7:14 PM – En Route, North Highway 77
The SUV tore through the backroads at over 120 kph. Kairo drove like the wheel was a blade — eyes sharp, jaw locked. Silas sat in the passenger seat, holding Alicia's tracker signal on the tablet.
The red dot pulsed faintly.
"Looks like they're moving her east," Silas muttered. "Old route. Industrial sector near Dockpoint. Tang must've reopened the tunnels."
Kairo's hands clenched the wheel.
"They underestimated me."
"No," Silas said. "They're just finally playing dirty. They're not trying to kill you anymore."
Kairo glanced over.
"They're trying to break you."
Meanwhile – Unknown Tang Facility
Alicia sat alone in a steel room, wrists bound, light flickering above her.
She didn't scream. She didn't cry.
She listened.
Outside the door, two guards whispered.
"She's the key, Mao said. Something about genetic locks—"
"Don't ask. Just guard the door."
Alicia looked down at her wrist — a small bruise already forming from the stun cuffs.
But she smiled faintly.
Let them think she was the key.
She was more than that.
She was the fuse.
8:03 PM – Organization HQ, Crowe's Private Quarters
Crowe stood in front of a terminal, alone.
His hands hovered over an encrypted file marked:
"Echo_Blue: Phase Three – Final Test Subject: 731"
The screen flashed green.
He opened a secure channel.
"Contact Kairo Vale."
An AI voice replied: "Subject Vale has severed all known communication lines."
Crowe frowned.
Then, after a moment, typed one word:
"Override."
8:05 PM – Kairo's Vehicle, Internal Comms Hijacked
Static exploded through the speakers.
Silas flinched. "What the hell—?"
Then a voice cut in. Smooth. Cold.
"Kairo. It's Crowe."
Kairo's jaw tensed.
"Before you kill your way through another Tang facility, I need you to hear something."
"No games," Kairo growled. "You took her. I'm coming for all of you."
"Tang took her. Not us."
Silence.
"We're not enemies anymore, Kairo. Not with what's coming."
Kairo narrowed his eyes. "What's coming?"
"Echo didn't end with you. And Tang isn't the top of the food chain. You've made enough noise to wake up the next layer."
Kairo stared at the speaker.
"I designed you to survive assassins. But I didn't design you to survive ghosts. If you want Alicia back, you'll need help."
Silas shook his head. "He's manipulating you. Always has."
Kairo killed the comm.
"Doesn't matter," he said coldly. "I'll burn through Tang. If Crowe wants to talk after that, he'll talk to my blade."
9:22 PM – Dockpoint Sector, Tang Holding Zone
The warehouse loomed like a fortress. Rooftop snipers. Armed guards. Motion sensors.
Inside, Alicia was being moved — two Tang elites flanked her as Mao prepared a cargo shipment labeled:
"ECHO TRANSPORT – GENETIC KEY A-9"
"You sure this is her?" one guard asked.
Mao lit a cigarette.
"She's her father's daughter. Elias programmed the vaults to open for his bloodline. The assets he hid? They'll change everything."
Alicia turned her head slightly.
"You're making a mistake," she said calmly.
Mao raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
She smiled.
"Because my brother's coming."
10:11 PM – Roof of Dockpoint
A soft thunk echoed.
Then a flashbang.
Boom.
Chaos.
Kairo dropped from the ceiling like a wolf from the sky — one silenced round, two bodies dropped.
He moved through the guards like a machine — fluid, brutal, efficient. Silas covered the exits, sniping Tang grunts from afar.
Inside the warehouse, alarms blared.
Mao turned toward Alicia, shocked.
"He's here?"
Alicia kicked him square in the ribs, yanking a stun blade from the nearest crate.
"He's always coming."
10:19 PM – Final Confrontation
Kairo burst into the holding chamber — two Tang elites fired. He dodged, slid under a crate, and came up with a blade in hand.
Flash. Slash. Gunfire. Silence.
Alicia grabbed his arm as he took out the last guard.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded. "Told you I could win."
Silas entered from the side entrance, limping. "We've got less than five minutes before reinforcements arrive."
But before they could move —
The power cut.
All lights: off.
A low mechanical whine filled the air.
Then the warehouse shook.
And a message played through every speaker:
"Echo Phase Three: Reactivation Confirmed."
Alicia froze. "What is that?"
Kairo stared into the shadows.
"It's not over. It's just starting."
From behind the crates… something moved.
Not Tang. Not Organization.
Something else.
Prototype. Fast. Silent. Armed.
And it knew his name.
"Subject 731. You are a priority target. Surrender or be neutralized."
Silas raised his rifle. "What the hell is that?"
Kairo's heart thudded.
"Something we were never meant to wake up."