The Resistance compound wasn't built for comfort—it was built for survival. Gray walls. Bulletproof glass. Silent corridors that echoed with too many secrets. And tonight, those secrets weighed heavier than ever.
Cassian stalked down the hall like a man chasing ghosts.
He reached the comms room and typed in his access code, bypassing standard clearance. Only three people had this level of access. One of them was Talia.
The screen came to life.
Encrypted transmissions. Logs. Subchannel pings.
He scrolled fast.
Paused.
There it was—an outbound message sent thirty-six hours ago. Before they found Lyra. Before Elara tethered.
From Talia's clearance code.
But it wasn't to an enemy port.
It was internal.
A direct transmission to Marrin.
Elara's Quarters – Five Minutes Later
"You're sure?" Elara asked, arms crossed, pacing like a caged animal.
Cassian nodded. "He knew. Marrin knew about Lyra's location before we discovered her."
Elara's eyes burned. "He sent us in there blind."
"To test you," Cassian said. "To see what you could survive. How you'd react to her. He probably didn't think you'd make it out."
Elara stopped pacing. "Then he underestimated the wrong girl."
Command Room
They burst in without clearance.
Marrin stood at the console, calm as ever, fingers laced behind his back.
"I expected this," he said.
"You used me," Elara growled. "You fed me to her like bait."
"I had to," Marrin replied, voice cool. "You're the only one connected to her code. I needed to see what she was after."
"You endangered the mission. The entire Resistance," Cassian added. "You compromised everything."
"No," Marrin said. "I gave us an edge."
He pulled up a file on the screen. It showed Lyra's face, marked with red biometric scans. Neural pathways. Frequency pulses.
"I've been analyzing her since before you were born, Elara. I knew she was still alive."
Elara moved closer. "Then why keep it secret?"
"Because no one else would've believed me. And because Talia made me promise to keep it between us."
Cassian frowned. "Talia made you promise?"
"She wanted to confront Lyra herself. Said there were answers she couldn't find any other way."
"And now she's gone," Elara said coldly. "Taken or turned."
Marrin turned away from the screen. "She's not your enemy. Not yet."
Cassian stepped forward. "You've been playing chess while people are dying."
"And you think leading with emotion will save them?" Marrin snapped. "We are all puppets here, son. I just chose to see the strings."
Elara's fists tightened.
"Where is she now?" she asked.
Marrin hesitated.
Then said, "Talia's last ping came from the Forbidden Ring."
Cassian's breath hitched. "No one survives the Ring."
"No one normal," Marrin said.
He handed Elara a drive. "This has everything we know. Go there. Find her. If she's turned, end it. If not—bring her back."
Hours Later – The Forbidden Ring
The Ring was a place stitched together by shadows and silence. Old Earth ruins fused with Seed structures, long-abandoned and forgotten by both sides. Dangerous. Toxic. Alive in the worst ways.
Elara and Cassian moved through the twisted ruins, weapons drawn.
"What if it's a trap?" he asked.
"It is a trap," she said.
They pressed forward.
Signals were weak here. Their comms glitched. Drones refused to enter.
Cassian scanned the air. "Radiation's unstable. We have maybe an hour before exposure kicks in."
Elara nodded. "Then let's make it count."
They crossed a rusted bridge and descended into the lower levels of a crumbling Seed cathedral.
That's when they heard it.
A voice.
Familiar. Echoing.
"Elara…"
She froze.
"Elara, come see."
Cassian turned sharply. "That's her voice. Talia's."
They moved toward it, weapons raised.
The corridor opened into a massive chamber—a fusion of cathedral and Seed core. Vines pulsed with bioluminescence. In the center was Talia.
Standing.
Waiting.
Alone.
Confrontation
"Talia," Elara said, stepping forward. "You shouldn't be alive."
"I'm not," Talia replied, her voice soft. "Not entirely."
Cassian raised his weapon. "Explain."
Talia lifted her arm. Seed lines pulsed beneath her skin.
"She tried to break me. Failed. So she made me… better."
Elara took a step back. "You linked with her?"
"No. I fought her. But in the fight, she bled into me. And I bled into her. We're bonded now. Like you."
Cassian's voice was tight. "Why call us here?"
"Because you need to see what's coming."
She stepped aside.
Behind her, a pod rose from the floor. Inside was a clone—Elara—floating in suspended animation.
Cassian swore.
Elara's knees almost gave out.
"She kept a spare," Talia said. "Just in case. But this one… this one's different."
Cassian moved to the console, scanning its readings. "It's older. Predecessor model."
"That's not a copy," Elara breathed. "That's the original."
Talia nodded.
"Lyra didn't kill her," Talia said. "She kept her. In stasis. Preserved."
"For what?" Elara asked, voice trembling.
"She wanted you to meet her," Talia said. "Before you decide who you really are."