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Chapter 18: The Key
Savannah's underground war room buzzed with old tech and colder secrets.
Eliot paced near the blueprint of the black site—codename: Nyx Vault. Hidden beneath a biotech facility in Nevada. Remote. Armed. Illegal.
"They're testing again," Savannah said. "Phase IV isn't about control anymore. It's about replacement."
Rina stared at the board. Names. Faces. Some were missing. Others were crossed out.
"How do I fit into this?" she asked.
Savannah handed her a file.
Rina opened it.
> PROJECT ATHENA: INITIATION PROTOCOL—R. MAXWELL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
"Wait—this says I'm a failsafe?"
"You're more than that," Savannah said. "You're the original adaptive genome. They modeled the new subjects after your markers. Your biology is the blueprint."
Rina's knees buckled slightly. Eliot caught her.
"They can't continue without your code," Savannah added. "Which means you're not just a target…"
"You're leverage," Eliot finished.
She looked up at him, eyes blazing. "Then let's make them regret needing me."
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That night, Eliot loaded gear in silence. Rina approached him in the dark.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked.
"I was afraid if you knew how important you were… they'd break you before we even started."
"And now?"
He looked at her, finally soft. "Now I think they should be afraid of you."
She didn't smile.
But she didn't back down either.
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