Episode 8
The girl floated in the cryo-fluid, her eyes open now—too open. They glowed faintly, an unnatural electric blue. Not innocent. Not human. Not exactly.
Iris stared at the tank, torn between horror and heartbreak. She reached toward the control panel.
> DELETE SUBJECT?
Warning: Subject IV-3 is in active sync.
Her finger hovered above the button. She didn't know what "active sync" meant, but every part of her screamed that it wasn't good.
Then the girl tilted her head.
And smiled.
"You're late," the child whispered.
Iris jumped back. The girl hadn't spoken aloud. The words had echoed inside her skull.
Telepathic communication? Is that even possible? Iris clutched her temples as the girl's voice echoed again.
"They're watching. Through you. They always have."
Behind her, the air shimmered. A low hum started from the back of the lab.
Iris spun around, raising her gun.
Lucien's voice burst through the comm. "IRIS, GET OUT. They've locked onto your signal!"
It was too late.
The shimmer solidified into a human form.
Alec Draven.
But not the Alec she remembered.
This version wore an obsidian-black suit, face cold and expressionless. The only giveaway that he wasn't quite human was the faint blue glow beneath his skin — circuitry woven into flesh.
"Subject IV-2," he said smoothly. "You were never meant to access this level of clearance."
Iris aimed her gun. "I remember enough to know you're not him. You're just… a mimic."
"Incorrect." He stepped forward. "I am him. Refined. Redeemed. Your last memory was of betrayal, yes? The real Alec letting you die?"
Her hands shook.
He was right. That final memory — needles, screams, fire. And Alec standing behind the glass, watching.
Smiling.
"You let them erase me," she whispered.
"I did not let them. I was them," Alec-09 said, his voice like silk. "You weren't a lover, Iris. You were an experiment. A test case. And now you're a liability."
Behind him, the clone's tank began to beep erratically.
> SYNCING: 93%... 94%...
"She's waking," Alec noted. "Soon she'll replace you. And this time, we'll make sure she obeys."
---
Lucien's Sacrifice
A sudden explosion rocked the facility. The door to the lab burst open, and Lucien stumbled in, bloodied and limping, holding a high-voltage EMP grenade.
"GET DOWN!" he shouted.
Iris dropped as Lucien hurled the grenade. It detonated with a sharp POP, sending a shockwave of energy through the lab. All lights flickered.
Alec-09 spasmed, electricity coursing through his artificial nervous system.
But it wasn't enough to disable him.
He turned to Lucien, eyes blazing.
"You're obsolete."
He lunged.
Lucien fired three shots directly into Alec's chest — the rounds sparked, embedding in synthetic muscle, but Alec didn't stop.
He slammed Lucien against the wall. Iris screamed.
"RUN!" Lucien gasped, blood in his mouth. "TAKE THE DATA—RUN!"
---
The Escape
Iris grabbed the hard drive from the main terminal, clipped it to her belt, and sprinted out of the room as Alec began to crush Lucien's windpipe.
She didn't look back.
Down the stairs. Through the fire-scorched corridors. Alarms wailed. The self-destruct protocol had been triggered.
Outside, the cold air hit her like a slap. She dove into the woods, leaves and branches whipping her face.
Behind her, the old observatory erupted in flames.
Lucien was gone.
Alec's body didn't come out.
But she didn't believe for a second that he'd died.
---
Later That Night – Motel Safehouse
Iris sat on the bed, bruised and bloody, the hard drive open on her laptop.
The files loaded slowly. Inside were logs — all of them timestamped with names. Subjects. Notes.
She wasn't the only one.
There were hundreds of names.
Many crossed out.
Some marked AWOL, TERMINATED, or worse — REPLICATED.
Then she found a folder labeled "Crescent Protocol".
She clicked it open.
A video began to play.
Dr. Isolde Merek again, standing beside a stasis chamber.
> "If Subject IV-2 survives to this stage, initiate Crescent. The truth must reach her eventually. The experiment was never to erase her…"
> "…it was to awaken her."
The video cut out.
Then another name flashed across the screen.
Alec Draven – Real Identity: Alexander Vale.
Her blood ran cold.
Vale. Her bloodline.
They weren't just lovers.
They were family.
A twisted experiment in genetically engineered trust.
Built to fail.
---
Final Scene
In the ruined observatory, ash still smoked.
From beneath the rubble, Alec Draven's synthetic body twitched back to life.
He opened his eyes.
> Target: Subject IV-2
Directive: Retrieve. Recondition. Reprogram.
He stood.
Smiling.
"Iris… I'm coming home."
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