The sky outside Xu Kai’s space ship window was painted in soft shades of blue, with faint stars twinkling beyond the atmosphere. It would’ve been a peaceful view—beautiful, even—if his mind wasn’t racing with worry. He wasn’t here to admire the stars.
His hands gripped the controls tightly, eyes flicking between the navigation screen and the horizon ahead. The sleek, compact spaceship he was piloting humd steadily as it descended through the outer layers of the spire.
This planet was too far from the central Spire. It wasn’t protected by the law or covered by the usual patrol routes. Xu Kai knew better than to trust anyone out here. Pirates, black-market hunters, and dangerous exiles often passed through.
So would steal his ship in a heartbeat. Others might recognize it. And worse... he had also seen that man was also on this planet. The very idea made his blood run cold. If that man even suspected why Xu Kai was here, everything would be ruined before it even began.
So Xu Kai slowed the ship manually, his hands steady on the controls as the outer atmosphere of the planet lood ahead. But instead of beginning descent, he veered sharply to the left, guiding the ship toward a faint distortion in space barely visible to the naked eye—a dinsional crack that shimred like a ripple in glass.
Most would’ve missed it. Most wouldn’t even dare approach it. But Xu Kai had used this kind of hidden rift before. It was unstable, yes—but perfect for keeping sothing out of sight.
He carefully navigated the ship toward the edge of the crack, where the fabric of space was thin. The sensors flickered briefly—then stilled as he slipped the ship halfway into the rift. It felt like flying into a dream made of static.
The stars outside dimd, colors bent strangely, and ti itself felt slower. Here, inside the fractured fold, the ship’s silhouette would vanish from all common radar scans. He activated the silencing field, muting the energy signature entirely. The vessel was now as good as invisible—floating between two planes of existence, hidden from view.
Xu Kai stared at it for a long mont, making sure it held stable within the crack’s edges. One wrong move, and the ship could collapse. But he had done this before.
But with every step, his chest grew tighter.
It wasn’t just the danger that made his heartbeat unsteady—it was the person waiting ahead.
Liora.
Or rather... Aeris.
The woman he had once loved with everything he had. The mother of his child. The partner who had promised him they would survive together, no matter what. But now... she didn’t rember him.
She didn’t even recognize his voice or his face. The last ti they t, she had looked at him with blank eyes, as if they were strangers. As if their past had been erased.
Xu Kai’s throat tightened just thinking about it. He didn’t know what had happened to her. He had spent so many nights replaying the possibilities—trying to understand how soone could forget everything.
He had seen people change before. In this age of advanced technology, it was no longer a miracle—it was a service. Entire identities could be wiped clean. Faces reshaped. Bodies rebuilt. Hair, eyes, skin—every detail could be tailored like a design. Clinics offered full physical reconstructions, and for the right price, even genetic codes could be altered.
A person could walk into a facility as one version of themselves and step out entirely new—undetectable, untraceable. It wasn’t just the elite or spies who did it anymore. Fugitives, debt-runners, even political pawns—all used these thods to escape their pasts.
So chose it. Others were forced. But no matter how it happened, the results were always the sa: the person who ca out was soone else. And Xu Kai knew that now, in this world, nothing was impossible.
But Aeris? The real Aeris he knew... she would’ve never chosen this.
She would’ve never walked away from him. And she would’ve never left their daughter.
That thought hurt the most.
He turned his eyes away from the landscape, trying to breathe through the weight sitting on his chest. The woman nad Liora had her blood. Her aura. But her eyes didn’t see him anymore. Her voice didn’t soften when he spoke.
And the worst part was—her appearance had changed just enough to make him doubt it at first. Her hair color was different. Her expression had lost that playful sharpness he used to love. Her movents were calm, disciplined. Her face... more mature, a little sharper, touched with sothing unfamiliar.
At first glance, he had brushed her off. When they t six months ago in the ruins, he hadn’t felt a thing. Just another survivor. maybe a strong and skilled one but unknown to him. He didn’t allow his heart to hope—he couldn’t.
but after staying with her for many months he find how similar they are and the appearance of atlas was enough to awaken ripple in his heart.
And a bold thought appear in his mind that it was her.
His Aeris.
He swallowed hard.
If not for that, he would’ve missed her entirely.
And that thought... it crushed him.
Just as he reached for the teleportation ball, adjusting the crystal core to bring him down directly near the base wall, another mory flashed through his mind—so sudden it knocked the breath from him.
His daughter.
Aerish had cried that morning when she heard he was going. She had tugged at his coat, her tiny fists clutching the fabric with all her strength.
"I want to co too, Daddy. I want to find Mommy."
She had said it with hope in her eyes. With dreams.
But he couldn’t let her co.
No matter how much it broke him to leave her behind.
The journey was too uncertain. Too dangerous. He didn’t know how many days it would take to reach Liora, or how long it would take to convince her, to bring back her mories... if that was even possible. He didn’t know what was waiting in that base. And most of all—he didn’t know how she would react if he showed up with a child in his arms and claid it was hers.
If Liora had truly lost her mories...
If she looked at that little girl and felt nothing...
If she denied everything...
Would his daughter be able to bear that?
Would her little heart survive it?
The answer was clear.
No.
It would shatter her.
And Xu Kai couldn’t take that risk. Not when she had already grown up without a mother. Not when she only had him, and even he had been gone most of the ti, serving endless missions, chasing shadows across star systems.
Aerish deserved more than this cold, lonely reality.
She deserved a family. A mother who knew her. A father who stayed.
And if there was even the smallest chance of fixing what was broken... of healing what had been lost...
Then he would go. Alone.
He would confront Liora. He would ask her why. Why did she forget him? Why did she leave their daughter? Why did she vanish when she had sworn—sworn—that she would never let go of their bond?
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