POV: 17,984 – Mira the Spark
I didn't mean to become a symbol.
But when the guards stormed Sector 44C looking for me, dragging random citizens out to make an example, I realized something—Chris wasn't just watching us. He wanted me to react.
And I would.
Not with noise.
But with fire.
---
It started with a message scratched under a food tray.
> We are not numbers. We are names.
By morning, 17 such trays had circulated among our block.
By night, two guards were dead. Not by rage, but poison.
And no one claimed it.
Because we no longer needed faces—we had become shadows.
---
POV: Chris – Blackwood 1
Location: The Obsidian Chamber
"She's adapting quicker than I thought," I muttered.
Amara stood beside me, face cold.
"She could become a threat."
"No," I said, turning to the central hologram of 17,984's movements. "She's exactly what we need."
"For what?"
I grinned.
"To test the next phase of Dominion: The Order War. If she survives, she'll become Number 0—the anti-god. My final creation. My legacy's balance."
"But what if she wins?"
"Then maybe… she deserves the throne."
---
POV: Mira – 17,984
We found the blueprints for a forgotten tunnel—one that led beneath the palace grounds. They called it The Maw, built before the New Law, before the Numbers.
It was our path.
I looked at the others—39 of us now. Survivors. Fighters. Names.
"Are you ready?" I whispered.
One by one, they spoke their old names aloud.
And for the first time in two years, I smiled.
Not because we had a plan.
But because we had a reason.