BLACKBOX BETA: CORE MELTDOWN INITIATEDDetonation in: 4:59Evac Pathways: SealedManual Override: Authorized Personnel OnlySUBJECT 002B: Access Level — GRANTEDInside the collapsing chamber, klaxons screamed. Red lights flashed across metal walls Ceiling beams cracked. Mira’s voice shouted over comms: “You’ve got four minutes before the entire mountain goes! The shuttle can’t land unless you breach the roof!”Nine tried the console denied 007 slammed his shoulder into the reinforced hatch sealed. Then 002B stepped forward Still pale, Still shaking But not broken.“I can open it.”Nine stared.“Why would you help us?”He didn’t answer right away.Then: “Because I was made to be him But he chose to be more.”He looked at 007.“I want to see what that looks like outside this tomb.”Meanwhile — above the base, Gideon barked orders.“Initiate burn-through on the upper facility. If the clones escape, terminate in air.”An officer turned.“Sir… there’s movement in Vault Delta Looks like Su

The shuttle descended into the night, cutting through a curtain of storm clouds. The team sat in a strained silence, every one of them still hearing Zero’s words echoing in their heads. “The truth of your creation…”Lucas (007) stood near the hatch, fists clenched. His breathing was steady, but his eyes burned. He hated the way Zero’s voice burrowed into him, like a hook dragging him toward answers he wasn’t sure he wanted.In the cockpitThomas broke the silence.“We’re heading into Consortium airspace. I can’t guarantee they won’t be waiting.”008 leaned back, arms crossed.“They already knew we’d survive, This whole thing” he motioned to the scorch marks, the half-destroyed shuttle, “was a stage. Zero doesn’t waste resources unless he’s teaching a lesson.”Mira frowned, tightening her grip on her rifle.“And what lesson was that? That he can kill us anytime he wants?”Nine, pale and bruised, shook his head.“No, That he doesn’t want to kill us yet. He’s pulling the strings for some

The shuttle screamed between skyscrapers, neon lights streaking past like warped stars. Sirens wailed in the distance as the city’s defense grid came alive, tracking the unauthorized craft.Inside the cockpit, sweat streamed down Lucas’s face. His body trembled, veins glowing faintly blue as if his blood had turned into light. The shuttle wasn’t just obeying him it was listening. Every twitch of thought sent the ship rolling, weaving, accelerating beyond its limits.But behind him 008’s pistol pressed cold against the back of his skull. “You’re not human,” 008 spat, finger tightening on the trigger. “You’re a weapon in disguise One I should’ve put down years ago.”Mira lunged. “008, stop! He’s the only reason we’re still alive!”“Alive for what?” 008 snapped. “So he can deliver us into their hands? Wake up, Mira! Don’t you see what he is?”Another blast rattled the shuttle. One of the interceptors had fired a rail shot the projectile skimming so close it shattered half a wingtip Spark

Steel screamed against alloy. 008’s twin blades carved arcs of silver across the dim shuttle bay, striking sparks from the armored giant’s gauntlets. Each blow was fast, surgical, fueled by fury rather than precision.The giant absorbed the assault like a wall of iron, stepping forward, each stomp shaking the deck. His amplified voice boomed through the bay: “You are wasting yourself, 008. Flesh cannot triumph over machine.”008 snarled, twisting low, blades ringing as they scraped against the hulk’s thigh plating. Sparks burst, but the armor barely dented He pivoted, cutting for the throat joint, only for the giant’s massive hand to swat him aside like a ragdoll.008 slammed against the bulkhead, coughing blood, yet rose again, eyes blazing.“Maybe flesh can’t win… but rage can.”Mira dragged Lucas behind an overturned console, her heart pounding. She tried to keep his head steady as his body jerked with convulsions. The glowing veins were brighter now, tracing strange patterns acros

The annihilation core expanded, light bleeding across the bay like dawn tearing the night apart. Mira shielded her eyes, heat blistering her skin even from afar. The Titan’s body trembled as the energy built, its voice calm, mechanical, final. “All resistance will be erased.”Lucas stood firm, golden flames rippling around him like a living cloak. For a heartbeat, he considered giving inunleashing everything, becoming the inferno the flames demanded. But no he wasn’t just a vessel for destruction, He was more.A memory cut through the noise his father’s quiet words before the world turned cruel: “Strength without control is just chaos. Real power is choice.Instead of surging forward, Lucas planted his feet. His flames shrank, condensed, folding inward until they hugged his body like molten armor. The Titan, reading the drop in energy, recalibrated.008 gasped. “He’s he’s compressing it. Focusing it into”“a needle,” Lucas growled. His fists tightened, the fire sharpening into a singl