Location: Wycliffe Estates – Hidden Chamber
The lights flickered to life in the underground vault, casting a sterile glow over rows of locked cabinets. Celine Wycliffe moved with purpose, her fingers tracing the edges of folders marked "Emberfall: Phase I-IV."
Her eyes gleamed with a cold fire as she flipped through images and reports—children in sterile labs, failed prototypes, code-named operatives… and at the center of it all: a young Damien.
She exhaled sharply.
"He doesn't even know the half of it."
Celine activated a secure transmission. "Prepare for upload. I want this fed into three neutral archives, encrypted and ready to trigger on my command."
A voice on the other end hesitated. "Are you sure? This could destroy your entire bloodline's legacy."
"That's exactly the point," she said, voice like ice. "We either burn the past, or the past burns us."
---
Location: Safehouse – Rooftop
Damien sat beside Nora as the horizon glowed with the early promise of dawn. He hadn't slept. Neither had she.
"What if they never forgive us?" Nora asked quietly. "What if the truth just paints us darker?"
Damien looked ahead, jaw taut. "Then we stop looking for forgiveness and focus on fixing what we can."
He reached into his coat and handed her a black envelope.
"From Director Shin," he said. "Classified logs from the Emberfall servers. Celine accessed them yesterday. She's moving."
Nora tore the envelope open. Her eyes widened at the contents—family names, experiments, cover-ups, death certificates that were never real.
She swallowed hard.
"I was part of this…"
"You were forced into it," Damien said firmly. "Just like I was. We weren't the monsters. We survived them."
A pause.
"But someone made us this way."
---
Location: Northern Tavara – Abandoned Military Bunker
Amara stood before a holographic screen, surrounded by a silent team of black-ops analysts.
"I want surveillance on the Wycliffe estate. All underground frequencies tapped. Celine's working on something. Something even Damien doesn't know."
One of the analysts spoke. "We believe she's reactivating Project Lucien. It predates even Emberfall."
Amara's eyes narrowed. "Lucien was outlawed."
"Yes, but not erased."
Amara turned, her mind racing. "Then it seems the final war isn't between me and Damien after all. It's between what we created… and what we tried to bury."
---
Location: Central Tavara – High-Speed Rail Terminal
Jasper loaded encrypted drives into a steel suitcase as the train hissed to a stop. Behind him, Lily and Dominic scanned the crowd with watchful eyes.
"The files we're carrying," Jasper said, "if they fall into the wrong hands... Tavara might never recover."
Lily nodded. "Let's make sure that doesn't happen."
Unbeknownst to them, two shadows followed—mercenaries hired by an unknown benefactor. Their orders were clear:
> Retrieve the Emberfall Logs. Terminate the carriers.
---
Location: Safehouse – Control Room
Back inside, Damien watched as Celine's data trail lit up the screen.
"She's broadcasting… but not yet releasing," he muttered. "She wants to shake the system."
Nora stepped beside him. "Then let's beat her to it. Let's show the world the truth—not edited, not glamorized."
He turned to her.
"This could be our last move before they lock every channel and call us fugitives."
Nora touched his hand.
"Then we make it count."