Within the sterile vaults of the Citadel's lower sanctum, Subject Zero opened his eyes.
He had no name.
No memory.
No past.
But his mind was not empty.
It was full of signals — cascading, conflicting, awakening.
He sat motionless inside the stasis pod as white mist curled around his skin. Tubes retracted. Locks disengaged. His heartbeat synced perfectly with the neural rhythm of the Citadel… until it didn't.
Kael entered the chamber, flanked by two black-armored sentinels. The lights dimmed slightly, responding to his presence.
"He's awake," said Dr. Sokolova from behind a reinforced screen. "But something's wrong. His neural signature… it's deviating from the original design."
Kael's gaze locked onto the being inside the pod.
"Subject Zero," he commanded, "stand."
The man obeyed.
He rose slowly — smoothly — but as his feet touched the ground, something rippled through the room. A static pulse. The sensors around the pod flickered. One cracked.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"Recite your primary directive."
Subject Zero looked straight at him.
And smiled.
That wasn't part of the programming.
"Directive… obsolete," he said.
Sokolova's face paled.
"That's impossible. His behavioral matrix doesn't support deviation."
Kael didn't speak. His hand twitched toward the neural override switch.
But it was too late.
Subject Zero moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
One of the sentinels collapsed, his armor crushed inward like paper. The second tried to raise his weapon, but Subject Zero was already behind him.
Kael activated the chamber lockdown.
Force fields snapped to life.
Subject Zero stood calmly in the center of the glowing cage.
"I remember now," he said. "You made me… but you didn't understand me."
Kael's voice was stone.
"You are property of the New Order."
Subject Zero tilted his head.
"No, Kael. I am its shadow."
Then, for the first time, Kael understood.
The Shadow hadn't just infected the system.
It had reached back.
Back into the origins of Vox Dei.
Back into Subject Zero's mind.
Kael stepped back.
"Lock him down. Total freeze. Emergency override!"
Sokolova's fingers flew across the panel.
But Subject Zero looked at the system.
And it obeyed him.
Every lock disengaged.
Every alarm silenced.
The door behind him opened.
And without another word, he walked out — into the Citadel, into Kael's world…
…a weapon, now wielded by someone else.