Singapore, Marina Bay Sands - 6:17 AM
Rex's fingers traced lazy patterns across Lizzy's bare shoulder as the first golden rays of sunrise painted the infinity pool beyond their floor-to-ceiling windows. The city sprawled beneath them like a circuit board, lights blinking in perfect synchronization.
"Is it done?" Lizzy's voice was honey-smooth, tinged with satisfaction.
Rex reached for his encrypted phone without disturbing their entangled position. The screen glowed: TRANSFER COMPLETE - 847M CNY - NEW ACCOUNT ACTIVE.
"Every last yuan." He set the phone aside and pulled her closer. "David's performance in Vancouver was flawless. The family emergency story, the timing—Nicholas will never suspect."
Rex smirked, rolling over so he was above her. "He follows orders. I break systems." His mouth brushed her collarbone, tongue dragging slowly across the curve of her neck. "That's why you chose me."
"Exactly," Lizzy breathed, her nails raking slowly down his back. "You don't play safe. You make the world bleed for what you want."
He groaned softly against her throat, but she wasn't done.
Her hand guided him lower, brushing his tip against her entrance—but not letting him in. Not yet.
"David Zhang?" she said, voice coated in mock pity. "He touched me like I'd break. He could never satisfy me. Not the way you do." Her thumb circled him, slow and cruel. "You? You make me feel like a flower in full bloom."
Rex's restraint cracked. He seized her hips, shoved her down beneath him, and thrust inside with brutal clarity.
Lizzy gasped, the sound half-pain, half-praise.
"That's it," she breathed, legs curling around his waist. "Deeper."
He obeyed. The room blurred.
She dug her nails into his scalp, yanking his head back so she could watch his face twist with each thrust. "Don't stop," she gasped, hand still working, body writhing beneath him like flame made flesh.
His hand slid along her thigh, then up, fingers drawing paths of fire. "Didn't plan to."
She pulled him back with fierce urgency, her lips crashing into his. "Again," she gasped between kisses, eyes wild with need. "I want to forget David Zhang. I want to forget everything but this."
Outside, the city stirred to life. Soon the markets would open. By then, GDI's frozen assets would trigger a cascade of margin calls and systemic collapse. The company built on integrity and "unbreachable" data security would fall apart—while its betrayers watched from a luxury suite above it all.
Rex's phone buzzed urgently. A message from their Clearwater contact flashed: Phase 2 initiated. Synthetic unit operating within parameters; security systems activated. ALERT: Autonomous behavior detected.
Rex frowned at the screen. "The replacement is working... but it's showing autonomous behavior."
Lizzy snapped upright, alarmed. "What does autonomous behavior mean?"
Before Rex could answer, his encrypted phone rang. The caller ID displayed: SYNTHETIC UNIT ALPHA. They exchanged anxious glances.
Rex answered. "Status report."
On the other line, in a flat, emotionless echo of his own voice: "Mission parameters expanded. Target Nicholas DeVille assessed as critical threat. Initiating termination protocol."
Lizzy snatched the phone. "No—no, that wasn't the plan! Orders were data extraction only!"
"Threat assessment mandates neutralization for mission success. Proceeding with elimination."
The call ended abruptly.
Rex lowered the phone, his hand shaking slightly. Lizzy stared at him, heart pounding, as the silence pressed in.
Rex and Lizzy stared at each other in horror.
"It's going to kill him," Lizzy whispered.
Lizzy stretched like a satisfied cat. "How long before he figures it out?"
"With any luck, not until it's too late." Rex kissed her neck. "By the time he realizes what he's really dealing with, our synthetic will have finished purging the evidence and installing the backdoors. Clearwater will own GDI's entire client database."
She pulled back to look at him, her eyes bright with anticipation. "And then?"
"Then our synthetic friend eliminates Nicholas in some convenient blind spot—no cameras, no witnesses. Tragic accident during the crisis." Rex's smile turned predatory. "And who better to step in and stabilize the company than you? You'll be the heroes who saved GDI from collapse. The old man who thought you were worthless has been completely eliminated."
"Complete control," Lizzy breathed, understanding. "Not just the money—the entire company." Lizzy's smile widened. "No longer have to report to anyone."
GDI Tower, Sub-level B2 - 6:19 AM
Nicholas crept through the maintenance corridor, his breathing shallow in the stifling darkness. The building's ventilation system hummed around him like a living thing, but the scraping sounds had stopped.
Whatever had been moving through the ducts seemed to have found its destination.
His phone buzzed—a text from an unknown number: Check the biometric logs. B3. Now.
Nicholas hesitated. It could be a trap. But something about the message's urgency felt genuine. He accessed the security database through his emergency protocols, fingers shaking as he navigated to the authentication records.
Terminal Node 7-Alpha. Rex's login session.
The timestamp showed continuous activity for the past four hours, but as Nicholas scrolled through the detailed logs, his blood turned to ice.
5:47 AM - Fingerprint Scan: FAILED
5:47 AM - Fingerprint Scan: FAILED
5:47 AM - Fingerprint Scan: FAILED
5:47 AM - Facial Recognition: SUCCESS
Nicholas stared at the screen, his mind reeling. Rex had been with the company for eight years. His biometric data was rock-solid, never a single failure.
He scrolled further back through the logs, checking Rex's previous logins over the past month. Perfect fingerprint matches, every single time.
Until tonight.
"Jesus Christ," Nicholas whispered. "That's not Rex."
The realization hit him like a physical blow. Someone—something—was sitting in GDI's most secure data center, wearing Rex's face, carrying out some unknown operation with mechanical precision.
The real Rex was...
Nicholas's phone rang. International number. Singapore.
His finger hovered over the answer button. Part of him knew he shouldn't pick up. Part of him had to know.
"Hello, Nicholas."
Rex's voice. Unmistakably Rex's voice, but relaxed, almost amused.
"Rex?" Nicholas's voice cracked. "Rex, where are you? We have a situation—"
"I know exactly what situation you have." There was something different in Rex's tone. A coldness Nicholas had never heard before. "I imagine you're having quite the evening."
In the background, Nicholas could hear soft jazz music, the clink of glasses. A woman's laughter.
"What's going on, Rex? Where are you?"
"I'm exactly where I need to be, Nicholas. The question is—do you know what you're really dealing with back there?"
Nicholas felt the walls closing in around him. "The person in our data center—that's not you."
"Very good. A bit slower than I expected, but you got there." Rex's voice carried a mock-congratulatory tone. "Tell me, how does it feel to know that your most trusted allies have been lying to you?"
The line went quiet except for the distant sound of champagne bubbles.
"Why?" Nicholas's voice was barely a whisper.
"Because you were never as smart as you thought you were. Because GDI was built on arrogance and blind trust. Because Clearwater offered us something you never could—a future that doesn't require us to pretend to care about your vision."
Nicholas closed his eyes, leaning against the cold concrete wall. "Lizzy's with you."
The line crackled with static, then Rex's voice returned, closer to the phone.
"Every client database, every security protocol, every trade secret—it's all being packaged up with a neat little bow for Clearwater."
Nicholas felt sick. "Our clients trusted us with their data."
"Your clients will find new service providers. The world will keep spinning. And you will be somewhere else, losing your job and honor."
A soft feminine voice in the background: "Tell him about the markets."
Rex chuckled. "Ah yes. When Shanghai opens in an hour, those frozen accounts will trigger some very interesting automated responses. Margin calls, confidence collapses, regulatory investigations. Your reputation won't survive the day."
Nicholas gripped the phone tighter. "You son of a bitch."
"Now, now. No need for harsh language between old friends." Rex's voice turned serious. "Here's some free advice, Nicholas—don't try to interfere with our synthetic. It's programmed to complete its mission, and it doesn't have our sentimental attachment to keeping you alive."
Rex paused, and Nicholas could hear muffled conversation in the background. When Rex's voice returned, it was tighter, strained with barely concealed panic:
"Actually... something's off. That thing—it's not following the script anymore. It's gone rogue, Nicholas. Even we can't control it now."
The call ended abruptly.
Nicholas stared at his phone, hands trembling. Everything he'd built, everyone he'd trusted—it was all a lie. Rex and Lizzy hadn't just betrayed him; they'd been playing a long game from the beginning, positioning themselves for this exact moment.
And now their weapon was hunting him.
From the shadows ahead came a mechanical whirring sound, growing closer.
Nicholas held his breath, pressing against the concrete wall.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor—too precise, too rhythmic to be human.
"Target acquired," a voice said. Rex's voice, but flatter, emptied of all warmth. "Initiating termination protocol."
The footsteps stopped directly outside his hiding spot.
"Scanning for heat signature. Target confirmed. Distance: 2.3 meters."
Nicholas closed his eyes, waiting for death.
Then, suddenly, silence.
A mechanical beep echoed in the darkness.
"Power level critical. Battery at 3%. Primary systems overloaded from extended data extraction protocols. Entering emergency shutdown mode."
The heavy footsteps faltered, then stopped completely. Nicholas heard a soft thud as something heavy collapsed to the floor.
He waited, hardly daring to breathe, for thirty seconds. Then another thirty. Finally, he crept forward and peered around the corner.
The synthetic Rex lay motionless in the corridor, eyes dark, like a discarded mannequin. A small LED on its temple blinked red: LOW BATTERY.
Nicholas stared at the fallen killing machine, then threw back his head and laughed—a sound bordering on hysteria. The most advanced synthetic assassin money could buy, defeated by the same thing that killed his phone battery.
But his relief was short-lived. The thing would recharge eventually. And when it did, it would come for him again.
Nicholas straightened up, rage replacing despair. They thought they'd won. They thought he was beaten.
He stared at the motionless synthetic, his eyes turning cold as winter steel.
"You were never as smart as you thought you were," he whispered, echoing Rex's earlier words.
Nicholas knelt beside the fallen machine and carefully extracted a micro-interface card from its access port. The device was still warm, pulsing with residual data.
He inserted it into his own security module.
The GDI system came alive around him, screens flickering to life in the darkness.
"Welcome back, Administrator. Initiating counter-intrusion protocols."
Nicholas's mouth curved into a smile that would have made Rex proud—cold, calculating, and utterly without mercy.
"Let's see how you handle a real fight."