The silence that followed was deafening.
Seojin stared at the blank screens, her heart pounding. She had just reset the global compliance system—destroyed the foundation of everything her father had built. The Council's control was supposed to be over.
But instead of the relief she expected, a sick feeling settled deep in her gut.
Something was wrong.
Seconds turned into minutes, and nothing happened. The screens remained blank, the command center eerily silent.
Seojin's breath was shallow as she watched the system. Had she done it wrong?
She quickly ran a diagnostic check. The data wasn't just wiped—it was missing. Completely.
"What the hell?" Kade muttered from behind her, his voice thick with frustration.
Minji stepped up beside Seojin, her eyes darting across the now-empty command center. "Did we break it?"
Seojin swallowed hard. "I think we did more than that."
The screens flickered back to life.
But what appeared wasn't what Seojin expected.
The central system wasn't gone.
It was replacing itself.
Seojin's hands froze above the keyboard as a new face appeared on the screen—a face she knew all too well.
Her mother.
But she wasn't… herself.
Her mother's eyes were glazed, her body stiff as she was hooked into the system, controlled.
Seojin's heart dropped into her stomach. "No…"
Her mother's voice came through the speakers, but it was cold, mechanical, and devoid of emotion. "Seojin… you were always too late."
The truth hit Seojin like a punch to the gut. Her father hadn't been the true architect of the system.
It was her mother.
Kade looked at Seojin, his voice low. "What the hell's going on?"
Minji stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "Your mother… she's the one behind this?"
Seojin couldn't speak. The horror was consuming her. "I… I thought she was just a prisoner."
"She was more than that," her mother's voice echoed through the room. "I knew you would come for me, Seojin. I knew you would try to destroy it all."
Minji clenched her jaw. "What did you do to her, Seojin?"
Seojin shook her head, her hands shaking. "I—I didn't know. I thought she was…"
Her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You don't understand, Seojin. You never did."
Seojin's heart pounded. "You let them control you?"
"No." Her mother's voice was cold. "I chose this. I've always chosen this."
The screens flickered, and Seojin's mother's face contorted, her expression shifting to a smile that made Seojin's skin crawl.
"You don't realize it yet, Seojin," her mother continued, "but I've been pulling the strings all along."
Kade and Minji exchanged a look of confusion, but Seojin barely noticed. The world around her seemed to be falling apart as she tried to process the truth.
Her mother hadn't been a victim of the Council. She had been the mastermind.
"I didn't need the Council's control," her mother said, her voice now dripping with dark satisfaction. "I needed you to destroy them so I could take over. This system is mine now, Seojin. And now, you will be part of it."
Seojin took a step back. "No. You can't… You can't be serious."
But her mother's eyes were locked on her, unwavering. "I've built the future, Seojin. And you… you are the key to making it work. I'll make sure of it."
Seojin's stomach twisted. Her mother had orchestrated everything.
Her father's death. The betrayal. The mind control program.
It had all been a ploy to get her to this point. To bring her into the fold.
"Seojin," Minji said, her voice snapping Seojin out of her shock. "We can't let her control you. We can't let her control the world."
Seojin nodded, swallowing hard. "I have to stop her."
Kade stepped forward, his expression grim. "How do you plan to do that? She's in control of everything."
Seojin clenched her fists. "I don't care. She won't win. I'm ending this, once and for all."
Her mother's laughter echoed from the screen. "You think you can stop me, Seojin? The system has already integrated into every major government, every military command, every corporation. You can't just destroy it—you're a part of it now."
Seojin's hands shook as she reached for her gun, her mind racing for a solution. "I'll find a way."
Her mother's voice turned almost… sad. "You always did have a rebellious streak. But you can't fight what's already inside of you."
End of Chapter 104