Episode 15
The heat in Abu Dhabi was oppressive, like a weight that pressed down on Iris's chest the moment she stepped out of the jet. The air shimmered over the tarmac, blurring the landscape like a mirage. But nothing about what was coming next would be an illusion. Zaira was real. Dangerous. And she was awake.
Lucien handed her a comm earpiece. "No contact from Zaira in the last six hours. Last confirmed location was an abandoned Emirati Intelligence outpost 40 kilometers south of the city."
Aria stood beside Iris, her face unreadable behind oversized sunglasses. "She won't listen. She never did. Zaira was Alec's shadow. His favorite."
"Then I'll remind her who she is," Iris said firmly. "Even shadows need light."
---
Into the Sands
The desert stretched endlessly before them, dunes rising like sleeping giants. Iris, Aria, and Lucien traveled in a black all-terrain vehicle, bulletproof and modified with military-grade tech. Aria monitored sensors, her fingers dancing over the touchscreen console.
"Motion sensors are picking up something ahead. Non-animal. Heat signatures suggest human movement. Five targets."
"That's not Zaira," Lucien muttered. "She always worked alone."
Iris narrowed her eyes. "Then someone else is after her."
As they crested the ridge, the scene unfolded below them. A burning convoy—military-grade jeeps turned into twisted metal. Bodies littered the sand, scorched and torn.
And in the middle of it all stood her.
Zaira.
Tall, statuesque, wrapped in a desert cloak with her face partially veiled, she was drenched in blood but looked entirely untouched. Her eyes—bright gold—shimmered unnaturally, betraying her enhanced vision.
She turned toward the vehicle before they even stepped out.
"Come to finish me off, sister?" she called, voice like steel.
Iris stepped forward. "No. I came to wake you up."
---
The Trial of Fire
Zaira circled Iris slowly. "You were always the soft one. The one Alec said needed the most rewiring."
Iris stood tall. "And yet here I am. Awake. Just like you."
Zaira's eyes flashed. "I don't need saving. I was born perfect."
"Then why are you killing people?"
"Because they were hunting me. Like you are. Don't pretend you're different."
Lucien stepped between them. "We have no intention of harming you."
Zaira's gaze flicked to him, assessing. "You're the human she's attached to. The one Alec hated."
"I'm not here to argue with a ghost," Lucien said coolly.
Zaira smirked. "Good. Because Alec left more than just memories."
With a single motion, she hurled a small silver device into the sand. It detonated with a quiet click, and a blue pulse radiated outward.
Aria's voice cut through the static on the comms. "EMP burst! Our systems are down!"
Suddenly, the sand around them erupted. Drones, buried beneath the surface, activated—black, spider-like machines with red optical sensors.
Lucien cursed. "She baited us!"
Iris and Aria jumped into action, ducking and weaving as the drones opened fire. Iris flipped behind a dune, drawing a stolen sidearm. Aria hacked one of the drones mid-battle, causing it to turn on the others.
Zaira watched it all like a queen observing a chess match.
---
Truth in Blood
The last drone fell, its smoking remains crackling in the sand.
Zaira approached Iris, slower now. More curious than hostile.
"Why did you stop fighting? You could've killed me."
"Because you're not my enemy," Iris said, lowering her weapon. "You're my family."
Zaira laughed, bitter. "Alec made us in a lab. That's not family."
"Maybe. But we get to decide what we are now. Not him."
Zaira looked at her hands, stained with blood. "I killed a lot of people."
"You were programmed to. But you're not a machine anymore."
Zaira's golden eyes dimmed slightly. A moment of hesitation.
Aria stepped forward. "I remembered everything. The pain. The experiments. Alec's twisted games. You can remember too."
Iris reached into her jacket and pulled out the reboot chip.
"Let me show you the truth."
Zaira hesitated. Then slowly nodded.
Iris inserted the chip just beneath Zaira's collarbone. Her body stiffened. A wave of electricity coursed through her, her eyes rolling back.
Then she collapsed.
---
Reawakening
Zaira awoke an hour later in the back of the vehicle, head in Iris's lap. Her eyes—no longer glowing gold—were soft. Human.
"I remember," she whispered. "The lab. Alec's voice in my head. Every order. Every kill."
Iris stroked her hair. "It wasn't you. It was the programming."
Zaira sat up slowly. "Three of us are awake now. That makes us a threat."
Lucien returned from the front. "You're not the only ones watching. I intercepted a message. There's a third party."
"Government?" Iris asked.
"Worse," Lucien said grimly. "Alec's backup team. Codename: Oblivion. They've activated a global cleanse protocol. Any Seraphim not under their control will be terminated."
Aria muttered, "He always had a contingency."
Zaira looked to Iris. "Then we beat them to it. We find the others. We wake them. We stop this."
Iris nodded. "And we end Seraphim. For good."
---
A Shadow in the Wind
That night, they camped under the stars. The desert was silent except for the gentle hiss of sand shifting in the wind.
Iris sat beside the fire, the glow illuminating her thoughts.
Lucien joined her. "You did it. She's back."
"One at a time. But it's getting harder. Faster."
"We'll keep up."
She looked at him, searching. "What if I change? What if I become like Alec wanted me to be?"
Lucien took her hand. "Then I'll remind you who you really are. Just like you've done for them."
A sudden gust of wind kicked up sand around them.
Aria emerged from the tent, frowning. "We've got movement on satellite. Another Seraphim has gone dark."
"Who?"
"Nyx. S2."
Zaira stepped out, eyes narrowed. "She was always the coldest. The most obedient."
Lucien pulled up a map. "Russia. Deep within the Arctic military zone. No fly zones. No extraction points. If she's been triggered... we may already be too late."
Iris stood, her voice firm.
"Then we don't waste another second. We leave at dawn."