The wind howled like a beast across the frozen plains of Siberia.
Seojun adjusted his thermal goggles as the team moved silently across the snow, their dark suits blending with the dim twilight. Hana led the way, her steps sure despite the ice-covered terrain. Behind them were two new members: Elias—an expert in AI forensics—and Yuki, a former Syndicate defector with a shadowy past and unmatched stealth skills.
They stopped at the mouth of an abandoned Soviet bunker, half-buried in ice.
"This is the source of the last ping," Hana said, her breath fogging in the cold. "Encrypted signal. Same pattern Victor used to wake sleeper protocols."
Seojun placed a small disc on the metal door. With a quiet hiss, it dissolved the rusted lock, revealing a narrow passage that plunged into darkness.
Inside, the air was still. Dead.
The team moved in single file, flashlights sweeping across flaking walls and old control panels. The deeper they went, the more advanced the tech became—too advanced for anything left from the Cold War.
"This isn't just a relic," Elias muttered. "Someone's been rebuilding."
In the central chamber, they found it: a black monolith-like server, pulsing faintly.
Yuki stepped back.
"I've seen these before. It's not just a relay. It's a consciousness fragment."
Seojun stepped forward and plugged in a portable interface.
Lines of code flashed across the screen, then froze. One word appeared.
"Hello, Seojun."
Hana stiffened.
"It's him."
Victor's voice came through the speakers—warped, broken, but unmistakably smug.
"Did you think I wouldn't prepare for failure? Every death, every plan… was calculated. You are not hunting me. You are dancing inside my design."
Suddenly, lights flared. Drones dropped from ceiling compartments. Guns rotated into position.
"MOVE!" Seojun shouted.
The team dived behind cover as bullets ripped through the air. Elias worked furiously to upload a worm virus. Yuki disappeared into the shadows—then reappeared behind a drone, slashing its core.
Seojun leapt over a console, fired at the mainframe, and shouted to Hana.
"Now!"
She slammed the final command key. The virus deployed. Lights shattered. Everything went still.
Breathing hard, they stood in the wreckage.
Elias pulled the drive.
"We got a fragment. Not much, but it'll tell us where he's headed next."
Seojun's jaw tightened.
"Then we follow."
Outside, the blizzard raged on. But beneath it, a war of minds had just begun.