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Chapter 23: The Creator's Lie
Sierra stared at the screen, her throat tight, heart pounding.
Dr. Elena Ward's image flickered on the monitor, her face eerily calm. Not aged. Not surprised. Just... expectant.
"Sierra," Elena said softly, "I've been waiting."
Knox stiffened beside her, his hand inching toward his weapon. But Sierra didn't move.
"You're alive," Sierra said. The words came out like ash. "You told me you died."
"I did," Elena replied. "At least, the version of me you remember. The woman you knew was a role—an interface. Carefully crafted to earn your trust."
Sierra's fists clenched. "You built me."
Elena tilted her head. "I guided your evolution. You were never a weapon, Sierra. You were a prototype for something more. Something transcendent."
Knox spat, "You turned her into a living system. You hijacked her mind."
"And she's still standing," Elena replied coldly. "That should tell you something."
The screen split—multiple feeds flickering on: other facilities, more pods, more lives suspended in silence.
"All of them," Sierra whispered. "You did this to all of them."
"Not all," Elena said. "Only those strong enough to survive it."
Sierra's jaw tightened. "You think that justifies it?"
"I think," Elena said, "that history is written by those who reshape humanity, not preserve it."
A tremor ran through the walls. Knox stepped closer to the terminal. "She's routing a signal from the Citadel's core—this isn't just a conversation. She's initiating something."
Elena smiled faintly. "The next stage."
Sierra took a step forward. "Then I'll stop it."
"You'll try," Elena replied. "But remember this, Sierra—every instinct you call your own was installed. Every emotion calibrated. Even your defiance was accounted for."
Sierra felt the air leave her lungs.
"Even this moment," Elena added, "was part of your conditioning."
The feed cut.
The screen went black.
An alarm pulsed through the chamber. Red lights flared. The servers began to hum louder, a low growl vibrating through the floor.
"Knox," Sierra said, turning. "How do we shut it down?"
He looked pale. "This isn't a data center. It's a relay hub. The Protocol's not just archived here—it's being broadcasted. She's not inside the system—she is the system."
A hatch opened behind them. From it, emerged two figures—sleek, humanoid, their faces blank. They moved like shadows, smooth and lethal.
"Guards," Knox breathed. "But not human."
Sierra pulled her pistol, stepping in front of him. "Then let's give the system something it didn't program."
The first figure lunged. Sierra ducked low, shooting upward—two clean shots to the chest, but it didn't fall. It swung, fast, catching her shoulder with a blow that sent her staggering.
Knox fired from the side. Sparks burst from its chest as circuitry fried.
The second moved for him—silent, precise.
Sierra threw herself forward, grabbing a loose pipe and slamming it into the figure's head with everything she had. It cracked, then twitched, collapsing to the floor in a spray of sparks.
Breathing hard, Sierra turned to Knox. "Get us a shutdown path. Now."
He pulled open the console. "If I reroute the core's feedback loop, we might fry the central processor... but it'll take out this whole facility. Including us."
Sierra nodded, without hesitation. "Do it."
"But—"
"She said this moment was part of my programming," Sierra said, voice like steel. "Then let's rewrite the ending."
Knox didn't argue.
His fingers flew across the keys.
Behind them, the lights dimmed.
The floor trembled.
The Citadel was collapsing—one line of code at a time.
And Sierra?
She wasn't running anymore.
She was choosing.
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