The silence after Kael's collapse was deafening.
Aria cradled him against her chest, trembling as his breaths grew shallow. His body was cold, unnaturally so, like all warmth had been siphoned out through the activation.
"He needs help," Aria murmured, brushing back his damp hair.
Echo kneeled beside them, checking Kael's pulse. "His vitals are erratic. That kind of override it nearly shut down his system."
"But he fought it," Aria said fiercely. "He came back."
"Barely." Echo glanced toward the cracked monitors lining the room. "And they'll keep coming. That activation wasn't a test it was a warning. Red Hollow knows exactly where we are."
Aria looked down at Kael's pale face. His lips were parted, whispering something she could barely hear.
"What is it?" she leaned closer.
"…Aria…"
She tightened her grip. "I'm here."
Kael's eyes fluttered open, dim with exhaustion but still lucid. "They tried to bury me… but I remembered your voice. That's what pulled me out."
She felt something ache in her chest. "Then don't forget it. Not ever."
He blinked slowly. "Even if I lose myself?"
"You won't." Her voice cracked. "Because I won't let you."
Echo stood and stepped back, giving them space. "He needs to recover. We all do. But we also need a plan."
Kael stirred weakly. "No more running."
"Damn right," Echo muttered. "We hit them back. Hard."
They barricaded the old facility as best they could. Aria stayed by Kael's side while Echo reinforced the tunnel entrances with explosives. Just in case.
As the hours passed, Kael's strength returned in pieces like fragments of himself stitching back together. But the fear didn't fade.
They now knew the truth.
Red Hollow could reach Kael anytime.
Anywhere.
"Whatever they've implanted," he said as he tested his coordination, "it's deeper than flesh. It's woven into me. Soul-bound tech.
Probably developed during the later trials. I was Phase Three there might be others like me now."
Aria's stomach twisted. "You mean… more people like you? Programmed weapons?"
Kael nodded grimly. "Maybe even perfected versions."
"Then we don't just need to stop Vance," Echo said. "We need to dismantle his entire operation."
"Easier said than done," Aria murmured.
"Not impossible," Kael said. "There's one way in."
They both looked at him.
"I go back."
"No," Aria snapped, standing. "Absolutely not."
"It's the only way," Kael said calmly. "If I get close enough, I can corrupt their system from inside. Wipe everything. The files. The backups. The programs. All of it."
"You'll be walking into a trap."
He met her eyes. "That's why I need you to come with me."
Her breath caught. "What?"
"They'll expect me. But not us." He touched her hand. "They won't know what you are."
"What am I?"
Kael smiled faintly. "The variable they never calculated."
Echo snorted. "Romantic and suicidal. Great plan."
"Kael," Aria whispered, heart pounding. "If we do this… we don't come back the same."
He stepped closer. "Maybe not. But we come back free."
That night, Aria barely slept.
She sat beside Kael, his hand resting over hers, their fingers loosely entwined. He watched her with quiet wonder, like she was something holy.
"You once asked me what I remembered most," he said.
She nodded, eyes closed.
"It was the rain."
Aria looked at him.
"The first time I felt it. Real rain. Cold, alive, uncontrolled. I didn't know what to do with it." He chuckled softly. "I stood in it for hours, just letting it soak through me."
She smiled. "That sounds like freedom."
"It was."
He shifted closer, his voice low.
"And then I met you."
Their lips met this time with no desperation. Just truth.
The world might end tomorrow. But tonight, they were tethered.
By flame.
By choice.
By something no machine could break.
The next morning
Echo had secured them stolen uniforms from a downed patrol. With Kael in his old collar and Aria posing as a handler, they would infiltrate through the northeast access port a back entrance used for covert transfers.
Aria stood in front of the cracked mirror, adjusting her gloves.
Kael stepped up behind her, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.
"You don't have to do this," he whispered.
She met his gaze in the mirror. "I want to."
He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Then let's burn them down."
They descended through frost-coated tunnels, each step taking them closer to the place that had once broken him. But this time, Kael didn't flinch.
He was no longer their weapon.
He was their reckoning.
As they approached the base, the sky turned blood-red with warning lights.
A voice crackled through the intercoms.
"Subject Zero. You've returned."
Kael's jaw tightened. "This ends tonight."
The gates opened.
Inside stood Director Vance older, thinner, but eyes gleaming with that same god-complex madness.
"Well," he said, smiling. "Welcome home, Kael."
Aria stood straighter. "He's not yours."
"Isn't he?" Vance stepped forward. "Then why does he still respond to my call?"
Kael didn't move.
"I broke your chains," Aria said. "You can't control him anymore."
Vance raised a hand.
Kael winced, staggering.
But then nothing happened.
Kael stood tall.
"No more chains," he said. "You made me a weapon. But she made me a man."
He launched forward, Aria at his side, Echo behind.
And for the first time…
They weren't running.
They were fighting back.