The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the bookstore. For a moment, neither Ethan nor Maya moved — both frozen, listening. Somewhere in the back of the building, a faint whine of static buzzed through the emergency comms system. Then came the voice.
"Hello again, Gideon."
Vance.
His tone was calm, almost casual. But the threat beneath the surface was unmistakable.
"You always did like making an entrance," Ethan muttered under his breath.
Maya was already moving, sweeping her flashlight across the room and drawing her weapon. "He traced the signal. We have maybe ninety seconds before they breach the perimeter."
Ethan backed away from the terminal, grabbing the hard drive and tucking it into a hidden compartment in his jacket. "We need to move — now."
"Too late," Maya said.
A low metallic clunk echoed from the front of the store.
They were already inside.
Ethan rushed to the back exit, but as he reached for the handle, a deafening crack rang out — a flash grenade detonated just outside the door. Blinded and stunned, Ethan stumbled back, ears ringing.
Maya pulled him behind a heavy bookshelf just as bullets tore through the wall.
"They're not here to capture," she growled. "They're here to erase."
From the shadows stepped in two figures, dressed in black tactical gear, their faces hidden behind mirrored visors. One raised a device — small, sleek, humming with electromagnetic energy.
"A memory disruptor," Ethan muttered. "Short-range. They're going to wipe us."
"No," Maya hissed, gripping her weapon tightly. "Not this time."
She stepped out from cover and fired — precise, controlled shots. One of the attackers dropped instantly. The other retreated, but not far. Reinforcements were already flooding the building.
Ethan scrambled back to the terminal and activated a fallback command: "Lighthouse Protocol – Execute."
Immediately, the encrypted data on the drive was copied to a dozen dead-drop servers around the world. The truth couldn't be stopped now. Even if they were.
But as he did, a voice came through the terminal speakers again.
Not Vance.
A woman.
"Ethan… if you can hear this, you're not alone. There are others. Survivors of Phoenix. We've been waiting for you."
Ethan froze. He turned to Maya.
"Someone else is fighting them."
Before she could respond, the bookshelf behind them exploded in splinters. A tall man stepped through the smoke — unarmed, but not unthreatening. His eyes were cold. Calculating.
It was Vance.
In person.
He looked at Ethan as if he were a failed experiment.
"You don't understand what you've done," Vance said, voice low and even. "The world isn't ready for the truth. That's why we do what we do. People need structure. Simplicity. Not chaos."
"You don't get to decide that," Ethan said, stepping forward.
"You already did," Vance replied. "When you created Phoenix."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
Maya's eyes widened. "That's not possible. He—he was one of the subjects. He was wiped."
Vance smirked. "He was the architect. Gideon wasn't just a codename. It was the name of the man who built the system. You erased yourself, Ethan. You wanted to forget. You were afraid of what you'd become."
The world tilted. Ethan staggered back, the truth crashing into him like a wave.
He had built it.
He had built everything he was now trying to destroy.
But that didn't change what needed to be done.
"I'm not that man anymore," Ethan said, eyes burning. "And I'm going to make sure no one else has to be."
With a roar, Maya launched a smoke grenade, and the room filled with thick, choking fog. They bolted for the exit, shots tearing past them.
They escaped into the night — barely.
But Ethan knew the real war was just beginning.