Abandoned Tech Division – 3:42 AM
A low hum reverberated through the aging server room, the machines seeming to breathe as Réa's fingers flew across the keyboard. Code spilled across the monitor in cascading layers of gibberish and symbols. She blinked rapidly, eyes dry from the screen's light, knuckles cracking as she pushed past fatigue.
Christopher stood beside her, arms folded, monitoring both the screen and the steady tick of a small timer they had set—marking down the 36-hour countdown. Less than five remained.
"We're almost in. Neural patterns are unraveling, and I've got the base schema mapped. I just need it to stop adapting."
She paused.
"It's… learning from me... like an AI."
Christopher leaned in. "Then how about think the opposite way? Like be dumb?"
Réa chuckled dryly but didn't look away. "Cute. But this code isn't built for amateurs. It has it's own mind."
Across the room, Brendon stared at Zuekh, still cuffed to the radiator. The killer wore bruises like trophies and kept his smirk despite the pain. Matt stood nearby, his arms crossed, chewing at the inside of his cheek like he was holding back the urge to lash out again.
Zuekh's voice broke the silence.
"Still clinging to hope. How poetic."
Brendon didn't take the bait. "You're going to rot in hell, Zuekh."
"Maybe. But not because of you. This city burns in cycles. You're just another match."
Matt stepped forward. "Then we'll be the last match it needs."
Zuekh turned his head, the blood at his temple dried now, crusted like rust.
"You should be more worried about your director," he whispered.
Brendon blinked. "What?"
Zuekh grinned. "She's not as untouchable as you think. The Council wants you both. Her leash is tightening."
---
Meanwhile – Interior Office, Government Security Wing, Paris
Director Annie Renneté stood tall inside the angular steel-framed office of General Luc Ardent, head of the Homeland Executive Division.
Luc was a thick-built man with immovable eyes, a military relic who valued obedience over nuance. He pushed a file across the desk.
"You've had over two weeks, Annie."
Renneté didn't sit. She merely crossed her arms and lit a cigarette.
Luc exhaled sharply. "Smoking in here is still against regulation."
She smiled faintly. "So is operating black sites under the guise of 'medical stasis facilities'."
Luc's eyes narrowed. "You've crossed lines, Director. You not only withheld intelligence but are actively harboring a fugitive."
"Brendon Wolf isn't a fugitive. He's solving a case your department buried for ten years."
Luc snapped the folder open. "He's armed. Dangerous. Responsible for property destruction, resisting officers, and is associating with a known killer. And Matt — isn't he the vigilante behind the Embassy Executions couple of months ago?"
Annie's jaw tightened.
Luc leaned in. "You want to keep your badge? Bring them in. Or we will..."
"You're threatening to arrest my men while they're exposing corruption you're either complicit in or blind to."
Luc didn't flinch. "I'm offering you a final chance to save your legacy, Mrs. Renneté."
Annie didn't reply immediately. She took a final drag and dropped the cigarette into his coffee.
"My legacy isn't in files, Luc. It's in truth. And if now I betray them then what what would be my legacy of?"
"Mrs. Renneté! Please stop this moral lecturing. Think logically. It's not like I am really glad with this too. But the thing is if you doesn't back off, things will get more messy than ever. It can even create public distress. Do you understand what I am implying to?"
She didn't respond and turned and walked out, coat billowing behind her. Luc just remaind speechless staring at her back.
---
Back at the Tech Division – 5:03 AM
Réa's hands trembled slightly. Her pupils were dilated.
"I think I got it."
Everyone in the room froze. Even Zuekh shifted his body slightly to listen.
On the cracked monitor, lines of decrypted data finally began to fill a scrollable file.
PROJECT: PERSEUS
Subjects Identified: Hybrid-Origin Test Specimens
Facility Zones: Classified (Bourges – Active, Ledeau – Decommissioned, Saint-Bris – Red-Level Testing)
Purpose: Development of super-resilient hybrids for sending international market as mercenaries
Phase 2 Directive: Psychological manipulation and "Identity Fracturing" trials.
Council Oversight Assigned: Redacted (6 names)
Matt leaned forward.
"Ledeau. That's where they took her."
Isla's voice cracked from her seat by the heater.
"That's where the screams comes from."
Christopher scrolled deeper.
More files: biometric data, live experiment logs, profiles. Even surgical footage embedded as thumbnails.
"These are… real. Time-stamped. Some of them from last month."
Brendon's voice lowered. "This isn't just a theory anymore. It's really happening."
Réa turned from the screen, eyes bloodshot but triumphant.
"I'll burn a copy to three drives. One for backup, one for broadcast, one for insurance."
Zuekh spat on the floor. "Fools. You'll die before those drives ever reach anyone."
Brendon stared down at him.
"So what? I would like to take the risk if it can save lives."
---
Cutaway – Flashback: Isla in the Facility
A flicker of sterile light. Cold steel tables. Thin arms strapped down. A girl, no more than eleven.
Monitors beep. A scientist mumbles notes.
"Subject Isla showing unusually high resistance to serum variation 4D. Neural links stabilizing."
Isla's young face strains as needles press into her spine.
"Can you hear them?"
Her eyes flutter.
"Yes. I hear others."
---
Present – Decision Time
Christopher pulled Brendon aside.
"We've got a location. The Ledeau facility. If what Isla sensed is true, they mave have some captives there."
Brendon looked at them both, then to Isla, who was rising slowly but steady.
Mrs. Renneté, having rejoined them only minutes before, heard the entire plan.
She nodded slowly. "I'll call in an off-the-record unit. No badges. Just the people I trust."
Christopher glanced at her. "You sure about that, ma'am? Thought the Council had you in a chokehold."
She half-smiled. "Let them choke. I do not care anymore. They'll realize it too late when I will bite back."
But even as she spoke, her phone vibrated again.
Priority Order: DIRECTIVE SHIFT
>"Bring Brendon Wolf and Matthew Lancer in — DEAD OR ALIVE."
She pocketed the phone without reading aloud.
For now, she would pretend nothing had changed.
---
Early Morning – En Route to Ledeau
The black van rumbled along a country road flanked by dew-kissed vineyards.
Inside sat Brendon, Isla, Matt, Christopher, Réa, and two of Renneté's trusted field operatives. They were dressed in dark civilian gear — no insignias. Mrs. Renneté is the in-charge of this unauthorized operation and also the co-ordinator. "Operation Démonter". She is back in that old tech division building.
Matt checked his knife. "There's a hatch. Behind the wine cellar. Goes four stories down. That's where they kept her."
Brendon nodded. "We will enter in silent. We get everyone out and expose this."
Isla clenched her fists. "They kept the worst ones in the bottom floor. The ones that didn't 'behave.' They might not even alive anymore."
Réa whispered, "We're not ready for what we might find, are we?"
Brendon glanced at her. "No. But we're going anyway."
---
Ledeau Facility – 7:09 AM
The van stopped.
The estate ahead was serene, draped in morning fog. A few idle workers moved crates — unaware of the horror beneath.
As Mrs. Renneté ordered Matt led them around the back. The hatch was real — rusty but unlocked. Brendon motioned for silence. They descended.
First floor: old labs. Cleared.
Second floor: sealed stasis tanks. Many were broken. Fluids dried.
Third floor: surgical bays. Empty tables, blood-stained floors.
Then—
Fourth Floor: Containment
The smell hit first.
Then the sounds.
Breathing. Whispering. Crying.
Dozens of metal cages. Inside — hybrids. Emaciated. Eyes wide with fear. Most too weak to move. One reached toward Isla.
"You… you're real… you're the angel they were talking about."
She fell to her knees.
Brendon motioned to the team. "Get them out. Now."
Annie instantly prohibits, "Negative... not now. Our main goal is to retrieve the main evidance against council members so that we can bring down the council. Don't be sentimental, Wolf."
Brendon wanted to oppose but restrained himself. He can save these people later. But for now saving other lives are more important.
As Réa worked out to get into system mainframe, an alarm suddenly blared.
"INTRUSION DETECTED."
Matt spun around. "They're here."
Above them, the estate had activated private security. A shadow agency. Guns. Helmets. Orders to kill.
But Renneté's unit was ready.
Above ground, chaos erupted.