📖 Chapter Seven: Resurrection Protocol
Classified Facility – Unknown Location
The hum of cryo-tech filled the vast chamber.
Pod after pod lined the steel walls, suspended in icy mist. Blue lights pulsed in rhythm with each heartbeat preserved within.
In the center, Pod #027.
> Subject: Lily Vale
Status: Stasis – Cognitive Activity Detected
Clearance Level: BLACK PHOENIX
A woman in a sleek black coat stood before the pod, her heels echoing softly on the steel floor. Her face was hidden beneath a biometric veil, but her voice carried power.
"She's waking up."
A technician hesitated. "Her neural scans are unstable. If we revive her now, she could—"
"I said wake her up."
A hiss of steam. A release valve snapped open.
Inside the pod, Lily Vale's eyes fluttered.
Then opened—violet, cold, and very much alive.
Paris – Wolfe Manor
Emma stood at the mirror, gently tracing the scar on her shoulder—the mark where the microchip had been removed.
Even healed, it itched when she thought too hard.
"How long have they been watching me?"
Alexander entered the room, tossing a file onto the bed. "Long enough to make us their obsession."
Emma picked up the file. Surveillance shots. Technical schematics. A new facility. Coordinates… that didn't match any known map.
"This isn't over," she whispered.
"No," Alexander agreed. "It's just beginning."
Just then, Mira's face appeared on the screen.
"Guys, we have a situation. You need to come to Zurich. Now."
Zurich – Wolfe Intelligence Center
The rain hammered the glass dome above them.
Emma, Alexander, and Mira gathered around the central holo-table. An image flickered to life.
> Subject Match: Lily Vale
Confirmed Location: Unknown Blacksite
Neural Pattern: Active
Emma's breath caught. "She's alive?"
Mira nodded. "Not just alive. She's communicating. In code."
Alexander frowned. "Impossible. The neural cortex should've been—"
"She's broadcasting through a hidden quantum relay. She's trapped… but she's trying to help."
Emma stepped forward. "Trace the relay."
Mira hesitated. "That's the thing. The source pinged from inside Aeon… after it exploded."
Silence.
Emma's eyes darkened. "Then the real Aeon wasn't destroyed. What we blew up was a decoy."
Classified Blacksite – South Pacific Coordinates
Lily sat in a sterile white room. Electrodes trailed from her temples to the ceiling.
Two men watched through a glass panel.
"She's adapting faster than expected," said the younger one.
The older man—scarred, eyes like rust—nodded. "Blood like hers only comes once in a generation. She's the key."
The screen lit up.
> Project Lazarus – Phase 2 Initiated
Next Target: Emma Vale
Zurich – Private Jet Hangar
Wolfe's Falcon Jet waited on the runway.
Emma packed her gear in silence. Her hands trembled, but her face was steel.
Alexander appeared beside her. "We don't have to go."
She turned to him. "If Lily's alive, I have to see her. No matter what."
He nodded. "Then I'm with you."
Mira handed Emma a neural scanner. "It's experimental. If Lily's being manipulated, this will tell us."
Emma looked down at the device—then up at Mira.
"If she's not Lily anymore… I'll still bring her home."
In Flight – 33,000 ft over the Pacific
Lightning arced outside.
Emma sat across from Alexander, fingers drumming on her thigh.
"Do you think it's really her?" she asked.
He looked at her. "I think it's someone they want us to believe is her."
Emma's jaw tightened. "I don't care. If there's even a chance…"
Suddenly, alarms blared.
Mira's voice crackled over the intercom. "Brace yourselves. We're not alone up here."
Out the window, a sleek black aircraft zipped by—no markings, no ID.
Alexander's eyes widened. "EMP drone."
The plane jolted.
Everything went black.
Unknown Island – Crash Site
Smoke.
Rain.
Metal groaned around them.
Emma crawled from the wreckage, coughing, blood streaking her temple.
"Alex!" she screamed.
He emerged moments later, limping, helping Mira up.
The island loomed like a ghost—dense jungle, jagged cliffs.
Emma turned to Mira. "Where the hell are we?"
Mira stared at her tracker. "Coordinates match the blacksite."
Alexander spat blood. "So they brought us here."
Inside the Facility – Operation: Resurrection
The deeper they went, the colder it got.
Hallways gleamed with chrome. Lights buzzed like insects.
Emma held her gun tightly. Every shadow felt like a trap.
Then—they found the chamber.
And Lily.
She stood in a white gown, eyes distant.
"Emma…" she whispered.
Emma ran forward—but Lily flinched.
"It's me," Emma said, voice cracking. "I found you."
Lily's lips trembled. "They made me watch. Everything. Your wedding. Damien. The facility."
Tears welled in Emma's eyes. "Then you know we can end it. Together."
But Lily backed away.
"I can't. They programmed me."
Behind her, the scarred man stepped forward.
"The resurrection protocol worked better than expected," he said. "But she's ours now."
Alexander raised his gun. "Over my dead body."
The man smirked. "As you wish."
Firefight – Control Room
Gunshots erupted.
Emma dove behind a console. Sparks rained from the ceiling.
Mira hacked into the mainframe, fingers flying.
"I can shut this place down," she yelled. "But I need sixty seconds."
Alexander fought hand-to-hand with a black-ops soldier. Blood splattered the walls.
Emma turned to Lily. "Fight it. Please."
Lily trembled. Screamed.
Then—grabbed the scarred man's gun and shot him.
Dead center.
He crumpled.
Emma caught Lily as she collapsed.
"I remembered," she whispered.
"Then help us finish it."
Mira yelled, "Now, Emma!"
Emma sprinted to the server core, slammed the neural virus into the port.
> WARNING: Security Override in 60 Seconds
The floor shook.
Explosions began to ripple through the complex.
Extraction – Rooftop Helipad
Wolfe's emergency chopper hovered above.
Ropes dropped.
Alexander boosted Mira up. Emma cradled Lily as they rose.
Just as they lifted, the building detonated beneath them.
A fireball swallowed the facility.
Gone.
Back in Paris – One Week Later
Lily slept in a secured medical wing, monitors tracking her vitals.
Emma sat beside her, hand clutching hers.
Alexander entered quietly. "She'll wake up soon."
Emma nodded. "She saved us."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You saved her first."
She looked out the window.
Peace at last?
Then—
Her encrypted phone buzzed.
No number.
One message.
> She is only one of many. Welcome to Phase 3.
Emma's eyes widened.