[The Royal Palace - The Grand Ballroom]
The party was at its peak. A holographic orchestra was playing Mozart. The air smelled of expensive perfume and truffle oil. Alex was laughing with Dr. Aris, holding a glass of wine.
Suddenly, the music died. It didn't fade out. It cut off instantly. The chatter in the room stopped. A cold wind seemed to sweep through the hall, even though the windows were closed.
At the far end of the ballroom, the massive double doors creaked open.
The Woman in Red stood there. She was beautiful. Pale skin, dark hair, and eyes that looked like glass. She wore a simple red dress that clashed with the high-tech surroundings.
She took a step forward. Her movement was too smooth. Unnatural.
"Security!" a guard yelled, reaching for his stun baton. "Halt!"
"Stand down," Luna whispered, appearing from the shadows. She blocked the guard's path. Her sensors were going haywire. [Target Analysis: Biological... but 0% Vital Signs.] [Conclusion: Reanimated Tissue.]
"Master," Luna spoke into her earpiece. "Do not look at her."
But Alex had already turned around. The wine glass slipped from his fingers. SMASH. Red wine spilled across the white marble floor like blood.
"Elena?" Alex whispered.
[The Flashback]
Five years ago. Before the System. Before the Money. Alex was holding a hand in a sterile, white hospital room. Elena, his fiancée, lay in the bed. She was dying. A rare condition. Curable, but the surgery cost $500,000. Alex had $500 in his bank account. "I'm sorry," the doctor had said, checking his clipboard. "Without payment, we cannot operate." Alex had screamed. He had begged. But the machine flatlined. She died because he was poor.
[The Present]
The Woman in Red walked through the silent crowd. The guests parted like the Red Sea, sensing the terrifying aura radiating from Alex.
She stopped five feet away from him. She looked exactly like Elena. The same mole on her neck. The same sad smile.
"Hello, Alex," she said. Her voice was wrong. It was Elena's voice, but it was overlaid with a metallic static.
"You are dead," Alex said, his voice trembling. "I buried you."
"Death is just a lack of resources," the thing that looked like Elena said. "The Council found me. They scraped my DNA from a lock of hair you kept. They grew me in a tank."
She held out the wooden box.
Alex took it. His hands were shaking. He opened it. Inside wasn't a weapon. It was a Silver Memory Chip.
"This body is empty," the clone said. Her eyes were blank. "I am just a husk. A doll."
Then, the voice changed. It became the raspy, wheezing voice of The Elder.
"Alex," The Elder spoke through her lips. "We have her memories. We have her laugh. We have the way she looked at you. It is all on our servers."
The clone stepped closer. She placed a cold hand on Alex's cheek.
"Join us. Take Seat 6. Give up your Kingdom. And we will upload her consciousness into this body. You can have her back. You can fix the mistake you made five years ago."
[The Choice]
The room was silent. Luna had her blade drawn, ready to decapitate the clone, but she waited for the order.
Alex looked at the clone. He looked at the memory chip in the box. Infinite Wealth could buy anything. But could it buy the past?
"You want me to trade my city," Alex whispered. "For her."
"A fair trade," The Elder's voice sneered. "What is a city compared to love? You became rich to protect people, didn't you? Well, here she is. Save her."
Alex closed his eyes. A tear leaked out.
Then, he opened them. They weren't sad anymore. They were burning gold.
"You made a mistake," Alex said softly.
"What?"
"I became rich so I would never be helpless again," Alex grabbed the clone's wrist. His grip was like iron. "But I also learned something about business."
Alex crushed the clone's wrist. Synthetic bone snapped.
"I don't negotiate with terrorists."
CRACK.
Alex delivered a backhand slap that sent the clone flying across the room. She crashed into a table of champagne flutes. The beautiful face of Elena twisted, revealing the metal skull underneath the skin.
"Luna!" Alex roared. "Put this... thing in the containment cell. Analyze it. I want to know where the signal is coming from."
Alex turned to the camera drone. To the Elder watching from his bunker.
"You touched the one thing that was off-limits," Alex snarled. "You didn't bring her back. You just dug your own graves."
"Dawn! Prepare the fleet. We aren't building a city anymore."
Alex walked out of the ballroom, his cape flowing behind him.
"We are going to war."