Location: Redgrave Facility – Command Core
The facility trembled beneath Aria's boots, as if the building itself sensed the storm approaching. Sirens pulsed red across the walls, and robotic sentries activated in the distance like sleeping giants.
But she had only one target.
Stroud Vale.
Across the chamber, Stroud stood as if he were waiting for an audience rather than a fight. Flanked by two genetically engineered sentinels, his calm was more terrifying than any weapon.
Behind Aria, Lucien leveled his gun. "You're done."
Stroud smiled, cold and deliberate. "Son. Don't be foolish. You don't end what you are."
Aria stepped forward, ignoring the heat in her chest. Every screen around them flashed with the same countdown.
> FAIL-SAFE SEQUENCE: 04:52… 04:51…
K-0X's voice rang in her comms:
> "They've activated my shutdown sequence. If I move too far from the mainframe, I die."
And worse—
The Mirror whispered beside her, clutching her stomach:
> "He just triggered mine too. You have five minutes, Aria."
Aria's throat clenched. Every option was a death sentence.
Stroud's voice rang through the chamber.
> "You can save one, Aria. K-0X… or your sister. You can't reach both control nodes in time. But you'll choose. You always do."
Lucien lunged.
The two sentinels attacked, and chaos exploded.
---
Combat in the Core
Lucien tackled one of the sentinels, grappling with enhanced strength while Aria flipped backward, slicing her blade through the other's knee joint. Sparks flew.
The Mirror collapsed to one knee, struggling to breathe. Her collar implant glowed red beneath her skin.
K-0X shouted from the control chamber, static crackling in his voice.
> "Thirty percent left. Aria… you have to choose. Now."
Aria's heart slammed in her chest.
K-0X, who had protected her since day one.
Her sister—genetic or not—who had never had a choice.
She looked at Stroud, standing untouched behind his console.
"You want me to break," she said, stepping forward. "But I already did."
And she ran.
Not to K-0X. Not to the Mirror.
To Stroud.
---
A Choice That Burns
Lucien saw it first: what she was doing.
She wasn't going to choose between them.
She was going to take out the controller.
Aria leapt onto the platform, dodging Stroud's drawn weapon and grabbing the override key from his console.
> 03:12…
She slammed it into the neural interface and screamed as the electric feedback jolted through her spine.
Her mind linked to the system.
She saw everything.
Every clone.
Every experiment.
Every kill switch.
Every lie.
And in that moment—she rewrote the code.
> "K-0X… you're free."
"Sister… you live."
The countdown vanished.
And so did Stroud's smile.
---
The End of a Legacy
Stroud lunged, too late.
Lucien fired—once, clean, into his father's heart.
Stroud fell backward, blood blooming like spilled ink on his suit.
Lucien stood over him, breathing heavily. "You chose power. I chose her."
Aria collapsed, her hands shaking. The energy had drained her—but her heart still beat.
The Mirror reached her, for the first time… crying.
K-0X burst in, free and fully functioning. "That was suicide."
"I'm not dead," Aria whispered. "Just getting started."
---