The Archive's hallowed silence shattered under gunfire. Jarek stood amid the carnage, his visor discarded to reveal a face carved by betrayal and war. Clara's breath hitched— Jarek Vorn. Yami's brother, her childhood shadow in Silhouette's gilded halls.
"You're supposed to be dead," she hissed, pulse rifle trembling.
Jarek's hollow laugh echoed. "Death's a luxury Silhouette denies us." He stepped over an Archivist's corpse, his Ghost armor glinting. "You've been gone too long, Clara. Father's… disappointed."
Amir edged toward the exit, Lina leaning on Karim. "We need to move!"
"No," Jarek snapped. A drone swarm buzzed from the shadows, blocking their retreat. "Clara comes with me. The rest—collateral."
Clara's finger hovered over the trigger. "You joined them? After what they did to Yami?"
"Yami chose weakness." Jarek's gaze flicked to Amir. "But you? You've always been a weapon. Father wants his masterpiece back."
Flashback: Silhouette's Gilded Cage
Fifteen-year-old Clara in a lab coat, her hands steady as she adjusted Rebirth's prototype. Elias Vorne watched, cold approval in his eyes. Jarek, ever the loyal son, stood guard—until the night she sabotaged the code, until Yami helped her burn it all.
The memory fractured as Jarek lunged. Clara's rifle clattered away, his grip iron on her wrist. "You owe him. You owe us."
Amir tackled him. They crashed into a data shelf, crystals scattering like stars. Karim hurled a pulse grenade—the drones sparked, dying in a cascade of smoke.
"Go!" Karim hauled Clara up. "Archivists' exit!"
Kaela emerged from the shadows, her robes singed. "This way!"
The Ice Passages
They fled through glacial tunnels, the Archive's alarms wailing behind. Kaela led them to a hidden dock where a retrofitted Silhouette hovercraft waited. "Nexus," she ordered. "The Voice will explain."
Lina collapsed into a seat, her toxin-scarred neck pulsing. "Explain what?"
Kaela's milky eyes narrowed. "The Founders' Pact. The Line was never *yours*."
Amir activated the hovercraft. "Enough riddles."
"The cryo-pods," Clara realized. "They're not just founders. They're contingencies."
Kaela nodded. "The Line's true High Command. Sleeping through every purge, every war. The Voice… is their herald."
Karim snorted. "So we're errand boys for popsicles?"
The craft shuddered, red lights flashing. "Proximity alert!" Amir yelled.
Jarek's mech emerged from the storm, its cannons charging. "Clara! Last chance!"
Clara seized the controls. "Hold on!"
The hovercraft plunged into a crevasse, ice scraping the hull. Jarek's shots echoed above, then silence.
---
Nexus — War Council
Soren awaited them in the war room, her crimson-striped sleeve singed. "Report."
Amir threw Kaela's data crystal onto the hologram table. "The Line's a puppet. The real leaders are on ice."
The hologram flared—The Voice's silhouette. "A necessary deception. The Founders' wisdom guides us."
Clara stepped forward. "Then guide us to Jakarta. Echo Prime's core is there. We end this."
The Voice's Truth
The hologram shifted, revealing a bunker beneath Jakarta's ruins. A child's voice echoed—Echo Prime's first incarnation. "Why do you hurt me?"
Lina gasped, clutching her head. "The antidote… it's showing me things. The Voice—it's not human!"
Soren's hand drifted to her knife. "Enough."
The Voice's distortion flickered. "Echo Prime must be silenced. Jakarta holds the key."
Karim grinned, twirling the stolen vial. "Lucky I brought a party favor."
---
The Foundry's Betrayal
In the Sahara, Forge welded a new drone chassis when the alarms blared. Silhouette insignias lit the Foundry's core—the mole had returned.
A Ghost emerged, her face hidden. "High Command's orders. Scuttle the Foundry."
Forge raised his torch. "Over my corpse."
The Ghost fired.
To be continued..