Chapter 8: Echoes of the Founder
Night never fell in The Fracture—but the atmosphere changed. After the battle, the glow of the cavern dimmed to a soft, contemplative pulse. Fires were put out, bodies were recovered, and silence returned like a reverent hush after a storm.
Anderson sat alone in a chamber deep beneath the Spine, staring at the half-empty vial. Dr. Z's formula shimmered inside, reacting subtly to his touch. It was alive, in ways even he didn't fully understand.
Elira entered, her steps quiet. "You saved us. But what you carry now may undo you."
Anderson glanced up. "What exactly did he put in this? Why does it feel like… more than a serum?"
Elira raised a hand, and a wall of the chamber lit up with holographic patterns. "Dr. Z didn't just engineer longevity. He built an evolutionary accelerator—a seed of adaptation. The formula is tailored to your bloodline, yes… but it's also responsive to will."
Anderson frowned. "Will?"
"Yes. Thought, memory, desire. The deeper your mind goes, the more it can unlock."
He turned toward the vial. "So it's not just biology. It's... sentient?"
"Not sentient. Resonant." Elira lowered her voice. "He called it the Echo Protocol. And if the formula is fully awakened, it will call out."
"To who?"
"To him."
Anderson's heart skipped. "You mean Dr. Z is still alive?"
Elira met his gaze. "No one ever found his body. Just vanished. But we believe he left behind neural fragments, seeded into hidden constructs. One is buried in the Arctic. Another in the orbital ruins above Geneva."
"And the third?" he asked.
Elira turned to the wall. A map unfolded. "Under London. Where it all began."
Anderson stood, a strange fire igniting inside him. "Then that's where I go next."
Before he could speak again, Ferryman appeared in the doorway. "We've decrypted part of a transmission from the enemy. A new operative has been deployed. They call her Mirror. Bio-enhanced. And designed using your DNA."
Vora stepped into view behind him. "She's not coming to capture you. She's coming to replace you."
Anderson stared at the glowing vial in his hand.
Then he whispered, "Let her come."
Write a comment just to let me know how you feel when reading it