"That means it’s working," Tristan said behind her. He peered over her shoulder and pointed at one of the patterns. "That’s a Mirror, a lot of them actually. No wonder the General hasn’t returned. They must encountered more Mirrors than we expected."

Anna recalled the Mirrors. She had heard of them, but she didn’t know what they were.

She opened her mouth to ask, then paused. A quick Look around confirmed that AI Orchid was nowhere to be found. Anna realized that she hadn’t seen her since she woke up.

So she went ahead and asked Tristan. "What’s a Mirror?"

"That." Tristan said, pointing at something not too far away.

Anna looked up.

There was something. It was the size of a large dog, but looked nothing like a dog. Its body was made of a silvery reflective surface, like a mirror. Anna recognized it from an Original Memory—Princess Orchid had found a way to turn them into her loyal dogs. But the ones in her memories were nastier. They had teeth and red eyes and their bodies weren’t only reflective but also dark.

Bile rose in Anna’s throat.

Don’t think about that bitch. Don’t even try it.

"Why isn’t it moving?" She asked Tristan as she shoved away all the unpleasant memories and locked them in a dark vault in her mind.

The Mirror stayed away, its body swirling and marbling in the afternoon sun. It didn’t make a sound or try to move.

"Mirrors prefer to hunt solitary prey. Their powers are reflection, they copy their prey’s move and keep them trapped until they get exhausted."

"Then what? They eat their prey?"

"No. Mirrors don’t kill. They trap prey and wait for the Whisperers and Dream Weavers. Those do the killing and then the Mirrors eat the scraps."

"That sounds like something out of a horror movie." Anna shuddered, hugging herself. This world is scary. Staying in the palace, it’s easy to forget it’s a terrible place to live in.

Tristan took a step closer and turned to her. "Don’t worry, your highness. I won’t fail at my task. I’ll protect you, no matter what it costs."

"I don’t need you to protect me." She said with mild annoyance.

That only made his smile widen. "If you got hurt, General Leon will have my head for lunch. Please, your highness, let me do my job and keep you safe."

Anna nodded, although she doubted whether Leon would care if anything happened to her. Knowing how much he hated her and even wanted her dead, she wondered if he intentionally left her behind so she would become food for the AI beasts.

"Fine." She huffed. She didn’t have a weapon, and even though he said that Mirrors didn’t attack or kill their prey, she didn’t like the look of it.

"Stay still, okay? It’s focused on you." Tristan said in a calm tone as he advanced towards the Mirror.

Anna blinked. And she missed it.

One second, Tristan was in front of her. The next, the mirror was on the ground, cut neatly in half, a mixture of blood and black goo spilling out it.

"Is that blood?!" Anna shrieked, jumping back.

Tristan turned to her, the mixture dripping off his sword, not a single drop of it on his body. "Yes."

"That means it’s alive?!"

He glanced at the dead Mirror. "AI beasts aren’t alive, or dead either. We don’t truly know what they are." Tristan said cheerfully. He cleaned his sword and stashed it back. "We should get going, your highness. It’s dangerous here."

The detector continued to beep furiously.

I want to go home... this is all hurting my brain...

She looked down at the screen and spotted a lot of the Mirror patterns. The other unidentified patterns she decided were the Dream Weavers and whatever. Her stomach dropped and she walked up to Tristan, and for a second, she was grateful for his presence.

As they walked past the dead Mirror, she glanced at it. She could swear she saw entrails inside it, squiggling like live worms.

She swallowed hard.

Five thousand years ago, humans spliced AI code with human DNA...does this mean that these beasts were once human?

But humans are extinct now. It’s all beastmen.

Are there any beastmen turned AI beast? Is that even possible?

So many questions filled Anna’s head, making her headache worse. Not to mention the incessant beeping of the detector, and the sun beating down on her back like it had a score against her.

Everything mounted on each other, and soon Anna was too exhausted to even think.

"What the fuck is wrong with this thing?" She grumbled, smacking the detector. But that only made it beep faster.

"Maybe it’s broken," Tristan said after they’d walked a distance away from the car.

"Maybe," Anna agreed, deciding to look into it later.

A rustle came from behind her.

She turned around. Behind her she spotted another Mirror. It stood at a safe distance away, hidden among foliage that looked like plants from a low budget zombie movie.

It just watched.

It didn’t have a face but Anna felt the weight of eyes on her. Eyes that felt emotive, like the Mirror was glaring at her with hatred.

Another rustle.

She spotted another one. And another. And another. All of them hiding in the bushes, watching. Their bodies reflecting the blinding sun.

"Um... Tristan?"

"Yes, your highness?"

"There’s more of them."

Tristan paused and stood beside her. "Oh. They’re here for their dead one."

"What?"

"It’s a common behavior among Mirrors. Studies say that they feel emotions for their kind, possibly emotions they mirrored off of our kind."

"You mean they hold funerals?"

"No one has ever seen it, but it’s suspected." Tristan gently nudged her away from them. "They won’t attack us. I can assure you."

Anna looked away, her mind confused. "No wonder the detector keeps beeping..." she muttered.

The next time she glanced over her shoulder, the Mirrors were gone. And where the dead Mirror was, there was only a dark puddle of blood and goo.

The detector continued to beep.

Anna ignored the sound. Afterall, they were close to a ruin. It was only natural. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Tristan explained that a cub had gone into the ruin and returned with a tech from the Old World. That drew the attention of Mirrors, and soon other beasts followed.

After ten minutes, Anna and Tristan arrived at the settlement.

It was a small village with modest houses, and the first time Anna got a glimpse of life outside the palace. She saw people peeping out of the windows, some mothers clutching their children, men with weapons and shaky hands. But from the looks of it, no dead bodies.

Yet.

She easily spotted Leon and his men. They fought the beasts, some of them mirrors, some of them taller and mangled looking creatures that gave a terrifying roar.

Anna was about to call out to Leon when she spotted a small beast creeping up at him from behind. She opened her mouth to call his attention, but he beat her to it.

He spun around and swung his sword. The metal flashed, slicing through the beast like it was wet paper.

Anna’s jaw dropped.

A dozen more pounced on him. One swipe of his sword reduced them to clean halves. His regalia was stained, drenched in blood and that black goo. He moved with grace and fluidity, never missing a strike, his sword fast and sharp. He looked like he’d done this all his life.

Wow...he’s really impressive. I guess he’s not a General so he can abuse his power and murder his wife.

Then something caught her eye.

Leon didn’t look normal.

His hair was wild, flickering between hair and static, pointed and metallic at the tips.His face warped between his human and his beast form. It was then she noticed it. The tiny silver particles floating in the air.

Nanites.

The source of the corruption that drives beastmen mad.

"No..." Anna gasped. "His corruption is flaring up! He needs to leave! Leon! Leon—"

"Your highness! You must not draw his attention!" Tristan said urgently, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

Her voice had already gotten to Leon.

His head snapped in her direction and his expression became one of boiling hate. A beast charged at him and he killed it without looking.

"Anna!" He roared, his voice shaking the ground. His voice distorted, like man and beast all at once. "Where are you going?"

Slash! Another beast dead.

Anna took a step back. Fear gripped her heart. She realized, painfully, that he shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be exposed to more Nanites when she were trying so hard to cure him.

"Anna!" He yelled again, a hollow cackle rumbling out of his throat. "Come here. Get over here! Now!"

Anna screamed.

Leon looked like a wild beast. A hungry one. When he grinned at her, she lost every shred of calm.

With the detector clasped in her hand, she bolted in the opposite direction.