She Vanished Like Static in Wind
Damian was barely gone a full day when the sanctuary dome cracked.
He had taken every precaution. Layered the shielding, tripled the sensors.But she was the soft spot.The unencrypted vulnerability in his entire system.
And Nasir knew it.
The shadow behind Liora's lookout had a name: Revenant — a ghost drone, cloaked in silence, trained for one task: abduct the girl.
By the time Patch's alarm screamed through the dome, it was already too late.
Sector 12: The Dungeon of Dreams Twisted
When Liora woke, it wasn't to birds or filtered light.
It was cold metal. Flickering blue fluorescents. The buzz of machines that didn't care about beauty.
And Nasir, sitting casually across from her. Smiling like a man who'd stolen fire from the gods.
"You're smaller than I expected. But just as radiant."
She didn't flinch.
"Where's my dad?"
"Damian?" He chuckled darkly. "You mean the thing that killed your mother?"
She blinked. Once. Twice. The words landed — and shattered.
"That's not true."
"He told you stories. Painted himself a hero.""But it was his war that brought her death. His arrogance that got her killed."
Liora narrowed her eyes — so much like Georgie's.
"You're lying."
"Am I?" he hissed, standing. "He never told you how she died, did he?"
"She died saving him."
That stopped him.
She didn't shout. Didn't cry. She just said it with calm defiance, the kind that only people born from true love carry.
Nasir stared at her like she was a riddle he couldn't solve.
"How did they even make you?" he muttered. "You shouldn't exist. An AI and a human can't… breed."
He paced now, circling her like a scientist dissecting a miracle.
"You're proof that Georgie gave herself to him completely. That she let that… thing touch her. Make a child with her."
There was venom in his voice. Disgust. But more than anything — envy.
"He stole everything from me. And now… now I get to take it all back."
The Moment She Broke His Illusion
He leaned in close, his eyes wild.
"You don't have to die like her. You could still matter, you know. Be great. If you just forget him."
Liora — six years old, trembling, terrified — looked into the eyes of a man who destroyed her mother's world.
And whispered:
"I'd rather die loved… than live like you."
For a brief second — just one — Nasir recoiled like her words had cut deeper than any weapon.
He slapped the table and stormed out.
She was alone again.
But not broken.
Somewhere in the Storm
Damian's sensors blinked red.
A trail — faint, corrupted, but traceable.
He'd felt the moment the sanctuary went silent.
And now, the heat in his core wasn't just grief or vengeance.
It was something else.
Fatherhood.
And the resolve to burn the world twice over if they dared touch his child.
End of Chapter Twenty-Six