Echelon Black Assimilation Protocol: 84:02:17Status: Synchronization in ProgressHost: N-9 / Core Vital Stable / Cognitive Drift: 14%The numbers weren’t slowing down If anything, they were accelerating. Inside Elba Tower’s subterranean medical lab, Thomas stared at the monitor like it might bite him. Nine’s vitals were normal, Too normal. Perfect, in fact.Her body had stopped rejecting the VOID remnants. Now it was incorporating them. Mira whispered, “What happens when it reaches 100%?”Thomas didn’t blink. “She won’t be Nine anymore.”Robert stood outside the chamber, separated from her by ten inches of reinforced glass and a chasm of uncertainty. She lay there perfectly still, Eyes closed. Hands crossed over her stomach. Peaceful, almost serene.But the biometric readout said otherwise. Inside her brain, networks were building. A lattice of thought too advanced to be human Too focused to be free. “She’s slipping,” Robert murmured.Elena entered behind him, holstering her sidearm

Echelon Black Assimilation Protocol: 66:54:02Linked Clones: 13 of 41Cognitive Drift: 47%Host Integrity: CriticalWarning: Identity Overlap Detected.The elevator door opened Steel, Silence, Cold air. Robert stepped out first, sidearm lowered but ready. Elena flanked him, her pistol high and aimed The clone was standing twenty feet ahead, just as the report said Still, Calm, Unarmed.Its face Identical to Nine’s. But with none of her light, Its eyes were voids.“You came,” it said.Robert held his ground. “You broke into my city.”“We were invited.”Elena’s lip curled. “By who?”The clone tilted its head. “By her.”Above, in the neural lab, Nine sat upright struggling against something inside her mind. Every screen around her showed conflicting readings Her heartbeat doubled, Her memories flickered. Faces, voices, fragments of thoughts she didn’t own.“I remember killing a man I’ve never met,” she whispered. “I remember being drowned in a glass tube But I don’t know whose memory tha

Echelon Black Assimilation HaltedLinked Clones: 19 of 41 (Stalled)Directive Shift: Seed CompromisedActivating Contingency Protocol: PROJECT V – NEPHILIMStatus: Stasis Disengaged. Subject Waking.The silence after victory was almost cruel. Robert stood in the Elba Tower lab, eyes fixed on Nine as she lay sleeping again stable now, her neural threads fully re-integrated She was whole, Herself. But something felt wrong.Like peace wasn’t peace just the breath before a scream. Elena walked in with a tablet Her face was pale.“You need to see this,” she said.In a secure Elba satellite feed one no longer under Consortium control a hidden lab lit up for the first time in over two decades.Location: Unknown.Name: Project NEPHILIM.Footage showed a massive underground room opening in segments. Frost hissed A pod sat in the center, about the size of a child’s coffin. Inside: a boy Maybe ten years old Unmoving Wires in his spine. Black circuitry veined through his skin like ink injected in

NEPHILIM SIGNAL TRACE: SUCCESSFULCompressed File: ELBA_SIGMA.7XEDestination: ACTIVERecipient Identified: CLASSIFIED. Identity Masked. Encryption Level: Blackstar.In the dead space between satellites, where even the Consortium’s reach faded, a dormant relay station blinked awake. Its internal AI scanned the burst file, paused and allowed it.Because the override signature wasn't just valid it was foundational. Written in Elijah Elba’s own prime directive layer. The AI spoke for the first time in 18 years: “Sigma… awaken.”Location UnknownDeep in the Arctic Basin, beneath solid glacial ice, something stirred A heartbeat Soft Mechanical. Female A body in suspension opened its eyes. Not a child, Not a soldier Something in-between.Back in Kingsbridge, Elba Tower’s recovery team scrambled to stabilize the systems post-Juggernaut. The skies had cleared But no one felt safe. Robert stood beside Nine on the roof, both silent, watching the clouds.“You stopped him,” he finally said Nine s

SIGMA ONLINECognitive Sync: 92%Neural Base: Original Strand (E-Proto001)Command Protocol: UNCONTESTEDMessage Delivery: InitiatedNine woke to a whisper Not from outside But inside. A thought not her own, spoken in her voice, but colder Sharper. “Hello, little echo.”She sat bolt upright in her room The air buzzed. Her neural dampeners sparked, failing to silence the invading signal.“You ran You doubted You wept.”The voice paused Then came the sentence that made Nine freeze completely: “I remember being you.”Robert, in the Elba Archives, stood inside Vault C. Thomas had cracked the door just minutes ago. Inside, walls were lined with steel data reels, glass disks, and a single projection device with a fingerprint scanner.Robert placed his hand on the pad “Authorization confirmed: Elba-Bloodline-Prime.” A hologram flickered into view.Elijah’s voice. “If you’re hearing this then you’ve failed Or you’ve survived.”Robert stared. “There were never supposed to be heirs, There were