Kyrgyz Mountains. Altai Range. Elevation: 2,900 meters.
The cold here wasn't the clean, sharp kind. It was thick. Wet. The kind that ate through boots, soaked under skin, and stole breath one inch at a time.
They climbed without speaking for six hours.
Juno led. Evan and Lyra mapped.
Maya watched the rear, rifle shouldered.
Signal stopped once — fingers touching a stone etched with a spiral.
"She was here," she murmured.
Evan: "Nova?"
Signal shook her head.
"Someone older."
The coordinates led to a monastery.
Deserted.
Half-crumbled stone, walls stained with smoke. Not recent. Old, old fire. Long since forgotten.
They entered through a broken arch.
No monks. No relics.
Just silence.
Until Lyra found the symbol.
In the basement, scorched into the floor: a half-circle joined to a vertical line.
Maya froze.
"That's Vellum's insignia. They stamped it on sleeper dossiers."
Then the door behind them slammed shut.
And the walls began to hum.
Lights flicked on.
Four figures emerged.
Not armed with guns.
With knives.
Combat suits. Silent. Trained.
They moved in perfect sync.
Mirror team.
Each was a Pale Court match to someone on Evan's crew.
One looked like Maya — but younger.
One mirrored Juno's stance.
One wore a hood like Signal's.
And at their center stood a boy — pale, perfect posture, no emotion in his eyes.
He stepped forward.
"I'm Frost," he said.
Signal stepped forward.
"You're a copy."
Frost didn't blink.
"No. I'm the version that worked.
Combat exploded in a heartbeat.
Lyra went down first — hit with a neural pulse.
Juno took a blade to the thigh but spun and slammed her twin to the ground.
Maya fired twice, missed once, then clipped her mirror's shoulder.
Signal didn't fight.
She stared at Frost.
"You don't have to do this."
Frost frowned.
"I was made to do this."
Evan grabbed him from behind.
Too late.
Frost drove his elbow back — cracked Evan's ribs — rolled, pulled a blade.
Stopped.
Staring at Signal.
He looked confused.
Like something fractured inside.
"Why do you remember pain?" he whispered.
Signal said nothing.
She walked to him, slow.
"I earned mine."
Then the ground shook.
Not natural.
A detonation beneath the monastery.
The whole place began to collapse.
Maya screamed: "MOVE!"
They ran.
Dust. Fire. Stones splitting from ceiling.
Frost looked back at the mirror team.
Only two still breathing.
He hesitated.
Then followed Signal out.
Outside, hours later, frostbitten and breathless, they made camp under the cliffs.
Evan wrapped his side. Juno stitched her leg.
Frost sat alone.
Silent.
Maya approached him.
"You could've killed us."
He looked up.
"I was supposed to."
Signal handed him a data slate.
"Then start helping."
He looked at the map.
Child Units. Still live.
All marked: ACTIVE.
He pointed to a name: Halo.
"She's not like us. She can't be reasoned with. If she activates, you'll never stop her."
Evan stared at the name.
"Where is she?"
Frost answered without hesitation.
"Jerusalem."