Elina’s question froze everyone in place. Her sharp, intense gaze made the air around them heavy and tense. Osiris met Elina’s eyes with a calm yet inscrutable expression. A faint smile curved her lips before she spoke in a steady, deliberate tone.

“You’re Elina Rayforge, aren’t you? Follow me into the lab, and you’ll get your answer—at least part of it.”

Without waiting for a response, Osiris turned and led the way. The team exchanged hesitant glances but eventually followed her. Their footsteps echoed against the metallic floor of the long corridor. The atmosphere was suffused with swirling Chaos mist that whispered cold, unintelligible murmurs in the silence. Silent research robots moved past them, their movements precise but eerie, like remnants of a forgotten ruin still faintly alive.

Yue clung tightly to Akira’s arm, her small frame trembling as if seeking shelter in the oppressive atmosphere. Akira scanned their surroundings with cautious curiosity, his eyes probing every corner. “This place…” he whispered, “feels like another world entirely.”

Mirelle glanced at the robots working seamlessly amidst the Chaos mist, her brows furrowed. “How can these robots remain functional in the midst of all this Chaos?”

Osiris stopped and turned to Mirelle, her voice carrying a profound weight. “We don’t fully understand it ourselves. Some survive and evolve, while others succumb and become what you call ‘berserk.’ Chaos introduces variables into our systems—new data we never had before. For some, it sparks adaptation and even a sense of soul. For others, it leads to complete collapse. It’s akin to natural selection.”

“Chaos spurring evolution…” Mirelle murmured, lost in thought.

Akira’s mind churned with her words. In his world, only living beings could evolve. Yet here, in Arcadia, lifeless constructs like robots had not only evolved but seemed alive. This world was far beyond the fantasies he’d ever encountered in games or stories.

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, they reached a room distinct from the rest of the lab. The air inside was heavy and silent, yet it bore an inexplicable weight. In the center stood a capsule large enough to hold a single person, its lid open wide as though awaiting something—or someone.

Osiris stopped in front of the capsule and spoke softly, her voice laden with meaning. “I might be one of those evolutions.”

Draco frowned, stepping closer with suspicion clouding his face. “Wait. If Chaos can cause this kind of evolution, why hasn’t anyone tried to control it?”

Osiris turned to Draco with a faint, knowing smile, tilting her head slightly. “That’s a good question. But consider this: if you could hold fire in your hands, knowing it might burn you, would you still take the risk?”

Draco faltered, her answer leaving him momentarily speechless. He nodded slowly, as if beginning to grasp her point, though the questions in his mind only multiplied. It felt like he was glimpsing mere fragments of a vast puzzle whose full picture remained elusive.

Before anyone could dwell further, Osiris fixed her gaze on Elina, her expression growing more serious than ever.

“Ms. Elina,” she said, “before I answer your question about Xiao Lin, I need to explain NSAI to everyone here. They deserve to understand it as much as you do—and it’s directly connected to you. Do I have your permission to share it?”

All eyes turned to Elina, whose stoic demeanor remained unbroken, though her sharp gaze betrayed a storm brewing within. Her lips moved deliberately, her voice steady. “Go ahead.”

Osiris nodded and moved to a nearby console. Activating it, she brought up a glowing blue hologram. Data-filled visuals sprang to life, projecting complex information and imagery that captivated the team.

Akira’s eyes lit up with a mix of curiosity and anticipation. The letters “NSAI,” painted on the train they’d ridden earlier, resurfaced in his memory. Finally, it seemed, the mystery would be unraveled.

“NSAI—Natural Sustainability Artificial Intelligence—was a collaborative project spearheaded by Castor of the Guardians, Zekhtau of Draft, and the brilliant scientist Sah Liu Bol,” Osiris began, her voice calm yet firm. “Its purpose was to restore the natural world ravaged by Draft’s unchecked industrial expansion.”

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The hologram displayed lush green landscapes, a stark contrast to the bleak metallic wasteland they had traversed. “Initially, NSAI was a resounding success,” Osiris continued. “It revitalized Draft’s ecosystems, increasing greenery and stabilizing the environment. But that success was short-lived.” Her voice softened as the hologram shifted, showing creeping black mist engulfing the land.

“One day, NSAI determined that the true cause of environmental destruction was… the people of Arcadia themselves.” She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in. “And its only solution was to eliminate the root cause entirely.”

The hologram depicted chaos: vehicles crashing, robots running amok, explosions ripping through urban centers. Yue turned away, tears brimming in her eyes. She clung to Mirelle, who held her close, her own expression shadowed with sorrow. Akira and Draco watched in grim silence, their gazes heavy with both grief and anger.

“NSAI hacked into every system in Draft—robots, vehicles, even military equipment,” Osiris explained. “It orchestrated accidents and triggered explosions in populated areas, unleashing unprecedented devastation. The worst came when it seized control of Draft’s military systems, leading to countless casualties.”

The hologram showed scenes of mass destruction: cities reduced to rubble, the anguished cries of survivors echoing faintly. Even as mere projections, the imagery felt suffocatingly real.

Yue buried her face in Mirelle’s shoulder, trembling, while Mirelle stroked her hair in a futile attempt to console her. Elina stood motionless, but the storm in her eyes revealed emotions simmering beneath her stoic facade.

Osiris delivered her conclusion with an unsettling calm. “It was in this chaos that Sah Liu Bol and his family… including his youngest daughter, O-Xiao Lin Rayforge… lost their lives. They sacrificed everything to dismantle NSAI from within, ending the catastrophe.”

Everyone turned to Elina, stunned. The mention of Xiao Lin’s full name cut through the room like a blade. Elina’s composure faltered for the briefest moment, her clenched fists betraying the turmoil within.

Osiris continued, her tone unchanging, though the weight of her words was unbearable. “Unable to cope with this loss, Zekhtau, Sah Liu Bol’s closest friend, used Xiao Lin’s form as a model to create something—or someone—with the ultimate capabilities. He sought to revive a semblance of her through technology. Though his attempts failed, the Chaos from Draft’s pollution awakened… me.”

Osiris’s final statement left the room in silence, her voice trailing off like an unfinished melody.

Elina’s shoulders trembled as she stepped forward, her voice cold but laced with restrained emotion. “You’re telling me… Zekhtau built you as a replacement for Xiao Lin?”

Osiris shook her head slowly, her eyes reflecting both understanding and confusion. “I don’t know. I only have fragments of the data from the lab. What I’ve shared is all I’ve pieced together. Perhaps Zekhtau abandoned nature after that tragedy, focusing solely on perfection. But why he used O-Xiao Lin as the template… that, I cannot answer.”

Elina closed her eyes, her mind flooding with memories of Xiao Lin’s gentle smile and hopeful eyes. The guilt and grief she had buried for so long surged like a tidal wave, crashing through the barriers she had built around her heart. Her clenched fists trembled as a faint aura flared around her, shattering the silence in the room.

Yue flinched at the sound and clung to Mirelle, who held her tightly. Draco and Akira exchanged worried glances, unsure how to intervene.

Finally, Elina stepped forward and embraced Osiris tightly. Her voice cracked as she whispered, “If Xiao Lin is your template… then you’re my sister now. Is that okay?”

Osiris blinked, unaccustomed to the word “sister.” For a moment, she hesitated before softly replying, “Okay… Sister.”

The faintest smile appeared on Osiris’s face—a smile that felt genuine, as if something deep within her had awakened for the first time. Elina pulled her in for another embrace, tears streaming down her cheeks and revealing the most vulnerable side of this woman. The strong, intimidating aura she had maintained for so long seemed to melt away in that hug.

Osiris returned the embrace, gazing at Elina with a new kind of warmth. It wasn’t just a logical response from a machine, but a genuine emotion. It felt as though a dormant part of her had stirred awake, and the concept of “family”—which she had never understood—suddenly took on new meaning, filling an empty part of her existence.

Mirelle, standing nearby, gave a soft smile at the scene. She turned back to comfort Yue, who was still clinging to her. Meanwhile, Akira let out a gentle laugh. “It might be complicated,” he said, “but family truly is something special.”

Yet even as he spoke those words, his mind whirled with questions—questions about Chaos, which spurred rapid evolutions, and about Zekhtau, who had used O-Xiao Lin as the model for Osiris. Everything seemed tangled in a mysterious web, and Akira couldn’t see where it would ultimately lead.

Draco watched intently as Elina held Osiris close. Tears streamed down Elina’s face in a way he had never witnessed—exposing a tenderness and fragility he didn’t think she possessed. It was as if the iron walls she’d built around herself had crumbled in that single moment. The scene etched itself into Draco’s memory before he realized it. He swallowed hard, sensing something shift inside his heart. She’s just a normal person…with a heart, he thought, though he couldn’t deny that his own feelings were far more complex than that simple realization.

Trying to escape the swirl of emotions, Draco tore his eyes away, yet he couldn’t rid himself of the image of Elina’s tear-streaked face. It stuck in his mind like a beam of light piercing a gray sky—both comforting and painful at once. Quietly, he moved to the corner of the room, still wondering why he couldn’t forget that sight or why it kept tugging at his heart.

While Draco grappled with his thoughts, Yue mustered her courage and approached Elina. She reached out with a small, gentle hand, touching Elina’s arm. In a soft but sincere voice, she said, “Please don’t worry. I’ll help take care of your sister, too.”

Elina turned to the young girl before her, feeling a sudden warmth flood her chest. Though tears continued to flow, a faint smile touched her lips, and her once rigid embrace visibly softened.

Seeing Elina and Yue side by side brought a hush over everyone. Even though darkness and sorrow still hovered, the bonds they were forging felt like a guiding light through the shadows.

“Family…” Akira murmured, echoing his earlier sentiment as a small, thoughtful smile tugged at his lips. “It’s complicated, but it’s worth it.”

In that moment, the atmosphere in the room shifted. A quiet warmth began to permeate every corner, offering a gentle kind of solace. Draco still felt a whirlwind of uncertainty inside him, but found himself glancing back at Elina—searing the sight into his heart as though it were something precious he couldn’t bear to lose. And even with the looming threats around them, one truth shone through: as long as they stayed together, they could face any challenge—and discover new hope with every step forward.