"Even ghosts cast a shadow when the light is cruel enough."
The next morning rose sickly pale over a city that refused to die.The storm had washed the ash into rivers that gleamed silver under the fractured sun. Every street shimmered like broken glass.
Less moved through the wasteland of skyscrapers, the wind cutting against her face, the crimson scarf snapping behind her like a blood trail. Her steps were deliberate, silent. She followed the faint signal her wrist tracker had picked up during the night—coordinates Helix had been transmitting from a nearby sector.
She didn't know what she expected to find. Maybe another lab. Maybe another lie.
The ruins loomed higher the deeper she went, casting long shadows that crawled across the cracked streets. Signs in forgotten languages peeled from the walls. A rusted drone carcass hung tangled in cables above a streetlight, its camera lens still blinking faintly.
Less paused at a junction where two buildings leaned against each other like drunks after a long war. Her tracker pulsed faster.
Close.
She raised her rifle and moved inside.
The building was an old data tower, its interior gutted and filled with collapsed floors and shattered servers. Sunlight spilled through the cracks above, slicing the dust into ribbons of gold. Every step she took echoed.
She reached the center chamber—a massive room where Helix once stored millions of genetic archives. Now it was nothing but dust and ghosts.
At the far end stood a lone figure.
For a moment, she thought he was a statue—motionless, framed in light filtering through the holes in the ceiling. Then he turned.
His eyes gleamed silver in the dark.
Less aimed instinctively. "Don't move."
He didn't. His voice, when he spoke, was calm, deep, and low enough to vibrate in her chest."You're late, L-01."
Her stomach tightened. "You know that name?"
"I know what you are."
He stepped into the light, revealing a tall, lean man dressed in matte-black combat armor. A faint burn scar traced his jawline, disappearing beneath his collar. His hands were empty, but the way he moved—measured, unhurried—told her he didn't need weapons to kill.
"Who sent you?" she asked.
He smiled faintly. "Does it matter? They all want the same thing."
"Which is?"
"To see what's left of you bleed."
She fired.
The bullet tore through his image—and vanished. A hologram.
She spun, too late. A shadow dropped from the ceiling, landing behind her.
A hand caught her rifle, twisting it from her grip. She turned with the motion, pulling a knife free from her boot. Their weapons met in a spark of steel and sweat.
He moved like liquid—fast, silent, perfectly balanced. Less fought defensively, her blade flashing, her breath shallow. Every strike he made was surgical, aimed to disarm, not kill.
When their blades locked, he spoke softly, his face inches from hers."Still precise. Still hesitant. They didn't erase everything."
She broke the lock, spun, and slammed the knife toward his ribs. He caught her wrist mid-motion and twisted. Pain flared through her arm. She gritted her teeth and drove her knee into his stomach, forcing him back.
For a heartbeat they stood apart, chests heaving, weapons ready.
Then he lowered his blade.
"You're better than the last time we met," he said.
Less didn't move. "I'd remember you."
"No," he said quietly. "You wouldn't."
He holstered his weapon and stepped closer, his silver eyes unreadable. "My name is Khale. I used to be Helix's clean-up division. I hunted things like you when they escaped."
Less's grip tightened. "Then why aren't you shooting me now?"
"Because I stopped believing in orders the day Helix burned my city to the ground." His gaze flickered to the floor, where sunlight caught old bullet casings. "And because I owe Lysandra a debt."
The name hit her like a strike.
She steadied her breath. "You know her?"
Khale nodded. "She created you."
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.
Less stepped back, shaking her head. "No. I don't—"
"She was brilliant," Khale said softly. "And reckless. She wanted to save people. Helix wanted to weaponize them. You were the bridge between those two dreams."
Her pulse roared in her ears. "You're lying."
"I wish I were."
They found shelter in a collapsed observation lounge overlooking the lower city. Broken glass crunched underfoot as they entered. Less sat near the window, staring out at the endless maze of ruins.
Khale stood near the doorway, keeping watch.
After a while, he said, "You remember the chip?"
Less glanced at him. "You know about that too?"
"I know Helix embedded a failsafe in it. You're carrying a key to their archives—and a signal beacon. They'll follow it."
She cursed under her breath.
Khale moved closer. "I can help you shut it off."
"Why would you help me?"
"Because I'm tired of running from ghosts," he said simply. "And because you're not the monster they made you."
Less turned to him. "And if I am?"
He met her gaze without flinching. "Then I'll be the one to stop you."
The honesty in his tone unsettled her more than any threat.
Hours passed. The rain began again, tapping against the glass like soft static.
Less cleaned her rifle in silence. Khale sat across from her, dismantling a pair of curved blades that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
"You said you hunted things like me," she said at last. "How many?"
"Too many."
"And you never questioned it?"
"I did," he said. "But by the time I did, questioning didn't change anything. It just made the killing slower."
She studied him through the flicker of the storm. "You sound like someone who stopped believing in redemption."
Khale smiled faintly. "Redemption's for people who still have something left to save."
For the first time, Less saw the exhaustion behind his calm. His armor was scuffed, his eyes shadowed. He looked like someone who had seen too much and survived by accident.
Lightning flashed outside, briefly illuminating the city.
Khale looked out at it. "Helix's core lab is under the old reactor fields—Sector Theta. That's where they built you. And that's where Lysandra disappeared."
Less's breath caught. "You're sure?"
He nodded. "That's where the signal from your chip leads."
She closed her eyes. "Then that's where I'm going."
Khale gave a small, humorless laugh. "You'll need help."
"I don't need anyone."
"You needed me five minutes ago," he said.
She shot him a look, but he only smiled, faint and tired.
By dawn, they were on the move again. The sky had turned the color of iron. They crossed the lower districts in silence, their footsteps echoing through abandoned factories and half-sunken streets.
They passed graffiti that read BURN HELIX BURN and L-01 LIVES. The sight made Less's chest tighten.
At one point, they stopped to rest near a collapsed highway. The wind whistled through the gaps, carrying whispers of old radio signals.
Khale spoke quietly. "You should know—there are others like you. Prototypes. Failed attempts. Some are still out there."
Less met his gaze. "And you think they'll come for me?"
"I think Helix will send them to test you."
She looked down at her gloved hands. "Then let them try."
For a moment, neither spoke. The world around them was quiet except for the hum of the wind.
Khale finally said, "You remind me of her."
"Lysandra?"
He nodded. "She never learned how to stop fighting either."
Less turned away, tightening her scarf. "Then maybe I am her mistake."
Khale's expression softened. "Or her legacy."
As night fell again, they reached the edge of the reactor fields—an expanse of twisted metal and glass stretching as far as the eye could see. The air shimmered faintly with radiation. Towers of black smoke rose in the distance where the Helix outpost pulsed with blue light.
Khale adjusted his mask. "Beyond that ridge is Sector Theta. Once we cross it, there's no turning back."
Less checked her rifle. "I wasn't planning to."
They stood side by side, the storm building behind them, lightning crawling across the horizon.
Khale looked at her. "For what it's worth," he said, "if this kills us, at least it'll be interesting."
Less gave him a rare, fleeting smile. "You talk too much."
"Occupational hazard."
They started down the slope, silhouettes swallowed by the rising wind.
Behind them, the city they'd left behind burned faintly in the dark—like a wound that had never healed.
And somewhere deep within the storm, something ancient stirred awake.