Location: Black Hollow – Classified Military Facility, Tavara
The sterile white light of Black Hollow buzzed softly overhead, casting long shadows across the chrome-plated walls. Situated deep within a mountain range and off-grid, the facility had no digital footprint. Not even Tavara's own government knew it existed.
Damien stood at the reinforced glass window of the observation deck, eyes fixed on the room below.
Nora lay motionless in a padded diagnostic chair, electrodes attached to her temples, arms, and chest. Dr. Ellis, the neurologist in charge of experimental memory retrieval, stood nearby, speaking softly into a headset while monitoring a glowing neural scan.
"She's stable," Ellis reported. "The pendant activated dormant neural pathways. Whatever secrets her mother left behind are embedded as memory seals—likely bio-locked to her genetics."
Damien's jaw tightened. "How long?"
"Forty minutes. Maybe more. We're going slowly to avoid any backlash."
Backlash. The last thing Damien wanted was Nora reliving trauma she wasn't prepared to face. He gripped the railing harder.
Moments later, the door behind him slid open, and Calder stepped in.
"We've got a problem," he said without preamble.
Damien didn't turn around. "Go on."
"One of our satellite relays picked up a ghost signal. A secure channel used only by senior intelligence operatives—this one was activated less than three hours ago, from within Tavara. Message encrypted using Tier-6 level codes."
"Which means it's someone high up," Damien said, his voice low. "What did the message say?"
Calder handed him a decrypted tablet. "One line only: 'The shard is with them. Proceed to Phase Two.' Signed under the alias: Argon."
Damien's eyes flickered.
"Argon" was a codename used years ago during a covert black-ops mission. Only a handful of trusted agents had access to it—and one of them was now presumed dead.
"Find out who could've sent it," Damien said coldly. "Check intel logs, personnel movements, secure room access—everything."
"Already on it," Calder said, then hesitated. "There's more."
Damien glanced sideways.
"One of your close contacts made an unscheduled call to a disposable number in East Tavara an hour before the signal went out. The comm logs were partially erased, but our system caught the residue."
"Who?"
Calder hesitated. "Ariella."
Damien went still.
Ariella had once been part of his inner circle. A skilled analyst, fierce and loyal—or so he thought. They hadn't spoken in months, but she still held knowledge of past missions, including locations and fallback plans.
"I want her found," Damien said icily. "And brought in quietly. If she's compromised, we deal with it."
Down below, Nora gasped.
The monitors spiked. Lights flashed red as her body arched against the chair. Dr. Ellis barked orders, injecting a stabilizer.
Damien was down the stairs in seconds, bursting into the medbay just as Nora opened her eyes, wild and glowing faintly with traces of the pendant's power.
"Nora!" he grabbed her hand. "I'm here. You're okay."
She blinked rapidly, sweat beading her brow. "Damien… I saw it. The vault. My mother… she hid the rest of the shard somewhere only I can access."
"Where?"
"A city. Underground. They called it the Remnant Core." She looked at him with certainty. "It's buried beneath the ruins of the old capital. And we're not the only ones heading there."
Damien's mind raced.
If the Remnant Core existed—and it held secrets tied to Nora's lineage and the Order's endgame—then the clock was now ticking.
And Ariella's betrayal might just have moved their enemies a step ahead.