Amsterdam – Unknown Location, Underground Facility.
Dave's eyelids fluttered slowly, like curtains caught in a cold breeze.
A sharp, piercing ache throbbed at the base of his skull, pulsing with every shallow breath he took. His mouth was dry — cotton-packed and bitter — but when he tried to swallow, his throat felt tight as a noose.
He forced his eyes open.
Dim, flickering fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting long, sickly shadows over the cold steel table beneath him. The air was damp and heavy, carrying a faint metallic scent that burned his nostrils.
His arms lay sprawled at his sides — but his wrists were shackled with cold, biting handcuffs, anchored firmly to the table's edges.
A quick movement revealed dried blood crusted at the cuffs and smeared across the table.
His heart thudded painfully in his chest — but his body refused to respond when he tried to move.
He was trapped.
Trapped in silence.
Suddenly, a voice slithered from speakers hidden in the room — a voice both familiar and cruelly mechanical.
"Welcome back, Reign."
Dave's eyes shot around the room, searching for the source.
The voice continued, each word dripping with icy menace.
"You've been unconscious for seventy-two hours. Longer than we anticipated."
The screen on the wall flickered to life, displaying a countdown clock —
00:23:45:12
The hours, minutes, seconds ticking down like the pulse of a bomb.
"Time is a luxury you no longer have."
Dave swallowed hard, trying again to speak. His voice cracked like dry branches.
"Tessa…"
The voice cut him off with a slow, deliberate smile.
"You're running out of time to save her."
The screen shifted — live footage appeared.
Tessa, bruised but fighting, was being dragged into a black van by three masked figures.
Her eyes locked onto the camera for a moment — fierce, terrified, and defiant all at once.
Dave's breath hitched. His heart slammed against his ribs like a caged beast.
A surge of raw panic crashed through the fog in his brain.
"Where… where is she?" he croaked.
No answer.
Only the cold voice.
"She's closer than you think — but every second you waste, she's slipping deeper into the Round's grip."
Dave struggled against the cuffs, feeling the raw sting on his wrists.
"You won't win," he growled, voice hoarse but burning with defiance.
The voice laughed softly.
"Reign, you're a weapon. But every weapon has a weakness."
"Your mind is fracturing — the Reign program is waking up inside you."
The screen blinked, showing erratic brain scans — spikes of red firing across neural maps.
"Soon, you won't be able to trust yourself."
The clock on the screen jumped — now down to 00:22:59:06.
Dave's jaw clenched. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
He knew what he had to do.
But his body was still weak.
His mind — unreliable.
The cold room suddenly felt smaller — the shadows deeper — and the silence heavier.
He whispered to himself:
"This isn't the end."
"Not yet."
A faint sound echoed from somewhere in the building — footsteps, hurried and cautious.
Dave's eyes snapped to the door.
The locks clicked.
The door swung open.
Two figures entered — clad in tactical gear, their faces hidden beneath black masks.
One held a syringe filled with a dark fluid.
The other carried a tablet displaying a map — with one red dot pulsing ominously.
Dave's muscles tensed, ready to fight — but his body betrayed him, trembling uncontrollably.
One of the figures spoke through a voice modulator:
"Time to wake the soldier."
The needle glinted coldly in the light.
Dave's eyes locked on it.
The countdown continued.
The needle hovered above Dave's arm, the cold metal gleaming under the flickering lights. Time slowed, each second dragging like a blade across his skin.
His mind screamed at him to resist, to fight, but his body was trapped in a cage of weakness.
A surge of memories — fractured, chaotic — flashed behind his eyelids: Tessa's sharp eyes, Jamzy's desperate fight, Razor's venomous whisper.
The tactical figure's voice cut through the haze.
"You're not just any prisoner, Reign. You're our most valuable asset."
The other figure approached with the tablet.
The red dot on the map pulsed faster — closer.
"Injection will accelerate the phase activation."
"It will unlock your hidden directive… whether you want it or not."
Dave's breath caught. His fist clenched.
"I'm no one's puppet," he rasped.
The masked man smiled beneath his mask — cold, unyielding.
"That's what makes you perfect."
Suddenly, a distant alarm blared — shrill and urgent.
Both operatives froze.
"They're coming," one whispered.
"Protocol shift: extraction delayed."
The syringe retreated.
Dave felt his strength flicker back — a sliver of control returning.
The tactical duo moved to secure him for transport — but Dave's eyes flared cold fire.
"Try me."
In an instant, a sharp jolt of adrenaline surged through his veins.
He twisted, using the remaining strength to slam his shoulder into the table.
Chains rattled.
The operatives struggled to hold him down as Dave's cold, calculating mind clicked into gear.
His lips curled into a ruthless smirk.
"You want to wake the soldier?"
"I'll show you a war."
The facility's lights flickered and dimmed.
The red countdown clock blinked — ticking ever closer.
Meanwhile — elsewhere in Amsterdam.
Tessa's eyes snapped open.
Her body was bruised, hands tied, but her mind was razor sharp.
A shadow moved near her captors — a figure with a folded letter clutched tightly in their fist.
The letter read:
"Reign is awake. You have less than 24 hours. Help is coming."
Tessa's lips twitched with a faint smile.
"Then we fight."
Amsterdam – Underground Facility, Holding Cells.
The cold concrete walls closed in around Dave like a tomb. His body trembled as adrenaline surged through his veins, waking the beast inside.
The cuffs bit into his wrists, but now, his mind was razor-sharp, every instinct primed. The fragments of memories — some real, some implanted — wove together like a deadly tapestry in his mind.
He had been broken before. He could be broken again — but not today.
The air shifted. Footsteps echoed from the corridor — slow, measured. The sound was familiar, and Dave's head snapped toward the door.
It slid open with a hiss.
Jamzy stepped inside, face scarred, eyes wild but loyal.
"Dave," he whispered harshly. "We don't have much time."
Dave's voice was low, controlled.
"Where's Tessa?"
Jamzy nodded toward a narrow passage.
"Moved her upstairs. The Round's tightening the noose."
Dave stood despite the cuffs.
"Then we break it."
Upstairs – Holding Rooms.
Tessa sat on the floor, wrists raw from the ropes.
Her mind raced — analyzing, planning.
Every second was precious.
Her eyes locked on the shadowy figure watching her — a tall man with a cruel smile.
"You'll talk," he said softly. "Or she dies."
Tessa's gaze didn't waver.
"Try me."
Back in the underground lab.
Lang's voice crackled through Dave's earpiece.
"You're running out of time. The Reign program is accelerating. You're no longer just fighting your enemies… you're fighting yourself."
Dave clenched his jaw.
"Then I'll win."
He felt the faint pulse of the neural implant embedded deep in his spine — the device that Lang warned could take over his mind entirely.
But Dave's mind was no longer the scared boy from the streets. It was the mind of a king in waiting — cold, calculating, ready.
Flashback – The White Room.
A young Dave sat alone in a sterile chamber.
Men in lab coats watched from behind thick glass.
"Subject Reign," one said. "Your final test."
A screen lit up with images — faces of people he loved, places he once called home.
Then a trigger word echoed.
"Activate."
Dave's eyes glazed over.
He clenched fists. The world blurred.
Present – Underground Facility.
Dave shook off the memory.
He had a choice now — succumb to the program or fight for himself and the people he loved.
With Jamzy's help, he pulled a hidden pin from his cuff.
A sharp click.
Freedom.
But the fight was far from over.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city.
An unknown figure watched news feeds — reports of the rising chaos, the shadow of Reign.
A phone buzzed.
"They're close. But Reign is slipping."
The voice on the other end: cold, determined.
"Then it's time we remind him who he answers to."
Amsterdam – Underground Facility, Corridor Outside Holding Cells.
Dave's steps echoed sharply as he moved through the dimly lit hallway.
Jamzy kept close, silent, but alert — every nerve taut like a drawn bow.
They had minutes — maybe less.
Lang's voice buzzed urgently through Dave's earpiece.
"The neural implant is destabilizing. If you don't neutralize it soon, the Reign program will seize full control."
Dave's jaw clenched. The cold fury inside him flickered, fueled by desperation.
"How do I stop it?"
"There's a failsafe — a code. You'll find it at the core processor in the mainframe. It's the only thing that can override the implant."
Jamzy glanced sideways.
"And we have to get through layers of security to reach it."
Dave nodded. A plan was forming.
Meanwhile — Up Above, Holding Room.
Tessa sat with her back pressed against the cold wall, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion.
The tall man with the cruel smile entered again.
"You can't save him."
"He's already lost."
Tessa's gaze hardened.
"You underestimate what people fight for."
She shifted, straining against the ropes.
Back in the underground labyrinth.
Dave and Jamzy reached the core room — walls lined with blinking consoles and tangled cables.
Dave stepped forward, fingers flying over the keyboard, breaking through encrypted firewalls with practiced ease.
Suddenly — alarms screamed.
"They're onto us!" Jamzy shouted.
Lights flashed red, and heavy footsteps pounded the halls.
"Almost there," Dave muttered, sweat beading on his forehead.
He found the failsafe code — a complex algorithm that looked like a twisted serpent on the screen.
With a deep breath, he initiated the override sequence.
Upstairs — Holding Room.
Tessa's captors burst in as she struggled free, slipping the ropes with deft hands.
She grabbed a nearby pipe, ready to fight.
Her eyes searched for escape — for hope.
Underground — Core Processor Room.
Dave's earpiece crackled.
"You're running out of time!"
Suddenly, the implant surged — sending pain like lightning through his spine.
He gasped but pushed through, fingers dancing over the keyboard.
The screen blinked:
OVERRIDE INITIATED
A cold silence filled the room.
The countdown clock froze — then reset.
Upstairs — Escape.
Tessa fought through the captors — powerful but no match for her fury.
She burst through the exit door, lungs burning from stale air.
Corridor — Reunion.
Dave and Jamzy met Tessa halfway down the stairs.
No words.
Only the raw relief of survival.
But as they reached the exit — a shadow blocked their path.
A figure stepped forward — familiar, dangerous.
"You think you can run from Reign's past?"
Dave's cold eyes met the shadow's.
"I don't run."
"I rule."