The storm had passed, but the air inside the escape vessel was heavier than before.
Alina sat near the medical pod, eyes locked on the little girl sleeping within it. Lily's chest rose and fell slowly, her breathing deep but unnaturally calm—as if her body remembered something her mind hadn't yet caught up to.
"She's stable," Leonard said quietly, standing beside the screen. "Vitals are steady. Brain activity… off the charts."
Alina didn't respond. Her fingers hovered just above the pod's transparent glass, heart torn open. The truth still echoed in her ears—Leonard had been part of it. Of them.
"You were supposed to be my safe place," she said softly.
Leonard closed his eyes.
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me? You had so many chances."
He exhaled, sinking to the seat beside her. "Because I was a coward. Because every time I saw you smile, every time you looked at me with trust—I couldn't risk shattering it. And because I fell for you long before I was ready to admit it."
Alina shook her head. "You stole years from me. You let them—"
"I tried to get out," he whispered. "I fought it. Elara had eyes everywhere. You think I didn't want to run? I begged them to let us go. And when I realized they wouldn't, I made a choice."
She turned to him, tear-filled eyes gleaming with fury. "And now our daughter's in this because of us. She has something inside her, doesn't she? That program Elara talked about—it's part of Lily."
Leonard nodded slowly. "Yes. But it's incomplete. Elara didn't finish uploading it."
"And if she had?"
"She'd be a living weapon. And not just any weapon. One designed to obey only Elara."
Alina's stomach twisted.
They had escaped with their lives.
But Elara still had control—if not physically, then in what she had left behind in Lily's mind.
Back at the coastal safehouse, Rafe and Selena worked with a secured uplink to decrypt the data they managed to pull from Experimental Site 1 before the systems shut down. The files were scrambled, most tagged with obscure code names and corrupted timestamps.
But one folder remained intact.
PROJECT: ARCHON
Selena narrowed her eyes. "That was never part of the Rossi Protocol."
Rafe nodded. "It's something newer. Or something deeper."
Inside were surveillance recordings. Conversations. And blueprints of a second-generation neurogenetic model.
The name on the subject file?
LILY A. ROSS
Selena's blood ran cold. "They weren't just testing Alina. They were breeding the next iteration."
Rafe's expression darkened. "She was born into this."
Selena clicked through the subfolders. One file, hidden in a digital vault, was an audio log dated six months before Alina's pregnancy was confirmed.
"Phase 2 is viable. Subject A displays sustained bonding with Operative L. Subject is unaware of embedded fertility protocol. Embryo has tested positive for modified markers. The child will be… the key."
Selena stood up sharply.
"They planned Lily. Every part of her."
That night, the safehouse was silent except for the sound of rain against the windows. Alina sat beside Lily's bed, fingers wrapped around a necklace she never took off—her mother's.
Leonard stood in the doorway.
"You haven't slept."
Alina didn't answer.
He walked closer, kneeling beside her. "We're going to fix this. Together."
She looked at him with hollow eyes. "How can I ever believe anything you say again?"
"I don't expect you to. Not yet." His voice was steady. Gentle. "But I'm not giving up. Not on you. Not on her."
Alina hesitated… then looked back at Lily.
"She talked to me," she whispered. "When I pulled that lever. I heard her voice in my mind. She said, 'Don't let them take me.'"
Leonard stiffened. "What?"
"She spoke to me. In my mind, Leo."
He swallowed hard. "Then the neural link is developing."
"What does that mean?"
"That she's activating. And if it's left unchecked—her mind could fracture."
"No," Alina said, standing suddenly. "I won't let that happen. We're not going to let her become what they made us."
The next morning, Selena burst into the main room, face pale.
"Emergency broadcast. Citywide shutdown. Novacore just declared a Level Red containment breach."
Alina stood, instincts flaring. "Where?"
"Downtown New York. One of their secret bunkers. It was attacked."
"By who?"
Selena turned the screen toward her.
The footage was grainy but clear enough.
A woman in a black coat, eyes like frozen steel. Blonde hair. Elara.
"She survived," Leonard whispered.
"More than that," Alina said grimly. "She's started Phase Three."
Rafe joined them. "She's using the chaos to draw you out. The moment you step into that zone—she'll come for Lily."
Alina's jaw clenched. "Then we bring the fight to her first."
Before leaving, Alina stood by Lily's bedside again, brushing her daughter's hair from her face.
"I love you more than the stars," she whispered.
Lily's eyes fluttered open.
"Mommy…"
Alina froze. "Baby?"
"I saw her."
Alina's heart dropped. "Who?"
Lily blinked slowly. "The cold lady. She was… in my dream. But it wasn't a dream."
Leonard approached gently. "Did she talk to you?"
Lily nodded. "She said… I belonged to her."
Alina felt the ice sink into her veins.
"She's connected to Lily," Leonard murmured. "Residual interface. It's psychic."
"Then we cut that connection," Alina said, standing. "We end this. Once and for all."
Hours later, the team landed in New York under the cover of darkness. The skyline was blacked out, the city wrapped in silence. All roads in had been blocked by Novacore operatives—who were now missing or dead.
Selena guided them through service tunnels beneath the streets, finally emerging beneath the ruins of the old Saint Augustine Cathedral—a front for one of Novacore's hidden research labs.
The inside had been gutted. Blood smeared on the floor. Screens cracked. All personnel—gone.
But on the walls, painted in something dark and congealed, a single phrase repeated over and over:
"THE NEXT GOD WILL RISE."
Alina stared at the words, her fists trembling.
"She's not just after me anymore. She wants to elevate Lily. Turn her into something beyond human."
Leonard turned to her. "Then we don't let her."
From the center of the chamber, a panel opened. A white light beamed from beneath.
A voice echoed from the speaker overhead.
"Elara welcomes you to Ascension."