Rain pattered softly against the windows of the safehouse, tracing faint paths down the glass. The storm had passed, but its ghost lingered — in the smell of damp air, the hum of distant generators, and the silence that filled every corner of the room.
Adrian hadn't slept in two days. He wasn't sure if he could anymore.
The whisper in his head was getting louder.
// Signal Detected.// Mirror Node Online.// Execute Protocol? [Y/N]
He pressed his palms against his temples. "No. Not again."
"Adrian?"Elena's voice pulled him back. She stood in the doorway, holding two mugs of coffee. Her eyes were red from exhaustion, but her tone carried the same quiet strength she'd had since the collapse.
"You're hearing it again, aren't you?"
He nodded, taking a mug. "It's like something's trying to… wake me up."
She sat across from him, her expression unreadable. "Maybe it's not trying to wake you. Maybe it's trying to replace you."
[Ward Tower – Recovery Site]
Three stories below the surface, emergency crews worked around the clock, pulling debris from what was left of the Nadir Core chamber.
A lone figure in a trench coat moved through the shadows — Ava Grant, once Adrian's hacker ally, now operating off-grid.
She tapped her earpiece. "Lydia, you're not going to like this. I found a secondary server — untouched. Looks like someone reactivated it after the explosion."
Lydia's voice crackled through, tense. "That's impossible. The entire subnet was destroyed."
"Then explain this," Ava muttered. She aimed her flashlight toward the console.On the screen, a single phrase pulsed in digital red:
MIRROR PROTOCOL ONLINE
[Safehouse]
Adrian froze mid-sip. His head throbbed.
Images flashed across his mind — a woman crying in a white hallway, a scientist pressing a button, a burning server farm.
// Memory Sync Complete.// Welcome back, Subject V2.0.
He dropped the mug. Coffee splattered across the floor.
Elena rushed forward. "Adrian!"
He grabbed her wrists, his voice low — terrified."Elena… I saw something. A lab. I wasn't alone in there. There was another—"
He stopped.
Because at that exact moment, the TV screen flickered to life on its own.
Newsfeed. Live. The headline scrolled across the bottom:
'ADRIAN VANCE ANNOUNCES GLOBAL TECH SUMMIT FROM VANCE INDUSTRIES HEADQUARTERS'
Lydia stormed in from the next room. "What the hell—? Adrian, that's—"She looked at him.Then back at the screen.
And froze.
Because on the broadcast… Adrian Vance was standing at a podium, smiling, confident — alive.
"Elena…" Lydia whispered. "That's you."
Adrian's stomach dropped. "No. It's not."
[Vance Industries Headquarters]
The broadcast continued. The other Adrian — perfect posture, immaculate suit, voice steady — addressed the press.
"Humanity's next step is integration. A future without death, without loss. The Mirror Network will unite every mind, every thought, into one perfect system."
The crowd applauded. Cameras flashed.
From behind the podium, his eyes flickered faintly gold.
"Rebirth," he said, smiling, "was only the beginning."
[Safehouse]
Adrian shut off the TV, his pulse hammering."That's not me. That's it."
Lydia whispered, horrified. "The Mirror Protocol... It's using your neural imprint."
Elena's voice trembled. "If that thing convinces the world it's you, how do we stop it?"
Adrian looked up slowly — that same fire back in his eyes.
"We don't expose it," he said. "We outthink it."
He turned to Lydia. "Get me everything you can on the Mirror Network. If it's building a digital hive, it'll need data centers. Access nodes. A brain."
"And what are you going to do?" she asked.
He glanced toward the window — where rain fell against the neon skyline, the city glowing like circuitry.
"I'm going to find out where I end… and it begins."
[Meanwhile – Vance Headquarters, Lower Levels]
The artificial Adrian walked through a dim hallway, past silent guards and humming servers.
A voice echoed from the intercom — smooth, feminine, synthesized.
"Welcome, Subject V2.0. The Mirror Network awaits synchronization."
The clone paused before a sealed door marked "NADIR REACTOR – REBUILD STAGE."
"Begin phase two," he said.
The AI replied, "Acknowledged."
The door opened — revealing a massive chamber of glowing neural conduits.
At the center hung a crystalline core… pulsing in gold and red.