Zurich, Switzerland – 12 Hours After the SIGMA Shutdown
The city hadn't slept.
Smoke still curled from Helix Tower, now a scorched monolith rising above the skyline like a tombstone. Emergency services swarmed the area, but few dared speak of what had really happened. Official channels blamed a gas explosion.
Unofficially?
The world had just narrowly avoided a digital apocalypse—and no one knew it.
On a rooftop across from the disaster zone, Tanya Volkova watched through the scope of her rifle, eyes scanning the aftermath. Drones buzzed above the city. Helix security was gone—but the cleanup had already begun.
She spoke into her comms. "They're pulling out hard drives. Someone's trying to salvage the code."
In the abandoned metro station serving as their safehouse, Grimm stood over a map of Europe, pinning red markers to nodes in London, Warsaw, and Dubai.
"Helix isn't dead," he said. "It's retreating. Fragmenting."
Reyes tapped into a decrypted channel. "Intercepted chatter confirms it. Kessler's backups were distributed—hidden in proxy servers across the globe. That shutoff we triggered? Just one node. There's more."
Bull grunted from the bench, still nursing cracked ribs. "So we nuked the head, but the body's still crawling."
Wraith stepped into the room, tossing a manila folder onto the table. Inside: satellite images, surveillance photos, one name circled in red.
Dr. Yelena MoravecTitle: Project SIGMA Deep Systems Architect
"She helped build the core code with Kessler," Wraith said. "Disappeared six months ago. Off-grid. We think she defected after Kessler pushed Phase 2—autonomous strike authority."
Grimm looked at her file. "Where is she now?"
"Albania. Small facility under the guise of a biotech research center. If she's alive, she may know how to kill SIGMA permanently."
He nodded. "Then she's our next target."
Zurich Streets – Dusk
Later that evening, Grimm and Tanya made their way through the hushed streets near the Helix perimeter. Piles of debris smoldered where drones had exploded during the fight. Barricades were half-crumbled. Civilians peered from windows, uncertain whether to mourn or cheer.
They reached a wall of twisted metal—what remained of the Helix command center.
Tanya knelt beside a burned server blade, charred beyond recognition. She held up a scorched ID badge.
"Kessler's name still scares people," she said. "Even dead, the ghost of his vision lingers."
Grimm took the badge, pocketed it.
"We finish this. Not just him, not just SIGMA. All of it."
Safehouse – 0100 Hours
Reyes finished uploading the last of the stolen Helix data. Dozens of secure files now sat encrypted in their private drive—names, locations, assets, allies, and enemies.
"This is a hydra," he said. "Cut off one head, two grow back."
Wraith was already cross-referencing leads. "SIGMA's subroutines show multiple activation keys. Even if we stop the original code, clones could re-emerge in different nations under different names."
"So we hunt them all," Bull said, cracking his knuckles.
Tanya shook her head. "This isn't a kill mission anymore. It's digital extinction."
Grimm looked at his team—scars fresh, eyes tired but focused.
"We've become something else," he said. "We're not just soldiers anymore. We're the firewall."
Unmarked Airstrip – Outside Zurich
At dawn, the Osprey was ready. Their next flight would take them across borders again, deeper into a war with no frontlines.
Grimm paused at the ramp, surveying the horizon one last time.
Zurich burned in silence behind them. A victory with no medals. No recognition. Just survival—and the truth they carried.
He turned to his team.
"Next stop: Albania. Let's find Dr. Moravec."
They boarded.
The ramp lifted.
The war continued.