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 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 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."
Agent V 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."
Mirror Protocol
The rain in London wasn't natural anymore. It carried static, tiny magnetic particles falling like invisible ash. In the shadows of the city's forgotten layers, Anderson moved through the tunnels beneath King Cross station—guided only by Ferryman digital map and the strange pull he now felt inside his blood.
Above, the city bristled with surveillance. But below, the old world whispered. Rusted train lines, flooded data vaults, crumbling cathedrals of steel. Somewhere beneath it all: Dr. Z third fragment.
Anderson stopped as Agent V held up her hand. "Something's here."
From the shadows emerged a figure—sleek, silent, and wrong.
Her eyes glowed the same color as Anderson's ring. Her skin shimmered with Nano wave. Her voice echoed with haunting familiarity.
"I am Mirror," she said. "Born from your blood. Engineered by those who fear you."
Anderson raised his hands. "I don't want to fight."
Mirror tilted her head. "Neither did your great-grandfather. But the formula demands balance. You were not chosen. You were grown. And I am your reflection. The perfected version."
She lunged.
What followed wasn't a fight—it was a collision of futures. Every strike Mirror made was one Anderson had once imagined. She moved like him. Thought like him. But without fear.
They crashed through vaults of glass and memory, waking ancient systems. Sparks flew. Blood spilled. Anderson's mind burned with visions—Dr. Z watching from a hidden lens, his voice whispering through time.
"She is not your enemy. She is your key."
Pinned beneath Mirror's blade, Anderson remembered Elira words: The deeper your mind goes, the more it can unlock.
He stopped resisting. He let go.
The formula surged in him, not with power—but memory. Every decision. Every dream. Every path not taken. Mirror faltered.
Anderson touched her forehead.
A flash.
Both of them screamed.
When it ended, she staggered back—confused, breathless. "What… am I?"
Anderson stood. "Not a weapon. A mirror only reflects until it learns to see."
From the vault below, a new signal pulsed—a lock undone. The third construct of Dr. Z was waking.
Neural Awakening
Deep beneath the ruins of Old London, the third construct of Dr. Z stirred to life.
As Anderson and Mirror stood in silence, the ancient vault responded to their shared resonance. Lines of light spread across the chamber floor, forming a vast neural lattice, pulsing like synapses. A cryogenic core rose from the center—within it, a sphere of crystalline data spun slowly, coded memories frozen in light.
Ferryman's voice crackled in Anderson earpiece. "We're reading a signal spike. That's not just memory—it's consciousness."
Elira joined them moments later, breathless, eyes wide. "He encoded a version of his mind. This is what he meant by the 'Echo Protocol.' Dr. Z didn't leave behind notes. He left himself."
Anderson approached the core. As he reached out, Mirror followed, instinctively syncing her hand beside his. The core recognized the hybrid bond—genetic origin and engineered evolution.
Suddenly, the chamber darkened.
A voice boomed across the chamber.
"Anderson. Mirror. You have arrived as I hoped. The world above has changed. The world below must now awaken."
It was Dr. Z voice, but it echoed with mechanical precision, spliced with artificial intelligence.
"You are not heir. You are catalysts. This formula was never meant to grant power. It was a test. To see who could carry memory without corruption. You, Anderson, carry the original strain. You, Mirror, the refined extension. Together, you are the bridge."
Anderson pulse quickened. "A bridge to what?"
The vault began to unfold—metal arms stretching outward, revealing suspended data matrices.
"To the final phase. To the place I went—beyond."
Elira turned sharply. "No. He's not just alive. He transcended. He uploaded himself into a quantum echo chamber... off-planet."
Ferryman confirmed. "We just got a ping—from Luna Station Theta. It's broadcasting Dr. Z ID signature. He's alive, or… whatever he's become."
Mirror looked at Anderson. "They'll never let us leave Earth."
Anderson stared at the glowing chamber, his mind racing.
"Then we go where they can't follow."
Above ground, satellites began to move.
The agencies had heard the signal too.
The next part of the journey would not be a chase. It would be a war for the future of human evolution.
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