The first thing Zara Voss felt was cold. Not the kind of cold you curse at when the AC is blasting in a lecture Hall. This was the kind that seeped into your bones, the kind that made you wonder if you were still alive.
Her eyelashes crusted with frost cracked open, revealing violet eyes the pulsed faintly in the dim blue glow of her pod .
The glass around he hissed, splintered and split apart. Vapor curled outward like smoke from a genie's lamp. For the first time in years, the underground banker breathed.
Zara staggered forward. Her bare feet slapped against concrete. Her silver hair clung to her face, dump with condensation, falling in strands like liquid moonlight.
She looked around in the cavernous chamber - cracked support beams, flickering lights, rows of shattered monitors, the faint hum of machines that have been forgotten.
"NeoGeneX ," she whispered , her voice rusty, like she hadn't spoken in decades. "You locked me away. Thought I would never wake. surprise."
Her fingers curled. Sparks- not blue like Zeke's ,but violet , rippling with a strange rhythm- danced across her palms.
Memories like broken Glass.
Flashes came to her in jagged pieces.
White coats. Needles. Endless nights and their hash fluorescent lights. Words like 'prototype' ,"upgrade" ," phase three"
And then -darkness. Frozen silence
Zara pressed her hands to her temples, groaning . "they used me. they broke me . Then shelved me like a failed science project."
Her eyes snapped open, glowing brighter. "but they were wrong I wasn't a failure. I was.. too much."
Her laugh echoed through the bunker - sharp, brittle and just slightly unhinged.
The world above
She climbed the bunker stairs, each step heavier than the last. When she finally shoved the hatch open, smoke and chaos greeted her.
Redwood Heights ,or what was left of it.
Buildings still burned. Sirens wailed . Drones buzzed like angry hornets overhead. Citizens staggered through the ruins in shock, clutching their children ,their pets and their memories stuffed in backpacks.
Zara stepped into the streets bare foot , her violet sparks lightning the pavements.
A little girl, clutching a stuffed rabbit, tugged her mother's sleeve and pointed.
"Mommy, look an angel."
the mother dragged the girl away, not daring to meet Zara's eyes.
Zara smirked. " Angel. yeah, let's go with that. "
' Patient zero' she thought to herself .
She didn't have to ask who had done this. The whispers were everywhere. The broken holo screens replayed the same headline over and over:
PATIENT ZERO TERRORIZES RED WOOD HEIGHTS
Her eyes narrowed as she caught a flickering image of him- dark hoodie, hair wild with static lightening bursting from his hands.
Zeke Carter.
" Another one," she muttered , tilting her head. " so I wasn't the only lab rat after all ."
She studied his face on the screen. Too young. Too cocky. Too... soft. He was not broken yet . He hadn't been shoved in a cryo pod and told he was dangerous, defective or expandable.
Lucky him
or maybe unlucky
Because Zara Voss was awake now. And if NeoGeneX had made another "patient' ... then he was either her ally...or her competition.
The first test
A police drone swooped down, it's red scanner flicking across her. It's metallic voice droned : unregistered bio signature detected. Stand down and submit for processing."
Zara's lip curled. " yeah, no thanks."
The drones fired net of electrified cables.it never touched her. Violet sparks from her hands, shredded the nets mid air. In a blur, she flunk her arm wide. The drone imploded in a burst of purple lightning , clattering to the streets in a smoking heap.
Civilian screamed in scattered . Some pointed their shaky phones at her , live streaming.
Great. Now the whole city would know patient zero was not the only game in town.
Zara spread her arms, violet energy swirling around here like a storm , "Redwood Heights" she whispered, " your nightmare just doubled ." Watching the broadcast with a weird grin on her face
Miles away, Zeke sat on the edge of a collapsed rooftop ,munching on the last stale granola bar Maya rationed for him.
"Don't chew so loud, " Maya muttered ,her eyes scanning a salvage police radio. "We are still wanted terrorists in case you forgot."
" Correction," Zeke said, crumbs falling into his hoodie. "I'm the terrorist. You are just my extremely grumpy accomplice."
The radio crackled, static morphing into a frantic dispatcher's voice: " unknown powered individual downtown. Not patient zero. female. silver hair. Violet energy signature. Repeat : not patient zero. "
Maya froze, Zeke blinked.
" Wait, not me?" he jumped to his feet, grinning . " finally! I am off the hook!"
" Or," Maya said grimly, " there is someone worse."
Zeke tilted his head. " Worse than me frying a Starbucks and accidentally rebooting half the power grid? I doubt it."
Maya shoved the radio into his chest . "Believe it Carter . And if NeoGeneX built her too... then we just got upgraded from fugitives to prey ."
Zeke's grin faltered. "Cool. Cool cool cool. Love that for us."
Meanwhile, back on the main street ,Zara stood on the hood of a burned out police car, her hair whipping in the wind, violet lightnings snapping at her finger tips.
She looked up at the broken skyline and smiled, teeth sharp , eyes alight with something equal parts fury and freedom.
" They thought they could lock me away forever ," she whispered . " But now? Now the game begins."
And somewhere in the shadows, Zeke Carter's face glowed faintly on a cracked holo screen.
" Patient Zero," Zara murmured . "Let's see if you're strong enough to survive me"