Šar Mountains – Perimeter of Fort Cindar
The mountain roared.
The EMP blast had shredded every tactical edge they had. No comms, no infrared, no aerial intel. All dead.
Audrey dove sideways just before the second shockwave collapsed a portion of the ridge. Snow and rock thundered down into the ravine where they had camped only hours ago.
"Sebastian!" she yelled into the void.
Nothing.
Just ash-white fog curling between the trees, and the sharp zing of drones scanning blindly for heat.
A steel-bodied unit buzzed overhead.
She crouched behind a half-fallen pine, instinct taking over. No time for fear. Only time to count.
Two seconds between rotations.
Five drones.
No human movement yet — which meant Lucien was watching. Waiting.
Her breath frosted in the cold, her pulse erratic.
They had walked into a simulation. His simulation.
Fort Cindar — Lower Courtyard
Sebastian's right shoulder was dislocated.
He'd slammed against a boulder during the slide, snow soaking through his jacket, blood thick around his collarbone. But he was conscious.
Barely.
The world rang like a bell inside his head as he reached for his sidearm—dead weight. The EMP had fried even his biometric grip sensor.
Footsteps.
Then a boot to the ribs.
"Didn't expect a Donovan to bleed in the snow," said a voice like ice cracking.
Sebastian looked up — and saw Caspar Varga.
Former CIA paramilitary. Ghost. Rogue.
Lucien's newest mercenary.
"Tell me something," Caspar drawled. "Is she worth dying for? That pretty little killer you dragged out of Geneva?"
Sebastian spat blood.
Caspar smirked and raised the butt of his rifle.
Fort Cindar — Secondary Entrance, Underground Level
Audrey made it through the north corridor—wiring exposed, red emergency lighting flickering as if the mountain itself was breathing.
She moved like a ghost through a half-lit hallway. Past a room of silent monitors. Past a containment bay with empty gurneys.
And then — screaming.
She froze.
From behind the thick, bulletproof window, a girl—no older than 10—pounded the glass, her eyes wild. A pulse-tracker embedded in her wrist blinked every few seconds.
Two guards stood watch, unbothered.
Project Phase Two wasn't theoretical anymore.
It was real.
She raised her suppressed pistol and took both guards down clean.
The girl froze.
Audrey keyed open the security lock.
"It's okay," she whispered. "I'm getting you out."
The girl didn't move. Just stared at her, confused… afraid.
"You're one of them," the child finally said. "You were in the tapes."
Audrey felt her world tilt.
"What tapes?"
"The training ones. You and the man with silver eyes. They said you were the first."
Audrey knelt, chest tight. "They lied to you."
The girl tilted her head. "Are you going to kill him?"
Audrey hesitated.
Then: "Yes."
Holding Bay Z-09 – 30 Minutes Later
Sebastian was chained upright to a steel post, shirt bloodied, bruises blooming across his ribs. He had counted nine men — six with rifles, two with stun rods, and one in command.
Lucien.
He stepped into the room like a man attending a sermon, dressed in black, his gloves bloodless and uncreased.
"Sebastian Donovan," he said, voice clipped. "I must admit — you're harder to kill than expected."
Sebastian managed a glare. "You spend enough time in shadows, eventually you mistake obsession for strategy."
Lucien's smile twitched.
"Do you believe she loves you?" he asked. "I mean—really loves you? After what you represent?"
Sebastian said nothing.
Lucien leaned in, just inches from his face.
"She betrayed me," he said quietly. "Chose weakness. Chose you. But that doesn't erase the things we built together. The darkness we shared. The missions she led. The deaths she signed off on."
He straightened.
"You're not her salvation, Donovan. You're her excuse."
And then the screen lit up behind him.
Live feed.
Audrey, moving silently through the compound.
"She's close," Lucien murmured. "Let's make her bleed."
Fort Cindar — Operations Core
Audrey breached the final hallway with Max's borrowed map etched into her memory.
She stopped only when she saw the doors.
Double reinforced. Protected by a biometric lock.
Lucien's personal archive.
She placed a small charge on the side panel. Counted to three. Breached.
The archive was dimly lit, walls lined with digital vaults. But her eyes went straight to the central holopad already active—someone had been using it.
She tapped the first open file.
OPERATION: ECHELON UMBRA
SUBJECT ALPHA: LUCIEN MOREAU
SUBJECT BETA: AUDREY ROUSSEAU
She stared at the contents.
Dozens of field logs. Psych reports. Video training footage. Bio-enhancement markers. And a final line of text:
"Both subjects were aware. Consent verified."
Her stomach sank.
"No…"
Lucien had rewritten their past. Or worse — he hadn't needed to.
She backed away, breathing sharp.
Then — the room sealed shut.
Behind her, the vault doors slammed with a hiss.
"Found you," came his voice.
He appeared through a side door, unarmed. Casual.
"I hoped you'd come here."
Audrey aimed her weapon. "I'm not playing games, Lucien."
"Neither am I," he said, approaching slowly. "I just wanted you to see it for yourself. You weren't chosen. You volunteered. You wanted the edge. You wanted the kill ratio. The darkness. Don't pretend I forced you."
"People change."
"Do they?" He smiled, faintly bitter. "Tell me… why are your eyes still hungry, Adelle?"
She fired.
But he was already gone — a shadow ducking behind cover.
Holding Bay – Simultaneously
An explosion rocked the far corridor.
Sebastian blinked through blood as the guards rushed out. Only Caspar remained.
"Well," Caspar sighed. "Time to wrap this up."
He raised his weapon.
And then the wall exploded.
Audrey shot through the smoke like a bullet.
She didn't hesitate.
One to the chest.
Two to the knee.
Caspar dropped like stone.
She crossed to Sebastian, blood on her face, eyes blazing.
He looked up. "Took you long enough."
She cut him loose.
They didn't embrace. Didn't kiss. Just locked eyes — and ran.
Fort Cindar – Surface Exit
The facility was on full lockdown. Fires burned in the halls. Sirens wailed.
Sebastian, limping but mobile, covered the rear as Audrey led the child and two more rescued test subjects through the mountain trail.
They reached the fallback rendezvous just as the evac drone arrived — an unmarked jet-black model Max had secured with an old favor.
But before boarding, Audrey stopped.
She turned back toward the compound.
"What are you doing?" Sebastian asked.
"I'm finishing it."
"You don't have time. He's already gone."
She stepped closer, voice low.
"There's one more vault. One more file. About me. If I don't erase it, it lives forever."
"I'm coming with you."
She shook her head.
"This is my fire to burn."
Before he could stop her, she was gone — back into the smoke.
Inner Compound – Final Sequence
Lucien was waiting.
In the surveillance hub, surrounded by dying lights and falling dust.
He didn't flinch when she entered.
"Every obsession ends in fire, doesn't it?" he said.
She raised her weapon.
But he didn't fight.
"I won't kill you," she said. "That would make me like you."
He smiled. "You already are."
Audrey turned and shot the central server.
Again. And again. Until sparks poured from the panels and Lucien's entire archive turned to ash.
He didn't move.
Didn't stop her.
But as she walked away, he whispered:
"You can burn the records, Adelle. But you can't burn the truth."
Somewhere Above the Adriatic
Sebastian watched her in silence.
She was bandaged. Exhausted. Quiet.
Not broken. Not healed. Just… suspended.
He reached for her hand.
"Did we win?" he asked.
She looked out the window.
Below, the coastline blurred into mist.
"No," she whispered. "But he didn't win either."