The private jet touched down on a secluded airstrip just outside New York City under the cover of darkness. Alina gazed out the window, the skyline in the distance glittering like a mirage. For a moment, it looked unchanged—towering, beautiful, full of life. But she knew better. Beneath that shine, shadows moved. And one of them was closing in on her daughter.
Beside her, Leonard adjusted his earpiece, face carved in granite. He hadn't said much since they discovered Lily's name in the Novacore file. But Alina could see the rage boiling beneath his calm exterior.
"She's still safe," Rafe said from the opposite seat, breaking the silence. "Julianna's kept her off the radar. No signals. No traces. But we have a problem."
Alina turned toward him. "What kind?"
"Voss Industries just pulled every file on you from government archives. Adoption, schooling, medical. And get this—your marriage certificate to Leonard was flagged in their database."
Leonard narrowed his eyes. "Why would they care about our marriage?"
Rafe hesitated. "Because the Rossi Protocol required a trigger. An emotional anchor to activate suppressed memory sets. A partner. A child. A trauma. They're wondering if you are that trigger."
The implication hit Alina like a punch. "They think I'm still part of their experiment."
"You were the prototype," Selena added from behind them. She leaned against the cabin wall, arms crossed. "They want to see if you 'bonded' right—if the simulation held."
Alina shuddered. "This isn't a simulation."
"To them," Selena replied, "everything is."
The plane rolled to a halt. Leonard stood first. "We move fast. Rafe, set up surveillance on Voss Tower. Selena, I want your eyes on Elara's location. Alina and I—"
"You're going to the penthouse," Rafe finished. "To see Lily."
Leonard met Alina's eyes. "They know about her. Which means they'll come for her next."
Alina clenched her fists. "Then let them come. I'm not running anymore."
The city swallowed them whole the moment they stepped into the SUV waiting near the runway. Their driver—a former Delta Force soldier now working under Rafe's payroll—wove through traffic like a phantom, never staying on one route for more than a few blocks.
Selena disappeared into a side alley near Midtown with her own mission. Rafe tapped into CCTV networks from a van retrofitted into a mobile ops center.
As they approached Leonard's penthouse, Alina's nerves spiked. She hadn't seen Lily in over two weeks. Too long. Her little girl's voice echoed in her memories—giggling, asking about stars, whispering dreams into her ear before bed.
They took the service elevator, bypassing the main lobby entirely.
As the doors opened to the familiar warmth of the penthouse, Alina's heart raced. And then she saw her.
Lily.
Curled on the couch in oversized pajamas, a book clutched in her tiny hands. Julianna sat beside her, looking up as they entered.
"Mommy!" Lily squealed, launching herself into Alina's arms.
Alina caught her mid-air, hugging her so tightly it hurt. "Sweetheart… I missed you so, so much."
Lily pulled back just enough to touch her mother's face. "I missed you too, Mommy. But Aunt Juli said you were helping people. Like superheroes."
Alina laughed softly, tears clinging to her lashes. "Something like that."
Leonard ruffled Lily's hair before pulling Julianna aside. "Any activity?"
"None. I've kept her completely offline. No school. No phones. But someone left this at the lobby this morning." She handed him a white envelope. No return address.
Leonard opened it.
A photo.
Of Lily—playing on the rooftop garden. Taken from a long-range lens.
Alina's stomach dropped. "They've already breached security."
"They're warning us," Leonard growled. "Letting us know they're watching."
"We need to get her out," Julianna said. "Tonight."
"No." Alina stood. "That's what they want. To scatter us. Keep us on the run. But if they're watching, that means they're not expecting us to strike back."
Leonard's eyes locked with hers. "You have a plan?"
"Yes. We use me as bait."
That night, the penthouse lights remained dark, save for one room—Alina's old study. She stood near the window, silhouette framed like an invitation.
Rafe's voice crackled in her ear. "Multiple heat signatures closing in. Two vehicles. Standard extraction formation."
"Let them come," Alina murmured.
Downstairs, Leonard and Rafe waited with tranquilizer rifles and backup gear. On the roof, Selena readied a drone to record and scramble any transmission the intruders might attempt.
At exactly 2:13 a.m., the door to the penthouse clicked.
Three men in tactical gear entered silently.
Alina didn't move.
The first man stepped forward—shock in his eyes when he recognized her. "Target acquired."
"No," she said calmly. "Target's ready."
Leonard and Rafe burst from the shadows behind them.
In under fifteen seconds, all three men were subdued, zip-tied, and unconscious. One had a Novacore ID tag beneath his collar.
Selena joined moments later, scanning their gear.
"Non-lethal protocols. They were coming to take you alive," she noted. "Classic retrieval."
Alina crouched beside one man and whispered, "Tell Elara I'm not her subject. I'm her reckoning."
By sunrise, the bodies were gone—handed to Rafe's contacts for interrogation. Alina stood on the balcony, arms wrapped around herself, as the golden light bathed the skyline.
Leonard joined her, two mugs of coffee in hand.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I should be terrified. But I'm not. I'm… angry."
He passed her a mug. "Then use that anger. We go after Elara next."
"She's hidden behind too many walls."
"Not anymore," Leonard replied, pulling out a phone. "Rafe decrypted the rest of the hard drive."
He showed her a digital map—dozens of red dots, and one marked E1.
"E1?"
"Experimental Site 1. Where it all began. Underground, off the coast of Maine. That's where Elara's hiding. And it's where we finish this."
Alina stared at the blinking dot. "We take the fight to her."
Leonard nodded. "And burn it to the ground."
Meanwhile, in a sleek glass office overlooking downtown Manhattan, Dr. Elara Voss adjusted her gloves and peered over live security footage. She watched Alina on the balcony, zooming in until her features were crystal clear.
Behind her, a young girl with obsidian eyes sat quietly, plugged into a neuro-monitor.
"She's waking," Elara said, eyes gleaming. "Subject C has responded to Alina's activation. The resonance is complete."
An aide stepped forward, nervous. "Should we proceed with extraction?"
Elara smiled.
"No. Let her come. The prodigal daughter wants war. Let's see how far her programming goes when her past becomes her battlefield."
She turned toward the girl in the chair.
"And when she fails, we'll welcome her daughter next."