Location: Citadel Vault – Core Control Room
The silence that followed Echo's words pressed against the walls like a suffocating fog. Nora stood frozen, eyes locked on the holographic interface that displayed her name, connected by branching lines to files marked Class-Z Clearance and Dominion Protocol: Legacy Alpha.
Her voice cracked slightly. "This... this must be a mistake."
Damien slowly reached out, touching the interface to expand the data web. "It's not. These files were buried in a black archive. Not even the Prime Ministry had access."
Echo's hands were shaking. "It's not a coincidence. Nora... you were encoded into Dominion's final phase. Not as a target. As an asset."
The data unveiled more.
> Subject AL-01 – Initiated at birth. Supervised extraction from the Tavara Reconstruction Council. Gene lock enabled. Protocol: SLEEPWALKER. Activation: Upon global threat convergence.
Nora stumbled back. "What are they saying? That my entire life—my education, my career—was programmed?"
Zina, standing nearby with blood still drying on her gloves, said quietly, "No. They're saying you were created to stop what's coming."
Damien's jaw clenched. "You were never just a healer. You were their contingency plan."
---
Location: Inner Hallways – Citadel Vault
Alarms pulsed deep within the complex as Echo disabled fail-safes guarding the deeper files.
"There's more," she whispered. "Your parents weren't civilians. Josephine and Jonathan Wycliffe were agents of Dominion's original oversight council. Nora, they defected—took you and disappeared to hide you from the final phase."
Nora staggered. Her mind reeled with memories that now seemed... arranged. Her mother's sudden disappearances. Her father's cryptic advice. The subtle medical tests she'd taken as a teenager under the guise of "research grants."
All part of Dominion.
Zina placed a hand on her shoulder. "We don't blame you. You're still you."
"But who is that?" Nora's voice cracked, tears fighting past her strength. "A weapon? A program? How do I know what choices I even made?"
Damien stepped forward. "Because when it came down to it, you saved lives. You stood by us. That wasn't programming. That was you."
He paused, then added, "But now we need to choose—do we shut this place down, or do we use what's here to destroy Kael's entire network?"
---
Location: Vault Control Terminal
Echo activated the core interface. "There's a kill switch. If we input the sequence, Dominion's web of sleeper agents, assets, and hidden accounts collapses in real time."
"But?" Damien asked.
"It'll trigger a final defense protocol—code name: 'The Forgotten.' Sleeper cells worldwide who've been in stasis for decades. Elite assassins, spies... monsters, really. They'll reactivate and target whoever initiated the purge."
Damien's tone turned deadly calm. "Which means us."
Zina nodded. "We've fought worse."
Nora stepped forward, her decision clear now. "No more lies. No more shadows. If I was born into this, then I choose what I do with it. Let's end this."
Echo took a breath and entered the sequence.
> System Warning: Irreversible Command Detected. Proceed with Dominion Purge?
Damien reached forward and pressed YES.
The terminal flared, and thousands of data nodes began disintegrating like ash in a storm. Offshore accounts, black ops missions, biochemical weapons—all erased.
Then the screen turned black.
And a new phrase appeared:
> SLEEPER AGENTS REACTIVATED. PHASE INITIATED: THE FORGOTTEN.
A map of the world lit up.
Red dots flickered in every corner.
They had just lit a fire across the globe.