POV: Dr. Elira Vex
Security alarms screamed through the halls. The lights had switched to emergency red. Another energy surge rattled the reinforced glass above her head, and the systems dimmed for half a second, just enough to tell her Kael was no longer contained.
He had done it.
He had awakened fully.
And now, GenCore would come for him like wolves.
Elira didn't hesitate.
She moved fast through the corridor, swiping her clearance band across restricted doors, overriding lockdowns one by one. The Spiral readings on her tablet were off the charts, Kael's genome was no longer just active. It was rewriting the air around him.
But what terrified her more than the data was the people above her.
Korr would trigger Final Protocol.
They would destroy Kael, not out of fear, but out of ignorance.
"He's not your enemy," she muttered, pushing open a hidden panel behind her lab chamber. Inside was a maintenance crawlspace, old and forgotten.
She ducked inside, clutching the data shard with his Spiral blueprint against her chest like a relic. If they caught her, it wouldn't just mean the end of her career.
It would mean erasure.
Kael had to live.
She found him two floors down, moving like he wasn't touching the ground. His body glowed faintly, his eyes scanning the walls like he saw through them.
"Kael!" she hissed.
He stopped.
Turned.
And for a moment, she wasn't sure he recognized her.
Then: "Dr. Vex?" His voice was different. Steadier. Deeper. Like someone else was speaking with him.
"No time to explain. Follow me if you want to live."
He did.
They moved fast through side tunnels and deactivated labs. Lights shattered as he passed. Surveillance drones crashed to the ground. The Spiral was in full control, but Kael wasn't wild. He was holding it back.
She realized then, he could've escaped alone.
But he stayed.
To understand.
To choose.
"You're not just a subject anymore," she said between breaths. "You're a signal. A warning. A weapon they'll never control."
Kael didn't answer.
But he didn't need to.
They reached the old elevator shaft. She jammed open the service doors and turned to him.
"This leads to the exterior supply docks. Unsecured. No kill drones. After that, you run. You don't stop. Not until you're out of GenCore airspace."
Kael stared at the open shaft.
"What about you?"
She smiled faintly. "I'll be erased anyway. But at least I'll know I helped wake up the future."
He reached out.
Pressed something into her hand.
The Spiral mark, tiny and red, shimmered on a fragment of metal.
"Then remember it."
And with that, he jumped.
Down into the shaft.
Into freedom.
Elira Vex stood there, alone now, alarms howling behind her. She looked down at the Spiral shard in her palm.
A reminder.
Not of power.
Of hope.
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End of chapter 12