Mother crashed through the third-floor ceiling like a landslide of splintered wood and rusted metal. Her body was a grotesque patchwork—half human, half vine, with bark cracking like old skin beneath her arms and a crown of thorny branches sprouting from her skull. Her eyes burned yellow, pulsing with the same sickly glow as the dying server, and her mouth gaped, revealing rows of metal teeth that clicked like broken gears.
"Mine," she rumbled, her voice a mix of static and the crunch of leaves underfoot. "All mine."
Lena stumbled back, her boots slipping on shattered glass from the server's exploded monitor. The drive—now a useless hunk of plastic—lay at her feet, but she didn't dare look away from Mother. The clone's fingers twitched, and the vines coiled around her wrists like serpents, slithering toward the clones still strapped to the tables.
"Maria!" Lena yelled, pointing.
Maria was already moving. She grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall—left behind by Blackwood's cleanup crew, probably—and hurled it at Mother's legs. The metal canister exploded on impact, spraying white foam that clung to the vines. The clone hissed, recoiling as if burned.
"7D!" Maria shouted. "Cut the straps on those kids!"
7D didn't argue. She yanked a multitool from her belt and darted to the nearest table. The clone strapped there—a boy, maybe eight, with hollow cheeks and a gap-toothed smile—stared up at her, his blue veins dimming but not gone. "Don't… hurt me," he whispered.
"Not today, kid," 7D muttered, sawing through the plastic restraints. "We're getting you outta here."
Lena turned back to Mother. The clone had torn free of the foam, her vines lashing out like whipcords. One snapped at Lena's throat, but she ducked, her arm reflexively shooting up. To her surprise, the code—still burning hot beneath her skin—reacted. Her veins flared blue, and the vine hit her arm, hissing as if scalded.
Mother paused, her yellow eyes narrowing. "You… resist."
Lena didn't know why. Maybe the drive's destruction had weakened Blackwood's control? Or maybe the code, having fed on her for so long, was finally hers to command? Either way, she felt a surge of power—like a spark in her chest, spreading through her limbs.
"Maria!" she called. "Get the kids to the stairs!"
Maria was already dragging the little girl—her name, Lena realized, was probably Lila, since she'd called for "mommy"—toward the staircase. 7D had freed two more clones: a girl with braids and a boy with a cast on his leg, both too dazed to run. Maria hoisted Lila onto her shoulder, herding the others ahead.
Mother roared, her vines lashing out faster. One coiled around Lena's ankle, yanking her off balance. She hit the floor hard, her elbow scraping against a shard of glass. Pain shot through her, but the code made her focus—adapt. She grabbed the vine with her free hand, and instead of pulling away, she squeezed.
The vine writhed, as if in pain. A thick, sap-like liquid oozed from the crack, stinging Lena's eyes. She blinked furiously, but the movement gave her an idea. Plants hate fire.
"7D!" she yelled, spitting glass out of her mouth. "Got any matches? Lighter? Anything?"
7D was still freeing the boy with the cast. "In my pocket!" she shouted, patting her jacket. "Left side—"
A vine snapped at her head. 7D ducked, but another lashed around her waist, pulling her toward Mother. Lena scrambled to her feet, her vision blurring. She grabbed a broken test tube from the floor—thankfully empty—and hurled it at the vine. It shattered, but the shrapnel nicked Mother's arm.
The clone howled, and the vines around 7D loosened. 7D wiggled free, gasping, and fumbled in her pocket. She pulled out a Zippo lighter—Blackwood's branding stamped on the side—and flicked it on.
"Lena!" she yelled, tossing it.
Lena caught it, her hand steady despite the code's roar. She turned to the nearest table—a workbench littered with chemicals. Her eyes landed on a beaker labeled ETHANOL 95%. Perfect.
Mother was closing in, her vines coiling like a noose. Lena doused the ethanol over the workbench, then flicked the lighter. The flame caught instantly, and the alcohol blazed, a wave of heat rolling toward Mother.
She screamed, a sound that shattered windows. The flames ate at her vines, turning the bark to ash and the leaves to crisp. She staggered back, slapping at her burning arms, but the fire spread to her hair—those thorny branches—and she let out a guttural cry.
"Run!" Lena yelled to the others. "Now!"
Maria and 7D herded the clones up the stairs, Lila clinging to Maria's shoulder, her small hands covering her ears. Lena stayed behind, her chest heaving, the lighter still in her hand. Mother was on fire, but she wasn't down yet. Her eyes locked on Lena, and she lunged, even as her body crumbled.
Lena raised the lighter, but Mother was too fast. She tackled Lena to the ground, her weight crushing her. The clone's breath was hot, stinking of rot and chemicals, and Lena felt her ribs crack under the impact.
"You… think… you win," Mother hissed, her metal teeth grazing Lena's cheek. "Blackwood… built me… to protect this place. To protect… her."
"Who?" Lena gasped, her arm burning where the code surged.
"Your… mother."
Lena froze. "My mom?"
Mother's eyes flickered, the yellow dimming for a second. "She… came here. Years ago. Before the code… before the clones. She… tried to stop it. But Blackwood… he… he needed her. Needed her mind… her code…"
Lena's head throbbed. Memories she'd buried surged up—her mom, crying in the kitchen, whispering about "Blackwood Industries" and "project code name: Echo." Her mom, packing a small metal box under the floorboards, telling her, "If I'm ever gone, Lena, find 7A. She'll know what to do."
"Your mom… she was… special," Mother said, her voice softening, almost sad. "Stronger than any clone. Stronger than Blackwood. But he… he broke her. And now… he wants you to finish what she started."
Lena's code flared, but this time, it didn't feel like an attack. It felt like a memory—her mom's hands, warm and steady, teaching her to fix a bicycle chain. Her mom's laugh, loud and contagious, at the dinner table. Her mom's face, pale and scared, the night she'd slipped that box under the floorboards.
"Lena!" Maria's voice echoed from upstairs. "We're at the door!"
Mother's grip loosened. She stared at Lena, her expression twisting—part pain, part anger, part something like regret. "Run," she whispered. "Before he… sends more."
Lena didn't need to be told twice. She scrambled to her feet, her legs shaking, and followed Maria and 7D up the stairs. Behind her, Mother collapsed, her body crumbling into ash and twigs, the last of the fire hissing out.
The tower's front door was half-open, the chain-link fence bent outward. Beyond it, the forest loomed—dark, but familiar now. The mechanical bees were gone, the drones silent. It was as if the tower's destruction had ripped a hole in Blackwood's control.
"Where to now?" 7D panted, leaning against a tree. Her jacket was torn, her face smudged with soot, but she was grinning—relieved, maybe, or just in shock.
Maria checked the clones. Lila was asleep in her arms, her breathing steady. The braided girl and the boy with the cast were clinging to each other, their eyes wide but no longer empty. "We get these kids somewhere safe," she said. "Somewhere Blackwood can't find 'em."
7D nodded. "There's an old safe house in the next town. A friend of mine used to hide there. No tech, no security—just a bunker under a barn."
Lena looked back at the tower. The server was still smoking, the skeleton in the lab coat lying forgotten at its base. "What about Rook?" she asked. "Did she…?"
"Left her there," 7D said, shrugging. "Let Blackwood deal with her. She made her choice."
Lena thought of Rook's face—the way she'd laughed, the way her veins had glowed like lightning. "She was one of the first to 'break,'" she murmured. "Maybe… maybe she didn't have a choice either."
Maria clapped a hand on her shoulder. "You're getting soft, kid. We're not here to save everyone. Just to stop this." She jerked her chin toward the tower. "And we did that."
Lena wanted to argue, but she was too tired. Her arm still burned, but the code felt… quiet now. Like it was waiting, watching, instead of screaming. Maybe destroying the server had weakened Blackwood's hold. Maybe her mom's words—Find 7A—were finally making sense.
"Let's move," she said. "Before the ground decides to swallow us whole."
They trekked through the forest, the clones quiet beside them. The sun was rising, painting the sky in pink and orange, but the forest felt different—less alive, more like a graveyard. Every rustle of leaves made Lena jump, every birdcall sound like a drone.
After an hour, they reached the edge of the woods. Ahead, a red barn stood alone, its roof sagging, the paint peeling. Below it, a small door was hidden beneath a mat of ivy.
7D knelt, brushing the ivy aside. "This it," she said. "My friend—Milo—he used to smuggle meds here. Said the bunker's stocked with food, water, and a generator. Good for… a few months, maybe."
Maria hoisted Lila down. The little girl stirred, rubbing her eyes. "Mama?" she mumbled.
Maria knelt, pulling her close. "Not here, sweetie. But we'll find her. I promise."
Lena watched them, her throat tight. She thought of her own mom, of the box under the floorboards, of the code that still lived in her veins. What if I'm like her? she wondered. Strong enough to fight, but not strong enough to save anyone?
7D clapped her on the back. "Hey. We're not dead. Yet."
Lena managed a smile. "Yet."
They stepped into the barn, the door creaking shut behind them. Inside, the air smelled like hay and gasoline. A ladder led down to the bunker, and 7D lit a flashlight, revealing a room with cots, a stove, and shelves stacked with canned goods.
"Make yourselves at home," 7D said, grinning. "Who knows? Maybe we'll even find a deck of cards."
Maria set Lila on a cot, tucking a blanket around her. The other clones settled in, too, their eyes finally closing. Lena sat on the edge of a cot, staring at the flashlight's beam, thinking of all the things she'd lost: her mom, her home, her old life. But she still had her memories, her code, and her friends.
And maybe that was enough.
For now.
Later that night, Lena sat alone by the barn door, watching the moon rise. The code in her arm was quiet, but she could feel it—like a heartbeat, steady and strong.
A twig snapped.
She froze, reaching for the fire starter in her pocket. But it was only 7D, leaning against the barn, a cigarette (illegal, but who cared anymore?) between her lips.
"Can't sleep?" 7D asked.
Lena shook her head. "Too many questions."
7D sat beside her. "Like what?"
"Why my mom got involved. Why Blackwood wanted her. Why the code… why it's in me."
7D took a drag from her cigarette, the glow lighting up her face. "Blackwood's been messing with genetics for years. Clones, hybrids, whatever you wanna call 'em. Your mom… she was a scientist. A good one. She figured out how to make clones think, not just obey. But Blackwood… he didn't want thinkers. He wanted tools."
Lena's chest ached. "So he… broke her?"
7D nodded. "Made her into one of them. But she fought back. Left clues. That box under the floorboards? It's not just junk. It's got files, recordings, maybe even a way to shut down the code for good."
Lena's eyes widened. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she knew Blackwood would come for you, too. She wanted you to have a normal life. To be a kid." 7D sighed. "But you're not a kid anymore, are you?"
Lena looked at her hands—the blue veins, faint but still there. "No. I guess not."
7D flicked her cigarette away. "Your mom's counting on you, Lena. To finish what she started. To take down Blackwood. To set these clones free."
Lena thought of the little girl, Lila, sleeping soundly in the bunker. Of 7A, screaming in the lab. Of Mother, crumbling to ash.
"I will," she said.
7D smiled, a little sadly. "Good. Because Blackwood's not done. He's got more towers, more clones, more… toys. And he's gonna come looking for you. For all of us."
Lena stood, brushing dirt off her jeans. "Then we'll be ready."
7D nodded. "Damn right we will."
They sat in silence, the moonlight washing over the barn, the forest stretching out around them. Somewhere, a wolf howled. Somewhere, a drone buzzed. But for now, they were safe.
And Lena? She was ready to fight.