Location: Wycliffe Family Estate – Private Bunker
The silence between Damien and his father stretched thick like molasses. The weight of Eldon's confession sat on Damien's chest like an anvil. His uncle—buried in both truth and time—had risen from the dead, more power than man.
"You're telling me Kael is my uncle," Damien said slowly, fists clenched at his sides.
Eldon gave a short nod. "He was the family's most gifted child, until the experiments consumed him. The Omega Core serum... it broke his mind but enhanced his body beyond reason."
"And you buried him alive?"
"I entombed a monster to protect my sons," Eldon said, looking him in the eye. "Now that monster is awake, and he won't care who you are."
Damien turned, pacing the chamber. "He has Celine. That means he's not just a threat—he's a weapon. And she's aiming him straight at Tavara."
"Then you have to do what I couldn't," Eldon said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "Stop him. Or kill him."
---
Location: Nora's Medical Lab – Downtown Tavara
Nora's fingers moved swiftly over the touchscreen. A deep scan of Kael's vitals revealed disturbing anomalies—his cells were mutating by the hour. Every second alive, Kael was evolving.
Isabella stepped into the lab, arms folded.
"You're still looking into Kael?" she asked.
Nora nodded. "He's not just a threat. He's a ticking time bomb. If he breaks containment again, we won't be able to stop the fallout."
"I thought Damien would've already dealt with it."
"He will," Nora said, without looking up. "But I need to know exactly what we're dealing with, in case he can't."
Isabella watched her for a long moment before speaking. "My brother's planning something. And it involves the Wycliffe vault under the Ministry of Defense. It hasn't been opened in twenty years."
Nora raised her eyes. "What's inside?"
"Records. Prototypes. The first Omega Core iterations."
Nora's gaze hardened. "Then we break in."
---
Location: The Ministry of Defense – Vault Wing
Under cover of night, a silent heist began. Nora, Isabella, and two of Damien's most trusted operatives descended into the lowest levels of the government's most secure facility.
Lasers danced across the vault door. Keypads required both retina and fingerprint identification. Nora used a bypass code only a handful of world leaders knew.
The vault creaked open, revealing rows of metal canisters, cryo pods, and documents sealed in magnetic gel.
Isabella moved toward a locked case. "Here."
She opened it—and found a photo of a teenage Kael, smiling beside Eldon, and a woman whose face had been scorched out of the image.
Next to it was a leather notebook labeled: Project GENESIS.
Nora flipped it open. Her breath caught.
"Kael was never the end," she whispered. "He was the beginning."
---
Location: Celine's Island Fortress – Lower Decks
Kael stared at his own reflection in the water, silent. Celine stood behind him.
"You hesitate," she said softly.
"I remember things," Kael replied. "Flashes. A house. A piano. A child... I think he was mine."
"Memories are chains," Celine said. "Let them rot. You are reborn now."
Kael looked up at the stars, expression unreadable.
"If I was once loved," he murmured, "who am I now?"