Location: Lucien's Facility – Lower Sector Combat Arena
Sparks flew as Vesper slammed into the reinforced wall, her ribs screaming in protest. Cyra stood across the chamber, unbothered, expression blank as a porcelain doll. Their similarity was haunting—same face, same eyes—but no soul burned behind Cyra's gaze.
"You're just a shadow of me," Vesper growled, wiping blood from her lips.
Cyra tilted her head. "I am the perfected version. You're the obsolete blueprint."
The clone lunged again, a flurry of strikes enhanced by cybernetic precision. Vesper barely managed to parry, using instincts honed in the field. But she was weakened. Drugged. Her body not yet whole.
Still, every blow reminded her of who she was.
A Lancaster.
A rebel.
A sister.
And no machine would take that from her.
---
Location: Surface Perimeter – Facility's West Entry Point
Damien crouched by the entrance, cutting through the outer panel with a high-frequency laser. Kane stood behind him, shotgun strapped to his back, eyes scanning the quiet terrain.
"This reminds me of the Istanbul job," Kane said with a low chuckle.
Damien didn't look up. "We barely got out of that one alive."
"And yet you called me again."
Damien finished the cut. "Because I trust your chaos."
They slipped in.
Inside, Nora waited—already disabling traps with practiced ease. She tossed Damien a comm earpiece.
"Security grid is rotating every twenty seconds. Stay on my beat or get fried."
They moved as one—silent, precise, relentless.
---
Location: Combat Arena – Lower Sector
Vesper's breath was ragged. Blood matted her hair. Her clone moved like a machine—and for good reason.
But something flickered in Cyra's expression when Vesper whispered:
"You don't even know what fear is, do you?"
For the first time, hesitation.
Vesper seized the moment.
She drove forward, not with force—but words.
"You've never seen the stars. Never heard a real piano. Never felt."
Her fist crashed into Cyra's face.
Another strike—cracking the facade.
"I have love. I have pain. I have people worth dying for."
Cyra faltered.
And Vesper grabbed a broken pipe from the floor, thrusting it into her double's core circuitry.
Sparks. Silence. Collapse.
Vesper panted, standing over her doppelgänger.
"I'm not obsolete. I'm real."
---
Location: Facility – Sublevel 3 Corridor
Damien and Nora moved like shadows, disabling guards one by one. Nora paused at a junction.
"Lucien's main control room is two floors down. We split here."
Damien shook his head. "Not happening."
"You have to find Vesper. I'll handle Lucien."
He clenched his jaw. "Nora—"
She touched his chest, eyes soft. "Trust me."
A long beat.
Then he nodded.
They parted ways—like two stars in orbit, destined to collide again.
---
Location: Control Room – Moments Later
Lucien was waiting.
Monitors flickered, showing every corner of the facility. Cyra's lifeless body. Damien breaching a chamber. Vesper, bloody but standing.
And Nora stepping into the room.
"Well," Lucien said, smiling, "the heir herself."
Nora raised her weapon. "Game's over."
"On the contrary," Lucien whispered, pressing a button. "It's just beginning."
Alarms wailed.
Gas hissed into the vents.
And the floor beneath Nora gave way.
She fell—into darkness.