Lights flicker again.
Raine doesn't move.
He watches.
Listens.
Feels.
The air changed... like static before a storm.
He opens the hidden panel on his wrist.
[PHANTOM PROTOCOL – LOCKED]UNLOCK VIA CODE: Voice + DNA
He speaks softly.
"…Initiate Raine Veritas. Code 17-Beta-Delta."
A needle pricks his skin. Blood drawn. Verified.
[ACCESS GRANTED][PHANTOM PROTOCOL: UNLEASHED]
All seven monitors blink red.
Lines of code unravel like DNA strands... ancient… forbidden.
This isn't just data. It's his soul. Years of work… illegal, forgotten, buried in digital graves beneath the DeepNet.
But he knew one day… this day… would come.
He plays the last log.
A video.
Grainy… but clear enough.
It's him.
Three years ago.
Younger. Sharper. Deadlier.
Behind him—burning lab. Sirens. Gunshots.
He's holding something… a cube?
He looks into the camera.
"This is Raine Veritas. If you're seeing this… it means I failed to stay in the dark. Or someone dragged me back into the light. Either way… don't trust anyone. Not the government. Not the Resistance. And definitely not the girl in the white dress."
Static.
Then…
"…And if I'm already dead, then God help the world. Because whatever I built… it's waking up."
The log ends.
Raine stares.
Silent.
Heart pacing like a trapped animal.
A message flashes on his screen.
[Incoming Call — Unknown Frequency]
He traces the signal.
No origin.
No metadata.
Nothing.
He hesitates... then answers.
Only audio.
A child's voice. Soft. Cold.
"Did you think you could hide forever?"
Click.
Gone.
Raine leans back.
Closes his eyes.
The past is clawing back.
He opens a second terminal. One not connected to any grid. An air-gapped system designed for only one thing:
Project ArkNet.
He types fast.
Maps explode onto the screen. Dots. Red zones. Dead zones. Movement clusters.
One location blinks amber.
A location no one should know.
An abandoned military site in Russia.
Codename: Red Widow.
He zooms in.
Thermal scan shows activity.
Recent.
Human.
Armed.
One heat signature... not moving.
Dead?
No.
Too steady.
Alive. Sleeping?
Or trapped.
He links the satellite.
Enhances image.
And freezes.
It's her.
The girl in white.
Same one from the video.
Same one from the dream.
Same one… watching him in the coma.
He grabs the cube from the vault.
His fingers tremble. Just a little.
He thought he destroyed it.
Apparently not.
Apparently… nothing ever really dies.
Suddenly, the entire building goes black.
Power cut.
Backup kicks in.
But monitors stay dead.
Just one line appears on every screen:
"WE SEE YOU, SHADOW KING."
He laughs.
A bitter laugh.
Almost amused.
They're calling him names now.
Good.
Let them name him.
Let them fear him.
He taps into the emergency uplink.
Triggers Drone-3A to scout perimeter.
The feed buzzes.
Street view.
Clear.
Then—
A man.
Same one as before.
Staring at the drone.
Drone malfunctions.
Crashes.
Raine sighs.
"This just got personal."
He opens the locker.
The armor stares back.
Half-machine. Half-myth.
He suits up.
Metal clamps down.
Eye HUD glows blue.
Life signature scanner activates.
Two intruders.
He moves through the shadows like a ghost.
Silent.
Deadly.
In the main hallway—he finds one.
Dead already.
Throat slit.
By the other intruder?
No…
This one's still warm.
No sound of fight.
No blood spray.
Clean kill.
Professional.
Too professional.
And then—
Behind him—
A whisper—
"I wondered how long you'd wait."
He spins—blade out.
But there's no one.
Only her voice.
The girl in white.
In his comms.
Inside his mind.
She's in the system.
"She's inside…" he mutters.
And then she speaks again—
"I didn't come to kill you, Raine. Not yet."
He freezes.
The lights flicker once more.
And the final screen lights up again…
Showing an old photo.
A child.
Alone.
With black eyes.
And a name written below:
[SUBJECT ZERO – CLASSIFIED – TERMINATED]
Raine's hand clenches.
His voice drops into a whisper—
"…That's not possible. I buried you."
And then her voice again—
"So why do I keep waking up?"
Chapter End.