CHAPTER 21 – Phantom ProtocolThe glow from the countdown still burned on the screen in the vault.23:02:19Rowan stared at it, jaw clenched. Raven paced behind him like a lioness, fists clenched, boots echoing off the metal floor.Conrad and the other scientist worked tirelessly to find and maybe disconnect whatever was happening. They just wanted to find something.“I swear,” Raven snapped, “if this is another twisted inheritance game, I’m burning down the whole estate. I'll burn this whole system crap to the ground”“Relax Raven,” Rowan said,his eyes still fixed on the timer. “This isn’t a test. It’s a warning.”“Yeah? A warning for what?”But neither of them had an answer.Upstairs, in the old study lined with books and dusty portraits of dead Stormonts, Aria sat alone with a holographic projection hovering in front of her. She had slipped the system logs from the server onto her private device earlier, intending to comb through them for inconsistencies. What she found instead...

CHAPTER 23The room spun.Rowan collapsed mid-sync test, his limbs locking in place, jaw clenched, veins beneath his skin glowing faintly with system energy gone haywire.“Rowan!” Valerie shouted, entering the room and racing to his side.Aria was right behind her, fingers already flying across the interface in the room . “His system’s out of control, core corruption, firewall failure, everything’s redlining!”Valerie cradled Rowan’s head in her lap, putting a cloth in between his teeths to avoid him from gnashing his teeth, panic in her voice. “What the hell is happening?”“System integrity breach,” Aria muttered, tapping into the master diagnostic channel. “He’s crashing from the inside.”Rowan twitched violently, eyes flickering open for a second, but they were white. Blank. Unfocused.Valerie’s voice trembled. “Rowan, stay with me, please.”Behind them, the door swung open. Raven entered, slow, deliberate.“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice cool, still standing by the door.

CHAPTER 25The streets of Italy were quiet, almost too quiet for Aria's taste. The villa Rowan had arranged for the Stormont team to monitor was cloaked in thick silence. She walked alone through the cobblestone alley behind the building, armed with her tablet and a small pistol, nerves rattling in her chest.“This doesn’t feel right,” she muttered.Her Tablet pinged softly.[AREA SECURE. NO THREATS DETECTED]“Yeah, well,” she whispered to herself, “you’ve been wrong before.”Then she heard it, footsteps, fast, sharp, purposeful.She turned.And froze.Staring back at her… was herself. She thought what she saw before was a mistake. Or maybe she was just seeing things.But she wasn't seeing things. The person in front of her. Same face. Same jacket. Same everything, except the eyes. The clone's eyes glowed faintly blue.“What the hell…”The clone launched forward.Aria barely ducked the first strike, her reflexes kicking in as she rolled across the ground and came up firing. The clo

CHAPTER 27‘Stormont Estate – East Courtyard’Rowan’s system pulsed like a second heartbeat. Something was… wrong.He was on his morning walk, trying to clear his head, when it hit him.A surge of static.A whisper of a voice.“…Too soon. If Raven hesitates, reset her sync trigger. She won’t remember…”Rowan froze mid-step.“What the hell?”The voice wasn’t his.It wasn’t from the system either.It felt… foreign.A mental intruder.He reached up, tapping the glowing line on his neck. “System, source of thought injection?”‘’[EXTERNAL SOURCE DETECTED – TRACE BIO-SIGNATURE. ACCESS POINT: WITHIN 500 FEET.]’His blood ran cold.He turned sharply, eyes scanning the estate’s perimeter.Trace.“How the hell did he get in here?”. He asked himself, staring extensively at his system.Somehow, that man had tech. Stormont-level tech. And now he was in his head.Rowan’s voice came out low and deadly. “You messed with the wrong family.”‘Raven’s Quarters – Minutes Later’Raven sat on her balcony, w

CHAPTER 29 – CelesteStormont Estate – Rowan’s Private StudyThe room was dimly lit, the glow from the holographic display casting shadows on the walls. Rowan sat at his desk, eyes fixed on the image before him, a dossier labeled "Celeste Vercelli."Dante stood nearby, arms crossed, his expression a mix of concern and determination.“So,tell me again, what exactly is she? Is she a human being?”. Rowan asked, looking up at Dante, who didn;t exactly respond at first. "She's my half-sister," Dante began, breaking the silence. "A system-savant, unparalleled in her abilities. The Helix Circle stole her six months ago."Rowan looked up, eyebrows raised. "The Helix Circle? I thought they were a myth."Dante shook his head. "They're very real. An underground syndicate specializing in system manipulation and black-market enhancements. They've been using Celeste to further their own agenda."Rowan leaned back, processing the information. "Why come to me?""Because I need someone I can trust,"