The floor of the safe house creaked under Von's boots as he paced back and forth, the only light in the room coming from a flickering desk lamp. His father's documents were still spread across the kitchen table, but his mind wasn't on them. It was on what had happened at 63rd.
He could still smell the smoke. Still hear the screams.
The CIA raid wasn't random, it was a trap.
He sat down slowly, rubbing his temples. Agent Carter was getting desperate, pushing deeper into BD territory, violating protocol and ignoring political blowback. He was operating like a man with nothing to lose, and Von knew why.
Because Carter had once betrayed a friend to gain access to Project Oracle.
Now, the only living remnant of that project was slipping through his fingers.
Von turned his attention back to the files. Most of them were scientific reports on neurological anomalies, but one document stood out: a transcript of a debriefing with James Royner, labeled "Oracle Phase One: Conscious Forecasting."
"Subject exhibited awareness of verbal cues before they were spoken, predicted threats with 94% accuracy under duress, and reacted 0.2 seconds faster than any trained operative. Subject's stress response was unusually stable, suggesting conscious temporal perception."
Von clenched the paper.
His father hadn't just been a threat, he had been a prototype.
The door rattled.
Von's instincts kicked in. He slid the files back into the hidden compartment, covering the loose floorboard before drawing his gun.
"Relax," a voice called from outside. "It's Ghost."
Von opened the door cautiously.
Ghost, one of the most loyal BD lieutenants stepped inside, shoulders tense. "We got a problem. CIA's leaning heavy on our corners. They picked up Snipe. Raided Reek's spot too. They're squeezing us, bro."
Von shut the door behind him. "They're scared. That's why they're making moves in broad daylight."
"Scared of what?"
"Not what. Who." Von looked him in the eye. "They know I'm alive. And they know what I can do."
Ghost stared, confused. "What you mean?"
Von hesitated. Then, for the first time, he showed someone the truth.
"Look at me," he said.
And then, just like that, his eyes changed. The red glow returned, flickering like embers.
Ghost stepped back. "What the…"
"I can see the first ten seconds of someone's next move," Von said. "My father had it. The government wanted it. Killed him for it. Now they want me too."
Ghost swallowed hard. "You telling me… you a weapon?"
Von shook his head. "I'm not their weapon. I'm their consequence."
Three floors below the CIA's Chicago field office, Agent Carter Mays sat in the war room, eyes on a holographic projection of the 79th Street corridor. Satellite heatmaps showed increased BD activity around the safe house. He knew Von was hunkering down, gathering strength.
But time was running out.
He addressed the room. "We hit them on the next drop. No more shadows. We'll neutralize Royner and recover the files. He's trying to expose Project Oracle."
Another agent raised an eyebrow. "Sir, if this leaks"
"If it leaks," Carter interrupted, "we're all done. The program was never sanctioned. They'll burn us just to save face."
A pause.
"Bring in the sleeper unit," he said. "Authorization Black Fire."
Everyone in the room stilled.
That order hadn't been used in a decade.
One agent whispered, "You're calling in Gemini?"
Carter nodded grimly.
"Gemini was designed to kill the Oracle."
Later that night, Von returned to Shanice's apartment. She was waiting arms folded, lips tight. The TV flickered behind her with local news: another South Side explosion, another BD hotspot blown off the map.
"You good?" she asked softly, eyes searching his face.
Von leaned against the doorframe, exhausted. "I've seen more death this week than I ever wanted."
Shanice stepped toward him, touching his chest. "Come inside."
They sat together in silence for a long time. Von eventually pulled out a photo from the safe house one that showed Carter, James, and a third man, whose face was scribbled out in red ink.
"This man," Von said. "Who is he?"
Shanice leaned forward, squinting.
"I've seen him before. He used to come to the house when I was little… he and my dad always talked in code."
Von's jaw clenched. "He's the one who started Project Oracle."
He stood up abruptly. "Your father didn't just betray mine. He helped build the program that killed him."
Shanice stood too. "So what now?"
Von looked at her, a storm behind his eyes. "Now I burn the truth into the world."
A van pulled up outside a warehouse on the edge of Englewood. Inside were three men identical in height, build, and coldness. All wore black tactical gear. None of them spoke.
They were Gemini, cloned operatives, biologically engineered with heightened reflexes and zero empathy. Carter had kept them in cryo-storage, waiting for a threat big enough to unleash them.
A technician handed one of them a photo.
Von Royner.
Target acquired.
The next morning, Von gathered his crew in an abandoned church off 81st. Stained glass windows spilled color across their faces as they stood around a table covered in blueprints.
"CIA's launching something bigger," Von said. "We need to shut them down before they unleash it."
Ghost, Shanice, and two other lieutenants Dice and Loco nodded.
"We hit the black site," Von continued. "It's beneath the Chicago field office. That's where they store classified data everything from Project Oracle to active field logs."
Dice whistled. "That's suicidal."
Von smirked. "Only if we fail."
A beat.
Ghost stepped forward. "We with you, Demon."
Von's eyes flickered red.
Then let's bring hell with us.
Meanwhile, Carter watched another screen light up ,Gemini's tracking beacon had pinged near 79th.
"They're moving in," an agent said.
Carter stared at the blinking red dot.
"It ends tonight," he whispered. "One way or another."