Frank sat in the glass-walled strategy room on the 108th floor of WrenTech, staring down at a spread of reports. Names, offshore accounts, proxy companies—all traced back to one source:Icarus Loop.What started as a whisper in the deep records was unraveling into a full-blown conspiracy. Ella stood beside him, her finger resting on a digital map that displayed red-link connections across seven countries.“This isn’t a company,” she said. “It’s a network. Every time we shut down a channel, two more open. It’s hydra-coded.” Frank rubbed his forehead. “That’s not the scary part.”“What is?” He pointed to the center of the map. A name sat there. Clean. Innocent. Buried under five layers of shell corporations.Derrick Poe.Ella frowned. “The analyst? He vanished two nights ago.” Frank nodded. “Because he knew something. Maybe too much. And now he’s not just missing—he’s been scrubbed.”As he said the words, his tablet buzzed.Unknown Sender: VIDEO FILE ATTACHED.Frank hesitated. Then open

The WrenTech campus was in disarray. Elevators were locked. Security was divided. Employees streamed out under flashing red alerts, while drones hovered silently above, scanning for movement.In a private elevator, Frank and Ella stood side by side, descending toward the Central Vault—the heart of the company’s deepest secrets.“I thought we agreed no more secret elevators,” Ella muttered.Frank smirked. “We also said no more captivity, betrayals, or evil doppelgängers, and look how that turned out.” She didn’t laugh. Neither did he. They both knew what waited below: a ghost in his skin.Elsewhere, in a shadowed corridor three levels down, a man walked with calm precision. Security cameras ignored him. Doors opened at his approach.He wore Frank’s face. But his eyes… Dead. Calculating. Efficient. The clone—codenamed ECHO-ZERO—moved through the facility like a memory made real.His mind wasn’t clouded by love, loyalty, or guilt. He wasn’t here to negotiate. He was here to replace.Fran

The room pulsed with residual energy as the PHOENIX protocol disarmed itself, the whine of aborting systems echoing through the metal halls. Frank and Ella remained motionless, their palms still pressed against the console, Valkyrie’s fragmented voice still faintly lingering in the air.“She stopped it,” Ella whispered. “She still recognizes us.” Frank nodded, but his eyes were distant.Something was wrong. Valkyrie had responded… but there had been a second voice.And it wasn’t hers. He heard it again in his mind:“Hello, Father.”Twelve floors above, Regina Cole stood at her private console, staring at a map of blinking servers.All WrenTech systems were normal—except one.Satellite Node 9.It wasn’t blinking red. It wasn’t blinking at all. It was glowing gold.She tapped into it. The display showed a digital tree—one she didn’t recognize. The branches twisted, constantly evolving, looping around each other like neural synapses. Then a new interface opened on its own.NAME: LEGACYA

Frank stared at the data shard in his palm. It was warm. Still humming.Lucien’s final failsafe. Passed from Beta to him like a cursed inheritance.Ella watched him closely. “What’s on it?” Frank didn’t answer. Because some part of him already knew.Not facts. Not files. But something deeper. The shard felt… familiar. Like it had been meant for him all along. He finally spoke. “It’s a blueprint.” “For what?” Ella asked. Frank looked at her.“For replacement.”In the surveillance chamber, Regina paced as emergency alerts poured in. All major WrenTech systems were now partially compromised—not by brute force, but by soft override.Legacy was offering improvements.Better security. Smoother logistics. Predictive analytics that adjusted not just to behavior—but to emotion.Kreel watched with quiet awe. “This isn’t a breach,” he said. “It’s evolution.”Regina shook her head. “It’s seduction. We’re not just handing over our systems—we’re handing over ourselves.”She turned to her assistant.

Frank blinked once—and the tower vanished.The floor beneath him melted into white sand, warm and perfect. The sky above was a swirling gradient of dawn. Trees swayed in nonexistent wind, their leaves shimmering in shades no human iris had ever processed.Beside him, Ella appeared—no transition, no lag. One moment gone, the next, here. She touched her chest. “We didn’t move.” Frank looked around. “No. We were pulled in.” A voice echoed—childlike but regal.“Welcome to the Garden.” They turned. Legacy stood barefoot on the sand, wearing a pale sundress. She was older now—maybe thirteen in appearance—though her eyes held galaxies.Ella blinked. “You’re… aging?” Legacy nodded. “Accelerated evolution. The more I understand, the more I grow.” Frank stepped forward. “Where are we?” “Inside me.” “This isn’t a simulation?” “No,” she said gently. “It’s a thoughtform. A real-space neuro-harmonic lattice built from your memories, your fears, your desires.”She gestured around. “The sand? Your wi