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Location: Temporary Secret Base – Deep in the Black Forest of Silvana
The morning was more than a little quiet… Sunlight peeked shyly through the tree branches as the team tried to process what had happened last night.
Rocco (fixing his rifle and muttering):
"The enemy disguises itself, whispers, laughs, and then disappears… Can't they just blow us up and be done with it?"
Savio (looking at him):
"You speak as if an explosion is a relief. Remember, we're still living on coffee and nightmares."
Marco (pouring coffee):
"This isn't a drink… This is a declaration of war against sleep."
Irina (reviewing maps):
"We have a bigger problem. The Zacrota network is starting to move… The nearby towns are silent. No signals, no people, not even birds."
Luca Ferri (in his deep voice):
"Silence... always precedes the storm."
---
Colombo enters, carrying a strange box.
Colombo:
"I found this in the wreckage of the Zacrota plane. It's covered in a protective layer of Neuralink 3. I can't open it... but I can make it sing."
Marco:
"Please don't. The last time something sang, we lost half the map and heard Russian opera on the ventilator."
Franco (taking the box):
"Let me try something else..."
Franco presses an inconspicuous spot, and a faint blue light emanates from the box... and then a hologram appears.
---
The picture: a dark room. A mysterious man sits on a metal throne. His face is covered by a mask that resembles half a skull.
Man (in a melodious voice):
"If you're seeing this... you're on the right track. But remember... I'm not hiding. I'm calling you to the truth."
Rocco (running toward the screen):
"Wait... I recognize that voice... It's the old Zacrota commander... "Domitian." Killed five years ago!"
Savio:
"Or so it was said..."
Franco (silent):
"If he's alive... then everything we knew was... a lie."
---
The image suddenly changes to a map!
Irina (reading quickly):
"These are the sites of weapons caches... human experiments... and children who disappeared ten years ago."
Colombo (looking horrified):
"This isn't just fighting... this is a long-term project... bigger than all of Venosa."
---
An alarm sounds in the base.
Rafael (screaming):
"We have a visitor. No, two! No... three human heat signals."
Marco (drawing his weapon):
"My prediction: either enemies... or spies... or my mother came to reprimand me."
---
The door opens… and a thin man appears, his hair as white as snow, his face scarred with burns… It's Gabriel, the exiled scientist from Zacrota.
Gabriel (in a weak voice):
"I'm the one who built the Phantom. And I've come to destroy it… But I need your help."
Franco (advancing slowly):
"Why now? After all these years?"
Gabriel:
"Because the Phantom… is beginning to evolve, and it's very dangerous."