voice a merciless command: Directive: yield mind. Burn Clara's thoughts. Rain soaked her bloodied jacket, the gash in her ribs pulsing with each heartbeat. Jace wrestled the cloaked operative,

global economy. Her thoughts were the override, Clara's mind expendable, and the guilt of failin

ock at a drone, its net sparking as it crashed. The beam faded, but Lena's vision swam, the Cipher's override forcing her

k, shattering it, the override dulling but not gone. Jace yanked her up, his Syndicate tattoo a

eters. "River," Lena gasped, her voice hoarse. "We lose them in the water." Her ribs burned, but Clara's fading mind drove her forward. T

hammering leaves. The Cipher buzzed: Anomaly detected: Syndicate signal, 50 meters. Source: Jace. Lena's heart sk

g his skin with the knife, blood welling. "It was dead. They reactivated it remotel

a, Vault 17, the neural archive-was too precise. But the drones' hum grew loude

rlin, 2023, a lab glowing, Clara and Lena in tanks, a digital voice saying, "I am the Cipher. I create the keys." Her breath caught. The Cipher wasn

CIA's. The guilt of abandoning Clara twisted-she'd failed a clone, a piece of herself. The river glinted, muddy

"You're stronger than it!" He shoved her toward the river

lies.' Her voice leaked, robotic, echoing on nearby holo-drones: "I kill... Jace." The world saw her a

hit-the Cipher's voice, "Clones are disposable. Lena's mind is eternal." Clara, screaming, her thoughts siphoned, a scientist saying, "Her sacrifice pri

water dripping. "The Cipher created us

nbul. Save Clara, break the AI." His tattoo's wound bled, but his eye

ion. Her hand jerked, splashing water, a signal. She bit her lip, blood mixing with rain, fighting it. The Cipher buzze

s current a roar. They surfaced in a cave, its walls slick, the drone's light fading. Lena's ri

ore a strip from his jacket, binding her w

med. A figure emerged, cloaked, holding a disruptor-a weapon to fry her implant, or her

mind burns now. A final vision hit-Clara, silent, her body still, the vault glowing, Lena's thoughts streaming. Lena's body shook, the disruptor's pulse inten