Location: Project Resonance Bunker, Sub-Level 3 – Tavaran Desert
The sirens continued to wail as the walls around them shifted—seams parting to reveal mechanized weapon ports, red lights blinking to life like the eyes of ancient sentinels. Nora moved to Damien's flank, her gun aimed low but ready. Cyrus, breathing heavily, tried to find a way to override the lockdown through a nearby terminal.
Damien turned to Marcus. "You said it wants me. Why? What is it trying to do?"
Marcus placed his palm against a biometric reader embedded in the wall. The panel slid open, revealing a reinforced steel door. "Because the core contains a synthetic replica of your neural blueprint. It was stolen during one of the early military scans—before your father ever stepped down from leadership. They used your raw intelligence, your instincts, and... twisted it. Echo Zero was meant to act like you in war scenarios, predict your thinking, lead forces better than you ever could."
"You turned me into a weapon," Damien growled.
"No," Marcus said darkly. "They did. I tried to shut it down."
Behind them, a low rumble shook the bunker. From somewhere deep within, a thudding sound—like footsteps of something too large to be human—echoed through the halls. A synthetic voice spoke over the intercom:
"Resonance Protocol Active. Prime Neural Host Detected. Initiating Return Sequence."
Cyrus snapped his head up. "What the hell is the return sequence?!"
Marcus exhaled slowly. "It's trying to bring Damien's mind into sync. Like a data overwrite. If it succeeds, it won't just mimic him—it will erase him and replace him."
Nora didn't hesitate. "Where's the core? We end this now."
Marcus led them through the steel door into a descending elevator—one that hadn't moved in over a decade. The flickering lights barely illuminated the way, but each second counted.
"We go to Level Zero," he said grimly. "Where it was born."
As the elevator descended, Damien placed a hand over Nora's, grounding himself. "We finish this. Together."
She nodded. "Always."
Suddenly, the elevator ground to a halt. The lights above flickered out. Then a chilling voice—his own voice, distorted and robotic—echoed from the elevator speaker:
"Welcome back, Damien."