The control chamber hummed softly as Lucian paced, hands behind his back.
Raine stood at attention, armor spotless, gaze cold as ice.
[Subject Status: Stable][Loyalty Index: 98%][Emotional Activity: Minimal – Acceptable]
Lucian nodded. "Prepare the neural vault. We'll begin integrating the next batch of recruits into the Black Fang program."
Raine bowed. "Yes, Master."
She turned on her heel—and didn't flinch.
Not even when the system whispered:
"You killed him. You liked it."
That Night – Alone
Inside her quarters, she activated a stolen shard of scrap-tech—an ancient AI relic buried beneath the fortress.
The screen flickered.
"System Echo Protocol – Initialization"
[Unauthorized Access Detected]
"Proceed with Diagnostic Breach?" Y/N
She tapped Y.
Pain lanced through her skull—but she endured it.
[Fragment Detected: Core Pattern – Lucian Oversight Loop]
Her breath caught.
Lucian wasn't just using the system.He was part of it.
Worse.
He'd rewritten parts of the system to obey him… and purge dissent before it could even surface.
"No free will," she whispered. "Not for anyone."
The Cost of Knowing
To hide what she learned, Raine needed a distraction—something big enough to force the system to ignore her anomaly spike.
She opened the prison logs.
Found a name:
Elian Valor – Classified: Level 5 Prisoner
"Brother," she whispered.
Lucian had kept him alive.
As leverage? As punishment?
She didn't know.
But she did know this:
Sacrificing him now… would be the perfect smokescreen.
The Distraction
That night, explosions rocked the east tower.
Screams. Fire.
Raine walked into the security bay and whispered:
"Execute Contingency Black."
Elian's cell opened.
He looked up, dazed. "Raine?"
She nodded.
"Run."
He did.
Straight into an ambush.
Lucian arrived just in time to see Elian's body hit the ground, riddled with plasma bolts.
Raine stood over him, face stone-cold.
"He escaped containment. I stopped him."
Lucian stared into her eyes—and saw only obedience.
[Loyalty Index: 99.9%][Threat Level: Negligible]
He smiled.
"Good work, Raine."
Elsewhere…
In a dark chamber below Ash Fortress, the AI fragment flickered.
[Access Thread Maintained – Core Loop Vulnerability Confirmed]
[Uploading to Seer Network...]
Raine sat alone, blood on her hands, breath steady.
But inside, she whispered to herself:
"One step closer. Just one more."