The night pressed down heavy over the city.
Echelon Tower speared through the fog like a blade of glass, its windows bleeding gold light into the storm. From street level it looked alive—breathing, pulsing, humming with power.
Kael stood across the avenue, rain dripping from the brim of his hood. "This is it," he muttered. "The snake's den."
Selene followed his gaze. "The entrance won't be up top. Lucien said beneath."
She pointed toward the old service tunnel behind the tower's parking deck—half buried, sealed with rusted bars. "Down there."
They crossed fast, keeping to the shadows. The street smelled of wet concrete and exhaust. Somewhere above, music thumped from a rooftop bar, oblivious to what slept underneath.
Kael gripped the bars and pulled. Metal shrieked. "Go," he whispered.
The tunnel swallowed them whole.
---
The air changed immediately—cold, stale, carrying the faint stench of oil and something metallic, almost like blood. Their flashlights cut thin slices through the dark.
Selene's voice was quiet. "This place was flooded years ago. No one was supposed to come back."
"Lucien never lets good secrets drown," Kael said.
They followed the tunnel deeper, water sloshing around their boots. The walls were covered in faded warning signs and old cables. Somewhere far ahead, machinery groaned to life—the sound of a sleeping beast stretching its limbs.
Kael's instincts prickled. "He's awake," he said.
Selene nodded once. "Then we don't hesitate."
---
After half an hour they reached a steel door stamped with the same crescent-and-thorn emblem they'd seen in Vanguard. A keypad blinked red.
Selene crouched, pulled a small tablet from her pack. "Give me thirty seconds."
Her fingers flew; the keypad clicked green.
The door opened onto a chamber that didn't belong underground. It was pristine—glass panels, white floors, blue light humming along the edges. Banks of screens lined the walls, each showing data streams and heartbeat lines.
Kael stepped inside. "He rebuilt his lab down here."
Selene moved to a console, eyes scanning rapidly. "Not just rebuilt. Expanded."
She brought up a schematic—rows upon rows of containment pods stretching for hundreds of meters beneath them.
Her breath caught. "There are hundreds of them."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Hybrids."
A soft hiss drew his attention. One of the pods on the far wall flickered, condensation sliding down its surface. Inside, a figure stirred—its eyes opening, glowing faint gold.
Kael froze. The thing inside looked exactly like him.
"Selene." His voice was a rasp. "Look."
She turned, saw it, and whispered, "Gods…"
The clone's eyes followed them, calm, almost curious. Tubes snaked from its arms into the wall. Its lips moved silently, forming words they couldn't hear.
Kael stepped closer, heart hammering. "He copied everything," he said quietly. "Every scar. Every memory."
The overhead speakers crackled.
> "Not every memory," Lucien's voice purred. "The new ones are… cleaner."
Kael spun, scanning the room. "Show yourself!"
> "You'll find me soon enough," Lucien said, amused. "But first, meet your replacements."
A siren wailed. The glass pods lining the walls began to glow. One by one, they opened.
---
Steam poured out. Dozens of figures stepped forward—men and women, all bearing Kael's eyes, his build, his scent. Their movements were synchronized, controlled.
Selene drew her pistol, voice shaking. "He cloned your pack."
Kael flexed his claws, the wolf inside roaring. "Then we cull the fakes."
The first clone lunged. Kael met it mid-air, slamming it into the floor with bone-cracking force. Two more attacked; he ripped through them in a blur of claws and rainwater dripping from the ceiling vents.
Selene fired short bursts, silver rounds tearing into the clones' flesh. They fell, but not easily—each hit rose again, faster, more coordinated.
Kael ducked beneath a swing, spun, and broke a neck clean. "They heal slower than real wolves," he shouted. "Aim for the spine!"
She nodded, reloading. "On it!"
For minutes the chamber became a blur of motion and sound—gunfire, growls, glass shattering. Kael moved like a storm, each strike brutal and precise. But for every clone that fell, another stepped from the mist.
Selene backed toward the console. "There's got to be a shutdown command."
"Find it!" Kael tore through another, blood spattering across the screens.
Her fingers flew. Lines of code scrolled. "Almost—"
Lucien's voice cut in again.
> "You can't turn off evolution, my dear."
Electricity surged through the floor. Kael screamed as energy ripped through his body, slamming him to his knees. The clones convulsed too, but instead of falling—they changed. Their eyes shifted from gold to burning red.
Selene's face drained of color. "He just gave them control."
Kael forced himself up, smoke rising from his skin. "Then I take it back."
He charged, fury overriding pain. The next few minutes were chaos: claws against metal, bodies colliding, the lab's white walls smeared with blood and oil. Selene triggered the emergency sprinklers; water poured down, shorting lights, giving Kael cover.
"Now!" she yelled.
Kael slammed his fist into the main power conduit. Sparks exploded. The room plunged into darkness.
Silence.
When the lights flickered back to life, the clones lay still—some half-melted, others twitching. Smoke filled the air.
Selene coughed, wiping soot from her face. "You good?"
Kael straightened, breathing hard. "Define good."
She gave a broken laugh, the first in hours. "Alive, at least."
He looked around the ruined lab. "Lucien won't stop. This was just a test."
She unplugged a surviving drive from the console. "Then let's make sure he doesn't finish Phase Three."
---
They climbed a maintenance ladder that led higher into the tower's core. The sounds of the city filtered faintly above them. Kael's hands were bleeding; Selene's shoulder was still torn from before, but neither slowed down.
At the top of the shaft they found a narrow platform overlooking another level—this one lined with glowing tanks. Inside each floated something different: not wolves, but pale humanoid shapes with dark veins and faint, shifting features.
Selene whispered, "He's not just cloning now. He's combining."
Kael stared, realization sinking like ice. "He's making gods."
The intercom clicked again, Lucien's tone almost gentle.
> "You understand now, Kael. The old world ends in the dirt. The new one begins with me."
Kael bared his teeth. "Then I'll bury you in your new world."
He smashed the speaker with one swipe.
Selene grabbed his arm. "We can't fight him here. We blow it all."
He met her gaze. "You sure?"
She nodded. "I've got one charge left from Vanguard. Big enough to bring this whole level down."
He smiled, feral and proud. "Then let's give the devil his due."
---
They planted the charge at the base of the tanks, set the timer for three minutes, and started running. The tower's alarms screamed again, red light bathing the halls.
By the time they reached the service lift, the floor was shaking. Kael slammed the button; the cage rattled upward, groaning.
At the thirty-second mark, they burst through the street-level door and sprinted into the rain.
Behind them, Echelon Tower shuddered. A deep roar rolled up from the earth, followed by a column of fire that split the night sky. Windows shattered blocks away.
Kael and Selene dove behind a car as debris rained down. When the thunder faded, only smoke remained
Selene looked up at the burning tower. "That'll get his attention."
Kael nodded, eyes reflecting the fire. "Good. Now he knows we're coming."