The room was silent, save for the faint hum of dying machinery. Nathan's sacrifice had left a gaping void in Sana's heart, but there was no time to grieve. The countdown had stopped, and the Core was destroyed, but the battle wasn't over. Lucien's chilling last words still echoed in her mind: "This is only the beginning."
Rylan broke the silence. "We need to move. If Lucien has a contingency plan, it's already in motion."
Sana glared at him. "You knew about this, didn't you? You knew there was more to his plan!"
"I suspected," Rylan admitted, avoiding her gaze. "Lucien is always ten steps ahead. He'd never put all his faith in one system."
Sana clenched her fists. "Then where is he now? Where is the real threat?"
Rylan hesitated before pointing to a nearby console. "The Core's collapse might have triggered a backup. If we can access the remaining systems, we might find where Lucien is hiding."
Sana stormed to the console, her fingers flying across the keys. The interface was partially fried, but fragments of data flickered on the screen. Maps, codes, and corrupted files flashed by. One file caught her attention: Project Marionette.
"What's this?" she muttered, opening it.
Rylan paled as the file loaded. It detailed a massive network of sleeper agents embedded across the globe, all controlled by a central AI linked to Lucien. The document revealed that the Core wasn't the true hub—it was merely a decoy. The real command center was hidden elsewhere, controlling not just the agents but entire governments and corporations.
Sana's stomach twisted. "This isn't just about power… Lucien's trying to control the entire world."
Rylan nodded grimly. "And if we don't stop him, he'll succeed."
As they dug deeper, a series of encrypted communications surfaced. One name kept appearing in the messages: The Puppeteer. It was a codename for someone working in the shadows, orchestrating Lucien's moves. This Puppeteer wasn't just an ally; they were the true architect of the chaos.
"This doesn't make sense," Sana said, her voice shaking. "Lucien was always the mastermind. Who could be pulling his strings?"
Rylan hesitated before speaking. "Lucien may be brilliant, but he's not invincible. He needed someone with deeper connections, someone who could infiltrate systems even he couldn't reach."
Sana's mind raced. Could it be someone they knew? Someone close to the team?
Before they could speculate further, the console beeped. A live feed flickered to life, showing Lucien seated in a darkened room, his face illuminated by the glow of monitors.
"Well done," he said, his voice dripping with mockery. "You've destroyed the Core. But as I warned, this is far from over."
"Where are you, Lucien?" Sana demanded, her voice laced with fury.
Lucien smirked. "You're asking the wrong question. It's not about where I am. It's about who's really in charge."
The screen shifted, revealing a figure standing in the shadows behind Lucien. The person stepped forward, and Sana's breath caught in her throat.
"No… it can't be."
The figure was none other than Rylan's mentor, Dr. Evelyn Carter, a brilliant scientist who had supposedly died years ago. Evelyn had been a pioneer in AI research, and her disappearance had left a void in the field. Yet here she was, alive and standing beside Lucien.
Sana turned to Rylan, her eyes blazing. "Did you know about this?"
Rylan's face was ashen. "I swear, I didn't. I thought she was dead."
Evelyn's voice cut through the tension, cold and precise. "Surprised to see me, Rylan? You always were naive, believing the lies they fed you. I've been pulling the strings since the beginning."
Lucien stepped aside, a rare flicker of deference in his posture. "Evelyn is the true genius behind everything. I'm merely the executor of her vision."
Sana shook her head, trying to process the revelation. "Why, Evelyn? You were a pioneer. You could've used your brilliance to help the world."
Evelyn's lips curled into a bitter smile. "Helping the world? The world doesn't want help. It wants control. Order. And I'm the only one capable of providing it."
Before Sana could respond, Evelyn's tone turned sharp. "Your interference has been a nuisance, but it ends now. The network is already shifting to my secondary hub. In less than an hour, the entire system will be operational again."
The feed cut off, and alarms blared in the facility. A timer appeared on the console: 59:59.
Rylan's voice was frantic. "She's rebooting the network. If we don't stop her, she'll have control over everything—military systems, financial markets, even the weather control satellites."
Sana's jaw tightened. "Then we need to find her base. Now."
Rylan hesitated. "I might know where it is, but it's a long shot. Evelyn always talked about a 'sanctuary,' a hidden lab where she could work undisturbed. If it exists, it's buried deep in the Arctic Circle."
Sana nodded. "Then that's where we're going."
As they prepared to leave, a new message appeared on the console. It was from Nathan.
Sana froze, her heart racing. The message was short and cryptic: "I'm alive. Trust no one."
She stared at the words, her mind reeling. Was it really from Nathan? Or was this another one of Lucien and Evelyn's traps?
The timer continued to count down.
45:00… 44:59… 44:58…
Sana clenched her fists. "We have to move. But if Nathan's alive, we need to find him too."
Rylan frowned. "How do we know it's not a trick?"
"We don't," Sana admitted. "But I'm not leaving him behind."
As they raced toward their next destination, the weight of their mission pressed heavily on Sana's shoulders. The stakes had never been higher, and the lines between friend and foe had never been blurrier.
In the shadows, Evelyn watched their every move, a sinister smile playing on her lips. "Let the final game begin."