The air smelled of ozone and blood.
Amelia stumbled from the stasis chamber, her skin slick with sweat, hair tangled, eyes burning. Echo pulsed behind her ribs, no longer whispering—but coiled, watchful. Half-merged. Stabilized, but volatile.
The sound of boots echoed ahead—Kestrel, sprinting toward her through the fractured corridor. Behind him: Eris, gun drawn.
"I saw her," Amelia panted. "She called herself Lira."
Kestrel froze. "Prototype Zero-One?"
"She said she was the first."
Eris muttered a curse. "That's not possible. She was supposed to have been purged. Her data was wiped."
"No," Amelia said, voice low. "She's been waiting. And she's not alone."
Before anyone could respond, the hallway flickered—metal twisting with light. A hologram bloomed from the wall: cold, clean, unblinking.
Dr. Vera Chen.
Or rather, her projection.
"Version Eleven," the image said, addressing Amelia directly. "Final test subject. You've reached the last phase."
"Stop calling me that," Amelia growled.
"You have proven viability beyond the limits of every iteration. Echo was not a virus. She was your compass. Your catalyst. You are the bridge. Now… ignite the rest."
Kestrel stepped forward, voice cold. "We're done playing your games."
Dr. Chen's image blinked. "You don't understand. Node 3 has already activated. You were never meant to stop the Mirror. You were meant to complete it."
Suddenly, the floor trembled.
A breach.
From the far wall—Mirror agents, armed and moving fast, burst through the steel like a blade through flesh. Their armor glinted in the red emergency lights. Not human. Not fully.
"Go!" Kestrel shouted.
Eris threw a stun mine and covered the rear. Amelia sprinted toward the main corridor—but instinct turned her aroundinstead.
Echo screamed in her mind: "Don't!"
But she did.
She moved toward the agents.
One fired. She spun. Another lunged—her elbow cracked his jaw.
Then her hand found the knife at her thigh.
And for the first time since merging, she let Echo take the lead.
It was not a fight.
It was a slaughter.
Her body moved like fire, each motion brutal, final. Her blade slid through armor as if it weren't there. She was faster than she had ever been—faster than Kestrel had ever seen.
And when the last body hit the ground, Amelia stood in the center of the blood-slick hallway, chest heaving. Her eyes glowed. Her fingers trembled.
She didn't feel victorious.
She felt changed.
Behind her, Kestrel approached—but hesitated.
"Don't," she whispered.
"I just—"
"I felt good," Amelia said. "Killing them. I liked it. That's not me."
Kestrel stepped closer, gently touched her hand. "It's part of you now. But it's not all of you."
She looked at him—and saw it in his face.
Fear.
Not of her.
But for her.
She let go of the blade, and it clattered to the floor.
Just before the lights flickered again—and Zahir's voice cracked through the comm:
"You need to move. Node 3 isn't abandoned. It's awake. And it's watching her."