In Vatican City – Beneath the Apostolic Palace
The air beneath the Vatican was centuries old, dense with incense and secrets. Nora stood before a biometric-locked vault door, flanked by Damien, Adrian, and Cardinal Matteo—a discreet ally of her late mother who had remained silent for decades.
"You're sure about this?" Damien asked.
Nora nodded. "My mother encoded a failsafe here, years ago. She called it The Remnant Directive. Whatever it is, it's supposed to reveal who in the Genesis Accord still has a soul."
Cardinal Matteo pressed his palm to a concealed scanner and whispered a Latin prayer. The door creaked open, revealing a spiral stairwell lit by blue flames.
They descended.
---
Location: Global—Various Sites Simultaneously
As the Clean Slate protocol accelerated, panic rippled across major nations:
In Frankfurt, financial systems buckled. Billion-dollar accounts vanished into digital limbo.
In Seoul, air traffic control systems collapsed, grounding hundreds of flights.
In Lagos, politicians were stripped of both identity and power—suddenly nameless, their entire lives erased.
But in Moscow, something strange happened. The FSB's backup servers—hidden under the Ural Mountains—activated themselves, pinging a legacy code written decades ago by Revenant engineers.
The message blinked:
"Initiate Code: PHOENIX. Contact Tavara."
---
Vatican City – The Vault's End
At the bottom of the stairs, they entered a circular chamber filled with sealed scrolls, old hard drives, and a small pedestal with an analog projector.
Nora inserted the key her mother had left behind.
A woman's voice echoed—soft, urgent.
"If you're hearing this, then the Accord has turned rogue. But not all its founders agreed with its path. We called ourselves the Remnants—a silent rebellion inside the storm."
The hologram of Nora's mother appeared, younger, fierce-eyed.
"There are three of us left. We encoded a pact to destroy the Accord from within. You, Nora, are the final key."
Damien stepped forward. "Where are the others?"
The recording continued:
"One is in Havana. The other, in a prison under Mount Fuji—hidden by the Japanese Ministry of Shadows. Find them before Archer does."
In Tavara – Revenant Command
Back at headquarters, Aunt Cecilia's intelligence team intercepted a ghost signal from Havana.
"It's a cipher from the 1960s," said tech officer Miles. "Definitely tied to the Remnants."
She frowned. "Put Nora and Damien on the next covert flight."
But even as she planned, Archer had already deployed his own agent to Cuba: Lucien Vale—Damien's cousin from his father's estranged brother. A ghost operative presumed dead years ago, now Archer's sword in the dark.
---
Location: Vatican City – Surface, Later That Night
Nora stared out over St. Peter's Square, her mind racing.
"I'm not just fighting for us anymore," she said.
Damien came to her side. "You're fighting for history."
"And for everyone Archer would wipe out. Their families, their legacies, their truth."
He nodded, his jaw tight. "Then we find the Remnants. We finish what our parents couldn't."