Jonah bypassed the system, and the door unlocked with a heavy hiss.

They stepped inside.

The room was dark, lined with rows of stasis pods. Some were shattered. Others still hummed faintly with power.

Mia's heart pounded.

And then—

A single pod at the back lit up.

A heartbeat monitor beeped softly.

Someone was inside.

Liam tensed, his hand hovering near his weapon. "Whoever they are… they're still alive."

Mia stepped forward, her fingers trembling as she wiped the frost from the glass.

A man's face appeared.

And her entire body froze.

The scar down his jawline.

The man from her memory.

Her voice came out in a whisper.

"…Noah?"

Jonah's head snapped toward her. "You know him?"

A rush of buried emotions slammed into her.

She didn't just know him.

Noah was the one person she had trusted.

And The Hollow Veil had erased him.

Liam stepped beside her, his expression unreadable. "Then let's wake him up."

Mia reached for the control panel.

Because if Noah was alive, then so were the answers.

And maybe, just maybe—the truth she had been searching for was finally within reach.

The control panel's screen flickered as Mia's fingers hovered over the activation sequence. A name appeared:

Subject 017 – Noah Soren

Status: Induced Cryostasis – Memory Fragmentation Complete

Initiate Revival Protocol? [Y/N]

Her pulse roared in her ears. Noah Soren. The name felt like a missing note in a melody she had once known by heart.

Liam's voice was measured. "Mia, are you sure?"

She pressed the button. Yes.

The pod released a sharp hiss as frost melted away from the glass. The monitors beeped wildly, showing erratic vitals. Jonah adjusted the settings, stabilizing the process.

Evelyn stood back, her eyes scanning the room with unease. "If The Hollow Veil kept him frozen, they had a reason."

Mia didn't care. If Noah had once been erased from her mind, then that meant he was a threat to someone.

And she needed to know why.

The stasis pod released a final exhale of cold air.

Then—Noah's eyes snapped open.

His gaze was unfocused at first, flickering between them before landing on Mia.

The room felt smaller, suffocating, as a silent recognition passed between them.

Then, in a voice hoarse from years of silence, he spoke.

"…Mia?"

Her breath hitched.

He remembered her.

But before she could speak, Noah's expression twisted in confusion, then alarm. He gritted his teeth, his body tensing like an animal backed into a corner.

"Where am I?" His voice was sharp now, edged with something dangerous. His eyes darted to Jonah, then to Liam. "Who are they?"

Mia stepped closer. "Noah, it's okay. You're safe."

Noah flinched. "No, I was safe before—before you—" His words broke, like static disrupting a signal.

Then, his face paled.

"They found me."

His body convulsed. The monitors flashed red.

Evelyn rushed forward. "He's crashing!"

Mia barely had time to react before Noah collapsed into her arms.

They moved Noah to a secure room within the facility, placing him on an old but functional cot. Jonah monitored his vitals while Evelyn kept a gun at her side, still wary.

Mia sat beside him, her mind racing.

He had recognized her.

But his fear wasn't just confusion—it was real.

Noah had been hiding from something, and The Hollow Veil had locked him away to keep him silent.

Liam leaned against the doorframe. "This isn't just about him, is it?"

Mia shook her head. "No. It's about all of us."

She turned to Jonah. "That encrypted file you found earlier—Subject 017. Can you recover more?"

Jonah's fingers danced over his laptop. "I can try, but whatever's in here, someone buried it deep."

The screen glitched before lines of data appeared. He narrowed his eyes. "Wait… this isn't just about Noah."

Mia leaned closer. "What do you mean?"

Jonah hesitated. Then—

A second name appeared beneath Noah's.

Subject 018 – Mia Ashford

Status: Memory Reconfiguration – Partial Completion

The words blurred before Mia's eyes.

Liam stiffened. "Mia… what the hell is this?"

Her mouth went dry.

They didn't just erase Noah.

They erased her, too.

Hours passed before Noah finally stirred. His breathing was uneven, his fingers twitching as if grasping for something unseen.

Mia was at his side in an instant. "Noah?"

His eyelids fluttered before his storm-gray eyes met hers. This time, there was less fear—but more sorrow.

"You shouldn't have woken me up."

She swallowed hard. "I had to."

Noah exhaled shakily. "Then you don't remember. Not everything."

Mia's fingers curled around the edge of the cot. "Tell me."

Noah hesitated. Then, with a voice weighed by years of silence, he spoke.

"They didn't just take our memories." His hands trembled as he ran them through his dark hair. "They took our identities. Our pasts. They turned us into echoes of people we used to be."

Mia's heartbeat slowed. "Then tell me who I was."

Noah's expression darkened. "You were the reason The Hollow Veil existed in the first place."

Silence crashed over the room.

Jonah stopped typing. Evelyn's grip tightened on her weapon. Liam's jaw clenched.

Mia stared at Noah, her own voice barely a whisper. "What?"

Noah sat up, his eyes heavy with an old pain.

"You and I… we tried to stop them once." He exhaled sharply. "And we failed."

Mia's vision blurred as memories long buried began to stir.

The world tilted. The whispers in her mind returned, but now—

Now they had words.

You were never supposed to wake up.

The air in the room felt heavy. Noah's words hung between them like an unspoken truth—one that Mia wasn't sure she was ready to face.

You and I… we tried to stop them once. And we failed.

Her head throbbed as fragmented memories swirled like ghosts in her mind. Shadows of conversations she couldn't quite grasp. Images of a life she didn't remember living.

Liam's voice cut through the silence. "We need answers. Now."

Noah's fingers twitched against the cot's fabric. "I need time."

"We don't have time," Evelyn snapped. "Mia's name was in that file. If they erased her past, they'll come for her again."

Noah exhaled sharply. "It's not that simple. If they find her now, they won't just erase her memory again." His voice dropped. "They'll erase her."

A chill crawled down Mia's spine.

Liam crossed his arms. "Then start talking."

Noah hesitated, as if weighing a choice he couldn't take back. Then—his gaze met Mia's, and something in him cracked.

"…You were the first."

Mia's breath hitched. "The first what?"

Noah swallowed. "The first to hear the Echo."