Location: Tavara – Damien's Private Estate, Intelligence Wing
The hum of encrypted transmissions echoed softly through the Intelligence Wing, where Damien reviewed Zina's incoming updates on the adaptive virus. Logan stood beside him, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the neural-grid simulation now glowing red with infection threads.
"This isn't just about destabilizing Tavara," Logan muttered. "They're building a backdoor into global communication systems. This... this could cripple the Orion Alliance."
Damien didn't look away from the screen. "Which means they're using Tavara as the testing ground."
At that moment, Nora entered, her face unreadable but her energy sharp. "We've been compromised," she said without preamble. "Someone tried to inject synthetic pathogens into our medical trials. Carefully masked, but deliberate."
Logan cursed under his breath. "They're attacking every pillar we built—industry, tech, medicine, public trust."
Damien turned toward her. "We respond on all fronts. But Nora—if they've targeted your facility, then they know you're key to something... else."
She hesitated. Then: "It's about my father."
Damien's expression darkened. "Go on."
---
Flashback – 14 Years Ago
Location: Tavara – Nora's Childhood Estate, Lower Vaults
In the dead of night, a much younger Nora had followed her father to the lower vaults of their estate—spaces few even knew existed. There, he showed her a sealed capsule containing encoded strands of ancient biological data.
"Not every cure must be made in a lab, Nora," he whispered. "Some are inherited. Others… must be protected."
She'd asked then, "What is this?"
He had smiled sadly. "It's what the world would kill to possess. Promise me, if anything happens to me—you'll never let this fall into the wrong hands."
---
Back to Present
Nora exhaled slowly. "My father entrusted me with a data strand tied to a forbidden genome. Something capable of evolving human resistance beyond known science. I encrypted it and buried it beneath our labs. But now... they're sniffing too close."
Damien processed her words in silence. "If the Serpent Directive gets it—"
"They won't," Nora cut in. "I've locked it behind three biometric keys. But we must move fast. Kael Morran is patient, but not forever."
Logan blinked. "You're telling me we've been sitting on a biological nuclear weapon?"
Nora's tone turned ice-cold. "I'm telling you we've been protecting humanity's last advantage."
---
Location: Tavara – Underground Safehouse: Zina's Mobile Node Lab
The countdown timer blinked on Zina's wrist. A secure ping hit her tablet.
Damien's voice crackled through. "Prepare a black-ops team. We're heading to the vault under Nora's facility. And Zina—encrypt all data layers manually. We're going old school. No cloud, no trace."
Zina's smirk was grim. "Time to dust off the ghost protocols."
As she moved, her digital eyes scanned anomalies in the system—something strange was happening. An old digital ghost—a signature she hadn't seen since the early Orion days—was active again.
She froze.
"No way... That code... it's Dorian's."
---
Location: Unknown – Serpent Directive HQ, Secure Chamber
Kael stood before a shadowed figure behind thick bulletproof glass. The figure spoke in a raspy voice, layered with tech distortion.
"Activate sleeper node Z-19. Let's see how loyal Damien's ghosts still are."
Kael bowed. "As you command, Director."