The detonator clicked.
Nothing happened.
Wraith's grin didn't waver as the Cleaners' boots echoed through the tunnels. *"Old tech needs a *persuasion*."* She slammed the device against the reactor housing—the impact trigger detonating charges set decades earlier.
The world turned white.
Lisa's augmented vision compensated first—showing her the precise nanosecond when the blast wave fractured the permafrost. The facility didn't collapse. It *unfolded*, ancient steel petals peeling back to reveal a second, older complex beneath.
*"Welcome to Phoenix *Prime*,"* Wraith coughed, dragging them toward a service elevator. *"Where your nightmares were *beta tested*."*
---
### **THE LABYRINTH**
The lower levels were a time capsule of Cold War horror.
- Glass cylinders holding *failed* experiments—some human, some not
- A wall-sized world map with pins marking *disappearances* that matched Lora's oldest scars
- A chalkboard that simply read: **WHAT SURVIVES THE FIRE?**
Rabbit gagged at a workstation where two skeletons still sat at their terminals. *"These guys weren't just *working* on Phoenix..."* He wiped dust from a monitor. *"...they were *running from it*."*
The screen flickered to life, showing a 1989 security feed:
A younger Wraith fighting something *off-camera*—something that made hardened soldiers *scream*.
Then the feed cut to three words:
**CONTAINMENT FAILURE: TERMINATE ALL**
---
### **THE CLEANERS ARRIVE**
Gunfire ricocheted through the vents.
*"They're not here for us,"* Wraith said, slamming bulkhead doors. *"They're here for *what got out*."*
Lisa's implants suddenly *screamed*—a frequency only she could hear. The walls *breathed*.
Lora grabbed her arm. *"We need to *move*—"*
The door exploded inward.
Cleaner #7 stepped through, his gas mask reflecting four stunned faces. Then he *removed* it.
Rabbit vomited.
The man had Wraith's eyes. Lisa's jawline. Lora's exact scar pattern.
*"Asset 001,"* Wraith whispered. *"The first *success*."*
001 smiled with all their teeth. *"The only *success*."*
---
### **THE CHOICE**
Wraith shoved Lisa toward an emergency shaft. *"Go. I'll hold him."*
*"Like hell—"*
*"You don't understand!"* Wraith tore open her jumpsuit—revealing a chest webbed with *pulsing* scars. *"I'm *infected* with whatever they made down here! Now *run*!"*
001's head snapped toward her. *"You *stole* from us."*
Lora fired three rounds into 001's skull.
They stuck like gum.
*"Oh *fuck* this,"* Rabbit said, and hit the reactor overload.
---