"You see the patterns, don’t you, Ayanami? Then you know what’s coming."
The clone knew her moves because the clone was her. But the clone had never improvised.
Her classmates called her the Ice Princess. Not because she was cruel, but because she never flinched. Not when the combat drones shorted out during live drills. Not when the headmistress announced that three girls had gone missing from the east dormitory in the past month. sena ayanami
The clone flinched.
“She knows everything you know,” Hoshino called out, backing toward the servers. “Every move you’ve practiced. Every weakness you’ve hidden. You cannot beat her. You can only join her.” "You see the patterns, don’t you, Ayanami
The girl in the tank opened her eyes. Sena had exactly 1.4 seconds to react before the tank shattered. Unit 07 exploded outward in a spray of amber fluid and glass, landing in a crouch that mirrored Sena’s own combat stance. They circled each other, two reflections in a broken mirror.
The door hissed open. Inside, a room the size of a hangar. Banks of servers hummed along one wall, their lights blinking in arrhythmic patterns. In the center, suspended in a cylindrical tank of amber fluid, floated a girl. Her classmates called her the Ice Princess
"Don’t trust the basement."
“You’re wondering why,” said the voice. A woman stepped out from behind the servers. Headmistress Hoshino, her silver hair immaculate, her smile worse than any threat. “Why we built her. Why we told you nothing. Why we’re so interested in your particular… gifts.”