Location: Helix Base – Central Shaft, Sublevel E
The Z3 prototype lunged like a battering ram. Concrete cracked beneath its augmented limbs. Nora dodged just in time, narrowly avoiding the cybernetic fist that shattered the pillar behind her.
Victor circled, watching for an opening.
"Nora, this thing isn't just enhanced," he warned. "It's sentient."
"Perfect," she hissed, drawing twin blades from her back holsters.
The prototype turned, scanning her movements with eerie precision. There was no rage in its eyes—only cold purpose. It fought like it had been programmed with her every combat move.
She tested it.
A feint, a low kick, an elbow to the midsection.
Blocked. Countered. Thrown.
Nora hit the floor hard, but rolled back to her feet, gritting her teeth. "They cloned my fighting algorithm."
Victor tossed her a pulse mine. "Then don't fight like yourself."
---
Location: Kane Tower – Tactical HQ
Damien watched in dead silence. Everyone else stood frozen, breath held.
The prototype on screen moved like a nightmare—a machine that learned, adapted, predicted. Damien's fists clenched at the sight of Nora staggering.
"Override the base's AI firewall," he ordered. "Let me access the prototype's programming—anything that gives her an edge."
Elira snapped into action. "You're going to hijack its neural mesh mid-combat?"
"I'm going to distract it," Damien replied, "just enough for her to break its rhythm."
---
Location: Helix Base – Sublevel E
Nora ducked as the prototype slashed. Sparks flew as metal scraped stone.
Then it stopped.
Just for a second. A flicker.
Damien's voice echoed from the lab's speaker system.
"Z3. Protocol override: archive alignment shift. Execute Directive Code Damien-One."
The prototype twitched.
Nora seized the moment.
She changed her style. No longer precise and sharp—she fought wild. Unpredictable. Elbows. Knees. Sudden feints. A discarded pipe as a club.
The prototype misread.
She ducked under its arm, stabbed both blades into its spine, and triggered the pulse mine on its back.
A flash. A roar. Silence.
The prototype crumpled, smoke rising from its shattered frame.
Victor moved fast, catching Nora as she swayed.
"You okay?"
She nodded weakly. "Let's get out before it wakes up."
"Agreed."
---
Location: Helix Base – Surface Extraction Point
Rachel's convoy roared to a halt.
"Go! Go!"
Victor helped Nora into the armored vehicle as Rachel unleashed cover fire. Behind them, the base trembled—charges detonating in a series of deafening blasts.
The lab, the horrors, the stolen data—gone in a fiery collapse.
---
Location: Kane Tower – Two Hours Later
Nora sat quietly in the infirmary, fresh bandages on her shoulder.
Damien stood nearby, silent for a long moment before finally speaking. "That prototype… it was a twisted reflection of you. They knew too much."
"They still do," she murmured. "And they're not done."
He walked closer. "Neither are we."
She looked up at him, her defenses lowered—just for a second.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He didn't respond. Instead, he gently rested his hand on hers.
No words were needed.
They had survived. But the war had only just begun.