The flashlight blinded him for a split second. Xavier squinted, his left hand reaching for the combat knife tucked in his boot, even as his shattered right arm hung uselessly like a dead weight. His heart was hammering against his ribs—not from fear, but from the sheer impossibility of the voice he just heard.
"Stop right there! Don't move!" the voice commanded. It was trembling but firm.
As the light lowered, Xavier saw her. She was dressed in tactical gear, a smudge of grease on her cheek, holding a silenced submachine gun with the familiarity of someone who lived on the edge. It was Ananya. His sister. The one who was supposed to have drowned in that same car accident that "killed" their mother.
"Ananya?" Xavier's voice was a ragged whisper, barely audible over the crackling of the burning lab behind him.
The girl froze. Her eyes traveled over his face—the sharp jawline, the cold eyes, the scars. She didn't recognize the face, but she recognized the soul. "Arjun? No... Arjun is dead. Who are you? Why do you have my mother's locket?"
Xavier staggered forward, his vision blurring. "Silas... Silas rebuilt me. But he didn't tell me you were alive. He said... he said everyone was gone."
Ananya lowered her weapon, her face crumbling into a mask of pure agony. She rushed toward him, catching him just as his legs gave out. "Arjun! Oh God, your arm... what did they do to you?"
"Arjun is dead, Ananya," he wheezed, the pain finally winning. "Call me Xavier. And we need to move. The Phoenix's men... they're coming."
Ananya dragged him through the dense foliage, moving with a speed that spoke of years of survival. They reached a small, camouflaged cabin hidden inside a hollowed-out hill. Inside, it wasn't a home; it was a command center. Monitors, maps, and weapons lined the walls.
She pushed him into a chair and immediately started working on his arm. She didn't flinch at the blood or the bone sticking out. She was efficient, cold, and professional—another weapon forged in the shadows of the Raichand-Vardhan war.
"I've been tracking Silas for three years," Ananya said, snapping his bone back into place. Xavier roared in pain, biting into a piece of leather she had given him. "He's a ghost. But I knew if I followed the trail of blood he left behind, it would lead me to our mother. I didn't expect to find my brother turned into a killing machine."
"Silas... he was working for Vikram Raichand Senior," Xavier managed to say once the pain subsided into a dull throb. "The whole 'Architect' persona was a lie. He was just a headhunter for the Phoenix."
Ananya stopped her work and looked him in the eyes. "Silas isn't just a headhunter, Arjun. He's a survivor. He works for whoever has the most to offer. Right now, that's Vikram Senior. But Vikram Senior is just the face. The real power behind the Phoenix... it's not a person. It's an algorithm."
Xavier frowned. "An algorithm? What do you mean?"
"The data you sent out from the lab," Ananya pointed to one of her monitors. "I intercepted it. It's not just bank accounts, Arjun. It's a predictive AI. It calculates human behavior, market crashes, even political assassinations before they happen. Vikram Raichand isn't a genius; he's just following the machine's instructions. And that machine... it wants you dead because you are the only variable it can't predict."
"If the machine can't predict me, then I'm the only one who can stop it," Xavier said, standing up. His arm was in a makeshift sling, but his eyes were burning with a new kind of fire. "But first, I need my father."
"Vikram Vardhan?" Ananya sneered. "After what he did to you? He let you die, Arjun! He chose his money over his son!"
"I know," Xavier said, his voice dropping to a dangerous level. "And that's why I need him. He knows the backdoor to that algorithm. He helped build the prototype before the Raichands stole it. He's in a high-security prison now. I'm going to break him out."
Ananya looked at him like he was insane. "Break into the Central Fortress? That's suicide. Even with your new face, they'll catch you the moment you step inside."
"They won't catch Xavier," Xavier smirked, a cold, calculating look on his face. "Because Xavier is going to walk in through the front door as the new Chairman of Vardhan Industries. I'm going to offer the government a deal they can't refuse. And once I'm inside... I'm going to have a private conversation with my 'dear' father."
He looked at the microchip in the locket. "Ananya, can you decrypt the second layer of this chip? There's a location hidden in the encrypted partition. It's not the steel mill. It's somewhere else."
Ananya's fingers flew over the keyboard. Her face turned pale as the map materialized on the screen. "Arjun... this isn't a warehouse. It's a private island. In the middle of the Indian Ocean. It's not on any public maps. It's called 'The Sanctuary.'"
"That's where she is," Xavier whispered. "That's where they're keeping Ma."
The plan was simple, yet deadly. Xavier would use the data he leaked to blackmail the corrupt officials in the prison system. He didn't want a legal release. He wanted a 'transfer.'
He spent the next forty-eight hours with Ananya, planning every second of the operation. He learned that Silas was already moving toward the island. The Phoenix was planning to transfer the final consciousness of the algorithm into a human host—and they wanted Xavier's mother to be the first test subject.
"If the transfer is successful," Ananya warned, "she won't be your mother anymore. She'll be a biological interface for the AI. She'll have the knowledge of the world, but the soul of a machine."
"Not on my watch," Xavier growled.
He looked at his reflection in the darkened monitor. The scars were healing, but the coldness in his eyes was permanent. He picked up his suit—the same charcoal-gray one he wore to the gala. It was cleaned, pressed, and ready for war.
"Ananya, stay here. Monitor the feeds. If I don't signal you in three hours, release the third layer of the data to the public. Destroy the whole system. Don't worry about me."
Ananya grabbed his hand. "Come back, Arjun. I lost you once. I'm not losing you again."
Xavier didn't promise. He couldn't. He walked out of the cabin, the heavy jungle air filling his lungs. He felt like a predator going home.
Xavier arrived at the Central Fortress in a black SUV. He stepped out, looking like the ultimate billionaire. The guards stood at attention. "Chairman Xavier," the Warden said, sweating profusely. "We weren't expecting you so soon." "I'm here to see Vikram Vardhan," Xavier said, his voice flat. "And I'm taking him with me." As they walked down the dark, damp corridor of the prison, Xavier heard a familiar voice screaming from the last cell. But it wasn't his father. It was Silas. Bound, gagged, and half-dead. Xavier stopped. If Silas was here, then who was on the island? The trap was already sprung.