The city didn't sleep anymore... Not after Genesis.
Screens flickered on and off all night, flashing headlines about systems crashing, accounts wiped, secret files leaking into the open. The Syndicate was burning from the inside out and everyone could feel it.
But peace didn't come with it....
For me, there was only silence and a name I couldn't stop whispering.
"Darian…"
I had seen his message on the boat. Heard his voice.
But no one else had seen him since the fire. No trace, no proof, nothing.
Sometimes I told myself he was gone, because it hurt less than hoping.
But every night, I still looked over my shoulder, half expecting to see him step out of the shadows again.
Now, weeks had passed....
Genesis had spread, my father's dream alive in the network.
But the more it grew, the more dangerous things became.
New enemies were rising from the ashes of the old ones and somewhere out there, the truth about everything.... about Darian, my father, and the Syndicate.... was still unfinished.
That was why I came here, back to the coast.
The same spot where the boat had gone under.
The same sea that carried away the last pieces of him.
The air was cold, the sky still gray, and waves crashed against the rocks like they were angry.
I stood there, clutching the small pendant Darian had given me before everything fell apart.
It wasn't just jewelry, it had weight, hidden data inside, his fingerprints on the edge.
I whispered, "You said you'd find me."
And maybe that was why I almost didn't believe it when I heard the footsteps.
Slow. Heavy. Careful.
My heart skipped. I turned fast, gun raised.
At first, I thought it was a stranger. The man wore a dark coat, hood pulled low, face half-hidden in shadow.
But then he spoke.
"You still don't hesitate, do you?"
That voice....Low....Calm....Familiar enough to make the world tilt.
The gun fell from my hand before I even realized it.
I took one step forward. "No… no, it can't be."
He pulled down the hood slowly and there he was....
Darian....
Alive....
Scarred....
Changed....
His face carried the memory of fire, a thin line running across his jaw, another near his temple. His eyes looked older, heavier. But it was him.
The same eyes that used to make me feel safe.
The same eyes that had once lied to me.
My knees almost gave out. "You're..."
"Alive," he said quietly. "Barely. But yes."
For a long second, I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.
Then everything came out at once.
"You lied to me! You let me think you died! You ....."
He didn't move. Just let me shout, my voice breaking with each word.
"I buried you in my head, Darian! I hated you, then I missed you, then I...."
He stepped forward, and before I could stop myself, I hit his chest with my fists. "You could have come back! Why didn't you?"
He caught my wrists gently.
"Because they would've found you."
His voice was low, almost broken. "If they knew I was alive, they would've hunted you again. The Syndicate wasn't gone yet. I had to make them believe I burned with them."
I stared at him, chest rising and falling too fast. "You still could've told me."
He gave a weak smile. "You wouldn't have listened."
That part hurt because it was true.
The wind howled between us.
For a while, neither of us spoke. We just stood there, the ocean roaring like it wanted to swallow everything.
Then I said softly, "The woman in the lab… she told me you came there once. Before me."
He nodded slowly. "I had to be sure she was alive. Your father trusted her. She was keeping the last piece of Genesis."
"She said you were leaving a trail for me."
He smiled faintly. "You followed it."
"And almost died," I shot back.
He looked down. "I know."
His sleeve slid up slightly when he moved, revealing the edge of a bandage, still fresh.
"You're hurt."
"It's nothing," he muttered.
"Don't say that." I reached out before he could stop me, touching the fabric carefully. His arm trembled under my hand. "You shouldn't even be walking."
He gave a small shrug. "You shouldn't still care."
That made me look up sharply.
"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't feel, Darian."
He met my eyes then, and for a second, everything fell away .. the lies, the danger, the distance. It was just him and me, breathing the same heavy air.
He whispered, "I never meant for you to get hurt."
"Then why didn't you stop when you had the chance?"
"Because if I did, they would've killed you sooner."
The truth hit harder than I expected.
He hadn't betrayed me because he wanted to.
He did it because someone else held the strings.
"Who were they?" I asked quietly. "Who gave the order?"
"The Board," he said. "The men who controlled the Syndicate from behind closed doors. But not all of them burned with the system. Two escaped before Genesis went live."
I frowned. "You mean they're still out there?"
"Yes. And they're rebuilding."
I turned toward the sea again, my heart sinking. "So it's not over."
He stepped closer. "Not yet."
The wind carried the sound of waves, sharp and restless.
I stared at the horizon, thinking of all that had happened....the wedding that never happened, the locked door, the voice messages, the fire.
All of it had led to this moment.
The ashes, the sea, the truth.
"What now?" I asked quietly.
He hesitated. "Now… we finish what your father started."
I turned to him slowly. "You mean Genesis?"
He nodded. "The version that went live was only half. There's another part, one your father hid even from me. It's called Eden Lock. Without it, the system can't protect itself. Someone could turn it into a weapon."
"So we find it before they do."
He gave a faint smile. "You sound like me now."
I crossed my arms. "Maybe I learned from the best."
That made him laugh softly, a sound that felt strange after so long. But it faded quick.
His gaze dropped to the ground. "You shouldn't stay with me, Adanna. They'll come for me again. For both of us."
"Then let them," I said firmly. "I'm not running anymore."
He looked at me for a long time....really looked and then shook his head with a small, tired smile.
"You haven't changed."
"Neither have you," I said. "You still think you can protect everyone alone."
He was about to argue, but then something behind us exploded, a flash, a blast that threw dust into the air.
We both ducked.
"Snipers!" he hissed, pulling me behind a rock.
Bullets hit the ground near our feet. I could hear the hum of drones overhead.
"How did they find us?" I shouted.
"They were tracking the Genesis signal," he said. "It led them here."
I pulled my gun. "Then we fight."
He looked at me with something between pride and pain. "You really did learn from me."
The next minutes were chaos....gunfire, smoke, shouts carried by the wind.
We fought side by side, moving like we used to before everything fell apart.
He took a hit to the shoulder but didn't stop. I covered him, shot two drones down, and we ran toward the cliffs.
When we finally got to safety, he was bleeding again, the bandage soaked through.
"Darian!" I tried to hold him up, but he pushed my hand away gently.
"Go," he said, voice rough. "They're still close."
"I'm not leaving you again!"
"You have to," he said. "Eden Lock.... it's stored in an old server farm in Ikoyi. Go there. Finish it."
"No. Not without you."
He smiled faintly. "You'll do better without me slowing you down."
His hand brushed mine, warm and trembling. "Adanna… I'm sorry. For everything."
Tears stung my eyes. "Stop saying goodbye."
"This isn't goodbye," he said. "Just… a pause."
And then he pressed something into my palm, a small chip, warm from his touch. "This will show you what I couldn't tell you. You'll understand when you see it."
Before I could answer, another blast went off nearby. The rocks shook, and smoke filled the air. When it cleared.... he was gone.
I called his name, searched the cliffs, the road, everything.
Nothing....
Only the sound of the sea, and the smell of ash again.
I sank to my knees, the chip tight in my hand. "You promised…" I whispered.
But somewhere deep down, I knew.
If Darian had survived once, he could do it again.
He always did....
That night, I plugged the chip into my tablet.
A video appeared. His face, tired but alive.
"If you're watching this, Ada," he said softly, "then I'm still fighting. Just not beside you. Not yet. Find Eden Lock. It's the only way to finish this. And when it's done… maybe we'll both finally be free."
The screen went black....
I sat there in silence, tears on my face, the waves echoing outside the window.
And for the first time since the fire, I smiled through the pain.
Because even if he was gone again…
I knew he was still out there.
Still watching....
Still fighting....
And I would keep fighting too, until the end.
To be continued.....