Episode 99
The air in the underground war room felt electric, the tension humming beneath every breath.
Ashen sat motionless in front of the old steel memory core. Aria hovered beside him, tending to the burn on his shoulder with practiced hands. Raian stood nearby, his eyes never leaving his brother's face.
Ayan and Lina manned the computer station, where Ishaan had rigged up a decrypted link to the backup system.
"You sure this is going to work?" Ayan asked, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
Ashen nodded once. "This core isn't encrypted by Malik's system. It was Mother's personal archive. They never found it."
"Then let's find out what was worth hiding," Lina said, and pressed 'Enter'.
The screens flickered—static, then blackness—then suddenly, a pale video image lit up the room.
A woman's voice. Soft. Familiar.
"Rael… Ashen… if you're seeing this, it means I've failed to protect you."
Raian's knees nearly gave out. He gripped the edge of the desk, heart hammering.
On the screen, a woman in a white coat looked straight into the lens. Her eyes were tired, but full of determination.
"I knew Malik wouldn't stop after the project was shut down. He wants the serum perfected—at any cost. But it's you… my sons… who will pay the price."
Ashen's breath caught.
The woman continued, "They split you up. Lied to you. Told you the other died in infancy. It was the only way to keep you from finding each other."
Aria reached for Raian's hand silently. He squeezed back, his throat burning.
"I hid the real data—Project VALHALLA's source genome and its failures—inside this core. The serum was never meant to control minds. It was to prevent inherited neurodegeneration in soldiers. But Malik twisted it… enhanced it. Made it into something monstrous."
A file opened beside the video, showing lists—dates, names, test results.
Aria scanned them. "These are… the early human test subjects. All terminated."
Ishaan leaned in. "Including Subject A-09. That's Ashen."
Ashen didn't react.
On screen, the woman's voice cracked.
"I'm sorry for what they did to you. To both of you. But if you're watching this together, maybe… there's still hope."
Then she smiled, faint and fragile. "Forgive me, my brave boys."
The screen went black.
No one moved for several seconds.
Then Ashen stood.
"I remember her hands," he whispered. "She used to braid my hair with a red string… called it my lifeline."
Raian moved toward him.
"We're going to end this," he said.
Ashen looked him in the eye.
"I'm with you."
---
Two Hours Later – Command Center Briefing
A large tactical map of Malik's private compound lit up the wall. Ishaan pointed at three red dots.
"These are the only entrances. Two are decoys. One is protected by biometric lock and retinal scanners."
Aria spoke up. "We can bypass those with the data in the memory core. But we'll need someone inside."
Ashen stepped forward. "I'll do it. I know the system. The guards."
Raian nodded. "Then we strike at dawn. No delays."
Lina looked at Ayan, who had been silent since the recording.
"What's wrong?"
Ayan shook his head slowly. "There's a pattern here… the testing sequence. I've seen it before."
He pulled up a secondary file. Rows of encrypted codes.
"This sequence—it matches what we found on the lab floors in Sector V. The aborted infants. The organ harvesting."
Everyone froze.
"What are you saying?" Aria asked quietly.
"That Malik isn't just building soldiers," Ayan said. "He's building hosts."
Ashen's eyes darkened. "For what?"
Ayan hesitated.
Then, slowly, he highlighted a line on the screen.
"Project IMMORTAL. He's trying to copy your DNA, Ashen. And yours, Raian. Your regenerative code."
Lina gasped. "You're his blueprint."
Raian clenched his jaw. "Then it ends now."
---
Pre-Dawn – Operation Setup
Snow fell again—heavier, thicker, drowning the forest in silence.
The team moved in two squads.
Squad A: Raian, Aria, Ayan.
Squad B: Ashen, Lina, Ishaan.
Ashen moved ahead with a silent grace that chilled even Ayan. He didn't need to speak—he just knew the layout. Every wire, every patrol rotation.
Inside the compound perimeter, they paused near a vent shaft.
"This leads straight into the central server bay," Ashen whispered. "From there, I can override the mainframe."
Raian looked at him. "You sure about this?"
Ashen's face was grim. "If I don't go… none of you get out."
He turned to Lina. "Give me ten minutes. Then breach."
She nodded, handing him a compact thermal disruptor.
Ashen slipped into the shaft and vanished.
---
Server Bay – Malik's Compound
Ashen landed silently on the polished floor. The room was empty—cold, sterile, humming with low energy.
He moved to the server console and connected the memory core.
The screen lit up. A countdown began.
10 minutes.
Suddenly, a voice behind him.
"I knew she'd keep it for you."
Ashen turned slowly.
Malik stood there, dressed in a white military uniform, hands clasped behind his back.
"You disappoint me, Ashen," he said. "I raised you better than this."
"You tortured me."
"I trained you."
Ashen's jaw clenched. "You killed her."
Malik chuckled. "She was weak. Love makes people weak."
Ashen's eyes burned.
"No," he said. "It makes us human."
Then he detonated the disruptor and ran.
---
Main Compound – Simultaneously
Lina's comms clicked.
"Go. Now," Ashen's voice came through.
The team breached.
Gunfire erupted.
Ayan took out two guards in a clean arc of motion. Aria stayed behind Raian, eyes scanning for traps. They moved through corridor after corridor, closing in on the vault.
Suddenly, an alarm blared.
Malik's voice echoed through the speakers.
"You think you've won? You're still just broken tools. All of you."
Raian reached the vault door and placed his palm on the reader.
Green light.
It opened.
Inside, row after row of stasis chambers.
Children. Dozens of them.
Aria covered her mouth in horror. "They're… alive."
Ishaan scanned the nearest pod. "All cloned from Project VALHALLA genes. They're building an army."
Raian turned to Ayan.
"Get them out. All of them."
Ayan nodded and began the override process.
---
Elsewhere – Showdown
Ashen faced Malik again in the escape corridor.
"You can't stop this," Malik sneered. "Even if you destroy me, the genome is out there."
Ashen raised his weapon.
"No. The genome dies with you."
Then Raian appeared behind him.
Together, the brothers opened fire.
Malik fell, a look of utter disbelief frozen on his face.
Ashen stepped forward, placing the red thread—his lifeline—on Malik's chest.
"You made me a monster. But I choose what I become."
---
Ten Minutes Later – Extraction
The team fled through the southern tunnel just as the auto-destruct sequence activated.
They reached the tree line, barely breathing, just in time to see the compound erupt behind them in a mushroom of fire and smoke.
Snowflakes melted before they could even land.
Aria clutched Raian's arm.
He looked at Ashen.
"Are we free now?" Ashen asked, voice hollow.
Raian nodded. "No… but we're finally choosing our path."
Ashen turned to watch the fire.
For the first time, he didn't flinch.
---