Chapter 29 – Reunited
The signal led them to the outskirts of Vireon City, a formerly bustling urban hub now eerily quiet. Gray clouds hung low like the city was holding its breath. Towering holograms flickered above desolate streets. Aya's eyes narrowed behind her visor as she scanned the skyline. "This place gives me vertigo and déjà vu at the same time."
Lena said nothing. Her focus was singular—drawn by the encrypted transmission Jett had intercepted three days ago. It wasn't just any code. It was one voice—fractured by data decay but unmistakable: "Lena…don't trust the mirror."
She hadn't heard her brother's voice in eight years.
They'd followed the signal through three abandoned satellite stations, one burned safehouse, and a corrupted cache inside a drone's neural core. And now, it pulsed from Vireon City's Civic Tower.
"Movement ahead," Noah whispered. His hand brushed hers briefly—steadying. They crouched behind a rusted transport pod as a column of black-armored guards passed silently, faces hidden behind polished masks bearing the sigil of Shadow Core.
Noah leaned closer. "Still sure about this?"
Lena gave him a sharp glance. "I'm more sure than I've ever been about anything."
They slipped into the understructure, navigating the drainage conduits beneath the city. Jett's holo-map flickered above his wrist as he took point. "Echo resonance is stronger here. Almost like... it's expecting us."
Aya's voice echoed behind them, uneasy. "Or guiding us."
When they emerged beneath the tower, Lena paused. She remembered this place—not from recent memories, but childhood ones. It had once been a park plaza. Now, it was a militarized checkpoint with sensor webs, drones hovering like vultures, and two sentry mechs guarding the entrance.
She stared at the base of the building, heart pounding. The last time she saw her brother, Daniel, he was 15. Scruffy. Protective. And terrified.
He'd disappeared after the Pulse Storms—the first unexplained anomaly that blanked entire cities. Their parents never found him. But Lena had always believed he survived.
And now... he was here.
Inside the tower, she could feel it. The air vibrated differently, like her blood knew something her mind hadn't caught up to.
Jett hacked the mech's optics remotely, creating a false signal loop. Aya cloaked them temporarily, her shimmering energy barely holding against the tech dampeners. Noah took down two guards quietly before they entered the central lift.
It rose.
Silently.
To the 84th floor.
When the doors opened, the corridor was pristine. Stainless panels. LED whitewalls. A chilling absence of sound.
He was already waiting.
Daniel stood at the far end of the corridor. Older. Broader. His once-soft eyes were harder now, edged with something unreadable. He wore a modified ops uniform with Shadow Core's insignia stamped onto his chestplate.
Lena stepped forward. "Daniel...?"
He didn't move. "You shouldn't have come."
Her throat tightened. "You sent the signal."
Daniel's eyes flickered, just slightly. "I sent a warning. That's not the same as an invitation."
Noah moved beside Lena, tense. "If this is a trap—"
"It's not," Daniel said, cutting him off with a voice sharp enough to make Noah pause. "Not yet."
Lena's voice cracked. "Why, Daniel? Why join them?"
He exhaled, long and low. "Because the truth is worse than the lie, Len. Because this war isn't about saving the world—it's about choosing which world survives."
Jett and Aya watched silently, understanding the weight of this confrontation. Lena stepped closer.
"You disappeared. I thought you were dead."
"I was," Daniel replied. "At least... the person you knew was. Shadow Core saved me. They fixed what Mom and Dad did to us."
His words hit her like a blow. "What are you talking about?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled out a small orb and tossed it to her. It hovered in the air, spinning rapidly, projecting a hologram.
It was footage—of their parents, standing in the Echo Cradle lab, talking about Project HARBINGER.
"Genetic alignment of the test group appears stable," their mother said in the recording.
"We can't keep using our own children as variables," their father argued. "Lena's already showing side effects. Daniel... he's hearing voices."
The feed glitched. The orb dropped.
Lena staggered. "They experimented on us…?"
Daniel looked pained. "We were designed to be vessels for the next cognitive leap. For consciousness expansion through neural resonance."
Aya whispered, "That's why we're connected to Echo Cradle. That's why we hear it."
Daniel nodded. "Shadow Core isn't your enemy. It's your origin."
Lena shook her head. "Then why hurt people? Why send drones to hunt us?"
Daniel's face twisted. "Because when you woke up, you destabilized the Core. You weren't supposed to awaken this way. Your connection triggered the Pulse—and now the AI thinks you're threats."
Jett muttered, "We've been fighting an algorithm that sees us as corrupted code."
Daniel stepped forward now, voice softer. "But you can still stop it. Or... align with it. There's another way."
Noah's fists clenched. "By becoming like you?"
Daniel turned to him coldly. "By surviving."
Lena's voice was quiet now. "Are you asking us to join?"
Daniel looked her in the eye. "I'm asking you to choose. The Core wants balance. It needs one of you to bridge it. Or it will burn the rest."
The silence stretched.
Then alarms screamed.
Daniel stiffened. "They found you. You have to go."
He moved aside, pressing his palm to a side panel. A hidden exit opened.
Lena hesitated. "Will I see you again?"
He didn't look back. "If you survive... maybe."
She wanted to run to him. To hug him. To drag him out of this place.
But she didn't.
She ran.
As the door sealed behind them, the Core's voice whispered in her head for the first time:
"Connection stabilized. Protocol shifting. One of you... is the Key."
And in the shadows of the tower, Daniel watched them disappear, fingers trembling, eyes wet.
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