Ryan's face filled the screen, half-lit, half-shadowed. His usual easy grin was gone, replaced by something colder. Calculated.
"Ryan," Adrian said, voice low and deadly calm. "What the hell did you do?"
Ryan chuckled. "You make it sound so dramatic. I didn't do anything… yet."
Elena stepped closer, her pulse hammering. "You've been working with Crane this entire time."
Ryan tilted his head. "Working with is such a strong phrase. Let's call it… balancing interests."
Adrian's fists clenched. "You lied to me."
"Please," Ryan scoffed. "Don't act so righteous, Cole. You've built your entire life on lies your father left behind. I just learned from the best."
Adrian's jaw tightened. "You were my friend."
"I was," Ryan said quietly. "Until I realized being your friend was the quickest way to die young."
Elena's heart twisted. "So this was about survival?"
Ryan's eyes flicked to her. "You think you understand survival, Elena? You, of all people? The girl who was erased and reborn by a man she can't even remember?"
She froze, her fingers curling against her side. "You knew."
"Oh, I knew everything," Ryan said, leaning forward until his pixelated image filled the screen. "Crane told me what Phoenix really was. What you really were. And I'll be honest, sweetheart; you should've stayed forgotten."
Adrian slammed a fist against the console. "Where are you?!"
Ryan smirked. "Close enough to see you sweat."
The screen glitched for a moment, and then, behind him, Elena spotted something familiar. A steel door. The faint hum of Phoenix's generator room.
Her stomach dropped. "Adrian he's inside the building."
Adrian drew his gun without hesitation. "Stay behind me."
They moved fast, down the corridor, past flickering lights and silent halls. The storm outside pounded harder, as if echoing the chaos brewing inside.
When they reached the generator room, the metal door was ajar.
Adrian pushed it open.
Ryan stood at the center, surrounded by control panels and cables. His weapon was holstered. He looked calm, too calm.
"Drop it," Adrian ordered.
Ryan raised his hands slowly. "You always were predictable."
"Tell me why," Adrian demanded. "Why betray me?"
Ryan gave a tired smile. "Because I wanted out. Out of Phoenix. Out of your father's shadow. Crane offered freedom, and the truth."
"The truth?" Elena said, stepping forward. "You're helping a murderer!"
"Am I?" Ryan's eyes glinted. "Or am I helping the only man who actually told me the truth about what your precious Adrian's father did?"
Adrian's voice was sharp. "What are you talking about?"
Ryan stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Project Rebirth wasn't a rescue mission. It was a cover-up."
Adrian froze.
Ryan continued, "Your father didn't erase Elena's past to save her, he did it to silence her. She saw something she wasn't supposed to. Something that could've destroyed both Crane and your family. When she tried to expose it, he wiped her memory and buried her under a new life."
Elena's breath caught. "No… that's not true."
Ryan's smile turned sympathetic. "You think you volunteered for that program? You were a child genius, Elena. You built something; something they both wanted control of, and when you refused, they took your mind."
Adrian shook his head. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Ryan said softly. "Why do you think Crane hates your family, Adrian? Because your father stole his project, and the only person who could prove it."
He nodded toward Elena. "Her."
Elena's voice broke. "You're saying… I created Rebirth?"
Ryan smiled faintly. "Not all of it. But enough to make you dangerous."
For a long, suffocating moment, silence filled the room.
Only the hum of the generators filled the air.
Adrian's voice was low, shaking slightly. "If you believe any of that, this justifies what you've done, you're worse than Crane."
Ryan's gaze softened. "You still don't get it. Crane isn't my enemy. You never were, either. The real threat is already moving, and if you think this is just about the past, you're not seeing the storm coming."
Elena frowned. "What storm?"
Ryan glanced at her, his eyes suddenly tired almost regretful. "The kind your father warned about."
Before either could respond, a loud beeping filled the room.
Adrian looked down, a red light blinked on the generator panel.
Ryan sighed. "Guess we're out of time."
Adrian's voice turned sharp. "What did you do?"
Ryan gave a crooked smile. "Just cleaning up old files."
He hit a small remote in his hand; and every screen in the room flared white.
"Adrian!" Elena shouted.
Adrian grabbed her and dove behind the nearest console as sparks erupted. Alarms blared. The backup grid failed.
When the flash faded, Ryan was gone. The door hung open, swinging slowly.
Adrian coughed through the smoke. "He triggered a failsafe. He's wiping Phoenix's entire archive."
Elena scrambled to her feet, rushing to the panel. "If we lose those files, we lose every trace of what your father did, and who I was."
Adrian joined her, typing commands furiously. "I can stall it, but we'll need the mainframe key."
She looked at him. "Where is it?"
He hesitated. "My mother's house."
Hours later, they pulled up to Margaret Cole's mansion, lights off, eerily silent.
Elena felt a chill run through her. "She should've been here."
Adrian's gut tightened. He drew his weapon, motioning her to stay close. "Something's wrong."
They entered the main hall. The air smelled of rain and perfume — faint, but wrong somehow.
Then they saw her.
Margaret sat by the fireplace, composed as always, a glass of wine in her hand. But her smile was… off. Cold. Distant.
"Mother," Adrian said cautiously. "Are you alright?"
She turned her gaze toward him; slow, deliberate. "Adrian. You shouldn't have come."
Elena frowned. "Where's the mainframe key?"
Margaret's lips curved. "Safe."
Adrian stepped forward. "We don't have time for this. Crane's trying to erase everything."
"Oh, I know," she said softly. "That's why I helped him."
Adrian froze. "…What?"
Margaret stood, setting the glass down with care. "Your father was a visionary and a fool. He thought he could outsmart Crane. He thought he could hide the girl, hide her mind."
She looked at Elena. "You were his greatest creation, my dear. Not his victim."
Elena's blood ran cold. "What are you saying?"
Margaret smiled faintly. "You think Project Rebirth was about erasing memories? No. It was about transferring them."
Adrian's voice broke. "Mother!"
"Your father wanted to perfect consciousness replication," she continued, voice almost gentle. "Elena wasn't just part of the project. She was the project."
Elena stepped back. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Margaret whispered. "Then why do you think your memories never returned, dear? Because they were never yours to begin with."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Adrian's hand trembled. "Mother… what did you do?"
Margaret's eyes softened, almost lovingly. "What I had to. To protect the legacy."
And then she smiled; that same polished, practiced smile.
"Welcome home, Subject E."