The coordinates led them to the edge of the Ashland Ridge National Forest — 300 miles north, no roads, no signal.
They left the safehouse at dawn.
Juno drove this time. Trey stayed behind, still recovering, armed and watching their backs.
Maya brought nothing but weapons. Evan brought the letter.
They hiked the last six miles on foot — up narrow trails, across frost-covered rocks, through dead trees and silence.
At the top of the ridge sat a cabin. No smoke. No light.
Maya signaled to wait.
Juno circled wide, scanning for traps.
Evan moved forward anyway.
The door was unlocked.
Inside: a single man in a wheelchair, facing the window.
Thin. Bald. Oxygen tube taped to his face. Eyes sharp.
"You're late," he said without turning around.
Evan stepped closer. "You know who I am?"
The man coughed, then turned slowly.
"I knew your father. We built the killnet together. I designed the redundancy. He called it the second protocol."
Maya entered. Gun low.
"You weren't listed in the files."
"I wasn't supposed to be. That was the point."
Juno shut the door behind them.
The man pointed to a locked case on the desk.
"That's the rest of it. What you published... was only half."
Evan blinked. "The names? The orders?"
"Yes. But not the deep contracts. The long-game agreements. The weapons."
Juno stepped forward. "Weapons?"
The man nodded.
"The Court wasn't just eliminating people. They were testing control mechanisms. Psychological warfare. Mass influence tools — memes, surveillance bias algorithms, drone-based psychological deterrents. The tech's hidden in black labs across three continents."
Evan felt the air thicken. "You have proof?"
The man tapped the case.
"All of it. But if you release it, there will be no political cover. This won't just trigger investigations. This will start revolutions. Coups. Assassinations. World leaders will fall."
Maya crossed her arms. "And?"
He looked at her. Calm.
"You're not ready for what comes after."
Evan walked to the case.
"Then why tell me?"
"Because your father built the core code. You're the only one who can decrypt the payload. And because... the Court isn't retreating. They're regrouping."
He coughed again — deep, wet.
"I have days left. Maybe hours. After that, no one else knows the access string."
Juno asked, "Why not just upload it yourself?"
The man smiled. "Because the world trusts you now. You're the symbol. They think you won."
Evan opened the case.
Inside: a hardened drive, three data cards, and a sealed envelope marked Phase Zero.
"What's Phase Zero?"
The man didn't answer.
His head slumped.
Juno moved fast, checked his pulse.
Gone.
Dead.
They buried him beside the cabin. No marker.
The next morning, Evan decoded the envelope.
Inside: coordinates of four hidden labs.
One located under a tech campus in Berlin.
Another beneath a decommissioned submarine base in Norway.
One disguised as a data center in Nevada.
The last — unlisted. Marked only: X-12: biological reserve.
Maya leaned over his shoulder.
"This is bigger than exposure."
Juno nodded. "This is scorched earth."
Evan closed the envelope.
Then turned to them.
"We take it down. All of it. But this time, no warnings. No broadcasts."
Maya raised an eyebrow. "Just fire?"
"Just fire."