The chamber had fallen into silence, but Kael's heart pounded like a war drum. The revelation—Subject Zero, the god-seed—rattled his very identity. The other Kael, the Prime, still hovered within the stasis field, a constant reminder of what he might've become.
Tessa's voice cracked over comms again, thick with urgency. "I've hacked the vault remotely. There's more here. Audio logs. Visual data. You're not just Subject Zero—there was a Subject One."
Kael frowned, eyes narrowing. "Play it."
A holographic projection flickered to life, revealing a younger Dominion scientist in a sterile white lab. His badge read: Dr. Keiran Veyrn.
Kael's breath caught. His father?
"My name is Dr. Keiran Veyrn, director of the Nexus Seed Initiative. Subject Zero has surpassed projections. Void bonding is complete. But Subject One… she's unstable. Her Aether signature collapsed into entropy. We've put her in cryo-stasis deep within the Eclipsed Core. She is… dangerous. But necessary."
Rai muttered under his breath, "There's a sister?"
Kael took a shaky step back. "They never told me. I don't remember her."
Dr. Keiran continued, his tone more haunted. "They were meant to balance each other. The Void and the Flame. Two halves of a singular force. If she awakens without him—she'll unravel."
Iria stared at Kael. "We have to find her."
Kael's gaze turned toward the depths of the facility. "The Eclipsed Core. That's our next stop."
Rai groaned. "So we're going even deeper into the apocalypse tomb?"
"Yes," Kael said. "Because if she wakes up alone… the world dies."
---
They traversed further down, deeper into levels that hadn't seen light in decades. Automated defenses twitched and buzzed to life as they passed, but Kael's presence disabled them. The system still thought he was Dominion.
The air changed near the Eclipsed Core. Warmer. Thicker. Like walking into a womb of dying stars. The walls here were blackened by fire, scarred by something that had once torn through the metal like paper.
A colossal chamber opened before them—its center housing a suspended cryo-pod encased in molten glass. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
"She's in there," Iria whispered.
Tessa's voice returned. "Warning. Thermal containment breach detected. She's waking up."
The pod hissed.
Then cracked.
Then exploded.
A surge of radiant fire burst outward. Rai shielded his face with his cybernetic arm. Iria's cloak disintegrated at the edges. Kael stood firm, eyes locked on the figure within.
She hovered in mid-air. A girl—no, a young woman—her hair a blazing torrent of white fire, eyes shimmering gold, and markings etched in light running down her arms.
She looked right at Kael.
"Brother."
Kael took a step forward. "You remember?"
She frowned. "No. But I feel you. The Void calls to you. And the Flame burns in me."
Rai whispered, "She's beautiful. And terrifying."
Iria tensed. "She's unstable. Look at the heat signatures."
The woman dropped to the ground, her bare feet sizzling against the metal. The fire receded slightly, enough to show a flicker of control.
"They made us into gods," she said. "But gods aren't meant to sleep in cages."
Kael nodded. "We're going to get you out. Help you understand what happened."
She laughed, bitter and raw. "Understand? Kael… I dreamed while I slept. I saw you. Saw everything. The labs. The deaths. The others."
Her voice dropped. "The Prime."
Kael froze. "You saw him?"
"I am him," she said softly. "In every timeline where you failed, I became him. Or I killed him. Or I became worse."
The room darkened. Fire turned black for a moment.
Rai stumbled back. "What is she?"
Kael stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're my sister. We'll figure this out. Together."
She didn't pull away.
But she said, "My name… was Selene. Before they made me into Subject One."
Kael smiled gently. "Then we'll make sure the world remembers Selene. Not what they turned you into."
Suddenly, a rumble shook the facility.
Tessa screamed over comms. "The Dominion knows! They've locked onto your location. Kael, you need to run. Now!"
Selene turned to Kael, her eyes alight.
"Let them come," she said. "Let them see what their monsters have become."
And Kael knew.
This wasn't the end.
It was the beginning of a war only they could win.