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Not long after her birthday, several incidents of property damage and the deaths of several psychics in America were reported. Ai Thao and two other psychics from the commune (Tuyet and Hau) were dispatched to investigate and deal with the perpetrator accordingly. Ai Thao was able to meet up with her sister, Lien. While they all expected the job to go smoothly, the outcome was far from desirable.

They came across a rogue clone of Phuong, who called herself, Lan. She had come from an organization that had steadily leeched the secrets of the magical cloning process from the psychics. Lan's initial goal was to be used as a tool for their own mysterious purposes, but she did not have the necessary strength. What Lan did have, was the ability to tap into her magic reserves that was given to her at birth and use it to absorb the energy of other psychics, thus making her grow in power. By the time Ai Thao and her group found her, Lan had killed enough espers to take them on by herself. Ai Thao tried to reason with Lan, trying to appeal to the fact that they shared the same origin and that she did not have to choose a bloody path. This only resulted in Tuyet and Hau being mortally wounded (Tuyet received a huge shoulder wound, Hau lost an eye) and Lien about to be absorbed by Lan. This awoke a true sense of urgency in Ai Thao who finally fought the rogue clone with untapped ferocity despite using only half of her power. The fight ended in a draw as both exhausted themselves and Lan escaped.