Aria's POV
Timer: 00:03:15
We're cousins.
The thought loops through my mind even as guards surround me, even as the bombs tick toward detonation, even as everything falls apart.
Kaelen is my family. The only family I have left.
And I never knew.
"Hands up!" A guard shouts. "Step away from the terminal!"
But I'm not listening. I'm staring at the screen, at my reflection in the dark glass, seeing my mother's face in mine. Mira Chen. Twin sister to Mira Voss.
Why didn't she tell me? Why did she let me grow up alone, thinking I had no one?
"ARIA, FOCUS!" IRIS screams in my head. "We have three minutes!"
Three minutes. Right. Save two million people first. Family crisis later.
I spin toward the guards. There are eight of them, weapons raised. Behind them, Lysandra descends the stairs like a queen entering her throne room.
"Did you really think you could stop this?" She laughs. "The bombs are failproof. Even if you could hack them, they're rigged to detonate if tampered with. The Depths dies tonight, one way or another."
"Why?" My voice cracks. "Why kill millions of innocent people?"
"Because they're not innocent. They're inefficient. They consume resources without contributing value. They're a drain on society." Her blue eyes are cold, empty. "The Council has decided to... streamline our population. Start fresh with people who know their place."
"You're insane."
"I'm practical." She gestures to the guards. "Kill her. Quickly. I have a celebration dinner to attend."
The guards raise their weapons.
"IRIS, I need options!" I think desperately.
"The bombs are networked! If you can access the main terminal, I might be able to buy us time—not disarm them, but delay the countdown!"
"How much time?"
"Maybe ten minutes. Enough to evacuate some people if—"
"Not enough!" Ten minutes won't save two million people. Most don't even know about the bombs.
The guards fire.
I dive behind a crate as plasma bolts sizzle past. My mind races. I can't fight eight trained soldiers. I can't disarm hundreds of bombs. I can't save everyone.
But maybe I don't have to save everyone.
Maybe I just have to destroy the one person who started this.
Timer: 00:02:47
I reach out with the Protocol, feeling for Lysandra's implant. Everyone has one—even Higher Beings. If I can access hers...
"Aria, what are you doing?" IRIS sounds worried. "Attacking her implant directly could kill her!"
"Good."
I find Lysandra's neural signature and push. Hard.
She gasps and stumbles, clutching her head. "What—what are you doing to me?"
"Giving you what you gave Juno." I push harder, feeling her implant's security fighting back. "How does it feel? Knowing your brain could explode any second?"
"Stop!" For the first time, fear cracks through her composure. "You're not a killer!"
"You made me one."
But IRIS is right. I'm not a killer. Even now, with the power to end Lysandra's life, I can't do it. I can't become like them.
I release her implant.
She collapses, gasping. The guards hesitate, unsure whether to help her or shoot me.
Timer: 00:02:20
"There has to be another way," I whisper. "IRIS, think. What am I missing?"
"I don't know! The bombs are—wait." Her voice sharpens. "Aria, the bombs aren't networked to The Watchers. They're on a separate system. A closed loop."
"So?"
"So The Watchers can't see them! Which means if we destroy The Watchers' central hub, the Council loses all surveillance. They won't know if the bombs actually detonated or not!"
My heart pounds. "We could fake the explosion."
"Exactly! Make them think The Depths was destroyed! Then we evacuate people slowly, quietly, while the Council thinks they're already dead!"
It's insane. It might work.
"Where's The Watchers' central hub?"
"Apex Tower. Top floor. But Aria, it's impossible to reach. The security there—"
"Nothing's impossible." I stand, facing the guards. "I need to get to Apex Tower. Now."
Lysandra laughs from the floor. "You'll never make it. The tower is locked down. Only Council members and Supreme Commanders have access."
Supreme Commanders.
Like Kaelen.
I grab my implant and call him. "Kaelen! I need your access codes to Apex Tower!"
His face appears on my screen, eyes wide. "What? Aria, where are you?"
"No time! The bombs are real! I need into Apex Tower in two minutes or millions die!"
He doesn't hesitate. "Sending codes now. But Aria, about what I said before—"
"We're family. I know." My voice breaks. "We'll talk about it after I save the world. Again."
His smile is sad and proud. "That's my cousin."
The codes download. I turn to the guards. "Last chance. Let me pass or I'll shut down all your implants right now."
They look at each other. Look at Lysandra. Look at their weapons.
One guard lowers his gun. "Let her go."
"What?" Lysandra shrieks. "I'll have you executed!"
"You're going to execute all of us anyway." The guard removes his helmet. He's young, maybe twenty. "My family lives in The Depths. My little brother. My mom." He looks at me. "Save them. Please."
Other guards lower their weapons.
Timer: 00:01:55
I run.
Up the stairs, through the facility, out into the night. Apex Tower looms in the distance—a gleaming spire reaching into the clouds. The floating home of Higher Beings.
IRIS plots the fastest route. "There's a transport station three blocks east. Use Kaelen's codes to commandeer a vehicle!"
I sprint through streets, past confused citizens, past patrol drones that suddenly can't see me. The Protocol makes me a ghost again.
The transport station is empty—curfew locked everyone inside. I access the command terminal with Kaelen's codes. A sleek vehicle powers up, its door sliding open.
"Destination?" the computer asks.
"Apex Tower. Emergency override. Authorization Voss-Seven-Seven-Alpha."
"Confirmed. Commencing immediate transport."
The vehicle launches. We shoot through the city at impossible speeds, taking shortcuts through restricted airspace. Below, I see The Depths—millions of lights, millions of lives, all about to be erased.
Timer: 00:01:20
"We're not going to make it," I gasp.
"Yes we are!" IRIS sounds fierce. "I've been planning this for twenty years! We're not failing now!"
The vehicle docks at Apex Tower's entrance. I burst through security checkpoints, Kaelen's codes opening every door. Guards try to stop me but I'm too fast, enhanced by the Protocol.
I reach the top floor. The Watchers' central hub.
It's massive—a room filled with servers, screens, processing units. The digital brain that controls everything. Every camera. Every implant. Every aspect of life in Neo-Seoul.
And in the center, a single terminal with a glowing red button marked: EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN.
Timer: 00:00:45
I run toward it.
"Stop right there."
I freeze.
A man steps from the shadows. Tall. Silver-haired. Storm-gray eyes.
But it's not Kaelen.
This man is older, harder. His uniform bears marks I've never seen—rank insignia that suggests he's above even the Council.
"Who—" I start.
"I'm Marcus Voss," he says quietly. "Kaelen's father."
My world stops. "That's impossible. You're dead. Kaelen said—"
"I let my son believe that. I let the Council believe that." His smile is bitter. "For twenty years, I've been hiding in plain sight, waiting for someone to find the Phoenix Protocol. Waiting for my chance at revenge."
Timer: 00:00:30
"You're alive?" My mind spins. "Then why didn't you help Kaelen? He's been suffering—"
"Because he's more useful thinking he's alone. More driven. More willing to sacrifice everything." Marcus steps closer. "And now you're here, with IRIS, with my life's work, about to destroy The Watchers and start a war we can't win."
"The bombs—"
"Are mine." His voice is cold. "I planted them. I activated Protocol Omega. Because sometimes, to build a new world, you have to burn down the old one completely."
Horror floods through me. "You're going to let millions die?"
"I'm going to make sure they die." He pulls out a detonator. "And you're going to help me. Because if you don't, if you press that shutdown button, I'll kill Kaelen. Your beloved cousin. The only family you have left."
On the screen behind him, video feed shows Kaelen's vehicle. It's surrounded by armed drones. Maya sleeps in the back seat.
Timer: 00:00:15
"Choose, Aria Chen." Marcus's finger hovers over the detonator. "Save millions of strangers and watch your family die? Or save Kaelen and accept that sometimes, revolution requires blood?"
Ten seconds.
Two million lives.
Or Kaelen.
My hand reaches for the shutdown button.
Marcus raises the detonator.
IRIS screams in my head.
And I make my choice.