Location: Sublevel 9 – Vale Institute Ruins
The air was thick with dampness and death.
Nora pressed herself against the cold, metallic wall of the corridor as the silence after the ambush settled like a curse. Her blade still dripped faintly with the synthetic blood of the last attacker, its unusual blue shimmer a haunting reminder—these weren't just failed clones. They were enhanced with something darker… experimental tech that shouldn't exist.
"Jasper," she whispered, crouching beside him again. "We need to move. There's a vault beneath Sublevel 9. That's where the original files would be. We destroy them—this ends."
Jasper coughed. "I remember. I designed the encryption protocols. But if we go in… they'll come."
"I know," Nora said, helping him to his feet. "Let them come."
---
Location: Skies Above Vale Institute
Damien dropped through the clouds like a phantom.
The moment his boots touched the ground, a soft crunch signaled the unstable ruins beneath. The once-formidable Vale Institute had crumbled over time, but its darkness hadn't. His team landed seconds behind him—Faye, Blake, and three elite Ghost Ops soldiers.
He tapped into the team channel. "Thermal scans?"
"Heat signatures clustered around the southwest shaft—moving fast," Blake replied. "Could be clones. Or worse."
Damien's voice was steel. "Nora?"
A beat.
Faye's voice cut in. "She's moving too. East. Deeper underground."
He nodded once. "Split and clear. I'll take the lower tunnel."
---
Location: Sublevel 9 – Central Vault
Nora knelt beside the steel-cored vault interface. The door shimmered with ancient security layers, ones Jasper had designed while still a child genius.
"Biometric and voice-code required," Jasper said faintly. "Only mine… and yours."
Nora touched the sensor, then whispered, "Echoes fade when truth remains."
The locks hissed. The vault began to open.
Inside were rows of crystalline drives, each labeled in sharp Tavaran script: SUBJECT: NORA, PROJECT REQUIEM, GENOME V-ALPHA, CLONE LOGS 1–217.
Nora's eyes burned. Her entire history was here—manufactured in files, distorted by strangers.
And suddenly—click.
A rifle cocked behind her.
"I was hoping you'd come back for this," said a voice—female, cold, familiar.
Nora turned slowly.
And faced Amara.
---
Location: Perimeter Corridor – Upper Level
Damien froze as his comm crackled.
"…Damien… she's here… It's Amara."
Damien's breath caught. The name crashed into his mind like a bullet. Amara—one of the first failed prototypes. The one who had vanished. The one believed dead.
But she wasn't.
She was back.
And if she had Nora…
He broke into a sprint. Nothing would stop him.
Not this time.