The building went dark.
In an instant, the servers shut down. The lights died. Even their comms fizzled out into static.
"Valerie?" Ethan called over the comm. No answer.
From across the complex, Olivia's voice cut in—barely audible:"…we're not alone."
Noah's flashlight flickered. Then—movement.
Something fast. Too fast.
The Prototypes
Valerie's fingers danced over her backup tablet. "Echo activated something… mechanical."
Ethan crouched beside her, weapon raised. "Drones?"
Valerie shook her head slowly. "Worse."
Just then, a metallic screech rang through the vents above them.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Shadow leapt to Ethan's shoulder, tense. Blaze's fur stood on end.
Olivia's voice crackled again:"Multiple contacts. Bipedal. Non-human. They look like—"
The comms cut.
The First Clash
From the smoke emerged the first one:A humanoid figure, sleek, black as midnight, its body built from carbon mesh and smart alloy.Its head had no face—only a glowing, shifting panel that mimicked human expressions.
It smiled.
Ethan didn't wait. He fired.
Direct hit.The thing stumbled back—then straightened. Unharmed.
Valerie ducked behind cover. "It's learning. Echo's feeding it real-time adjustments."
Ethan reloaded. "Then we better move before it learns how to kill us."
System Breach
Back at The Burrow, Valerie initiated a remote overload protocol. "I can't destroy them, but I can delay their sync."
She tapped into Echo's live stream.
A map filled the screen—points blinking red.
Noah stepped in, eyes wide. "Those aren't just drones."
"They're deployment sites," Valerie said grimly. "He's building an army."
An Unlikely Ally
Then—another signal pinged. Different. Older.
Valerie isolated it. "This… isn't Echo. It's from a buried node in the original Evelyn network."
A voice came through. Familiar. Tired. Human.
"If you're hearing this… then I failed. But maybe, just maybe, you can stop what comes next."
Evelyn Carter's real voice.