They crossed the frozen passes of the Glaive Range under blackout.
No comms.
No support.
Just coordinates embedded in the ashglass blade Kestrel left behind.
The orbital launch facility was built into the glacier wall. Old Pale Court sigils had been scorched off, replaced with the Architect's spiral insignia—carved deep into steel.
Two guards stood at the entrance.
Not human.
No eyes. Bone-plated shoulders. Movements like twitching code.
Frost fired first.
Ashglass rounds.
Both fell, melting into static.
"Keep moving," Evan said.
Inside, the facility pulsed red.
Conduits hummed beneath their boots. Holographic logs scrolled across the walls, all bearing one header: "INITIATING MERCER LOCK."
Trey cursed. "She's locked this whole place to your DNA."
Evan moved faster.
Maya scanned the lift controls. "Next launch window's in 19 minutes. If we miss it, it resets in 10 hours."
They didn't have 10 hours.
Signal found the manual override—coded to a name: Dr. Casen Vale.
Lyra's hands froze. "That was Evan's handler. The first one. Before he disappeared."
Tunnels below the launch bay housed labs.
Old tech.
Prototype suits.
Suspended test clones—half-formed, incomplete. Failed vessels for whatever the Architect once intended.
But one chamber was sealed behind reinforced memory locks.
They forced it open.
Inside: a recording.
Casen Vale's voice.
> "To the one who finds this—Evan Mercer was never the goal. He was the mistake that couldn't be erased. Every version of him we built broke the loop. The Architect didn't want to control him. She wanted to become him."
> "If he's hearing this, tell him—there's one more version."
> "And it's already in orbit."
The lift launched.
Maya, Evan, Trey, and Frost inside.
Signal and Lyra remained behind to disable the ground relay.
As they rose above the clouds, gravity thinned.
The sky turned black.
The station came into view—spinning slowly, like a sleeping god's eye.
Its name burned along the hull: "VANTA-0."
Docking clamped tight.
Silence.
Then doors hissed open.
Evan stepped inside first.
The hallway lights activated in sequence, triggered by his presence.
Trey whispered, "She built it for you."
Maya stared ahead.
"No. She built it to erase everything except you."
In the core chamber, a single pod stood open.
Inside: Evan.
Or something wearing his face.
Its eyes opened.
Smiling.
"You finally made it," it said.
"I've been waiting to be you."