Vallion Estate – Global Command Hub, New Zurich Two days after the Sanctum Siege, the world was still trying to understand what had happened. Markets rebounded. Global news spun stories of salvation. AI systems purged their false protocols. And Aiden Vallion? He became something between a myth and a monarch. But not everyone was cheering.Inside Vallion Industries Headquarters The Grand Chamber once his father's war room now belonged to him. Wall-sized screens displayed diplomatic offers, tech alliances, and economic reform requests. But Aiden’s focus was elsewhere: a small red file Silas had left on the edge of the table. Labeled: “The Marionette Protocol – Project Lazarus.”“What the hell is this?” Aiden asked. Silas entered the room, dark circles under his eyes. “Something buried in the legacy code of Delphi. Deep… hidden. Even Julian couldn’t access it without the Board’s approval.” “Board?” Silas nodded grimly. “A remnant council of Vallion’s old executive architects. Ghosts. We

Vallion Industries – Delphi Core Server Room, Level -9 The temperature dropped as the reinforced door slid open with a metallic hiss. Aiden stepped into the sub-chamber that hadn’t been accessed in over 26 years. Maera followed, rifle slung low, pulse sharp.Silas had decrypted the coordinates found on Subject X’s neural chip a locked archive beneath the core AI, sealed with something older than Delphi itself. The air was thin. Artificial. Almost reverent. The lights flickered on. A vault. Circular. Lined with glowing panels etched in Vallion code and something else symbols Aiden had never seen. In the center, a control node. Dormant. Waiting. Silas' Voice Over Comms “What you’re looking at, Aiden, isn’t just a backup.” “It’s the Ur-Protocol. The seed design.”“The thing that made Delphi possible.” Maera leaned in. “So this predates the Circle?” “No,” Aiden said slowly. “It created the Circle.” The Ur-Protocol As Aiden approached the node, the interface flared to life. Not with Delphi