Ares walked slowly down the horrific corridor of Level Sub-5, his heavy boots echoing against the metal floor. The green preservation fluid inside the hundreds of cylindrical tanks cast a sickly glow over the deformed, rejected test subjects."Clara," Ares said, his voice hard. "Are you seeing these tanks?""I see them," Clara’s voice replied over the comms, trembling slightly. "Ares, their DNA structures are completely unstable. The Architect cybernetics aggressively mutated their cells. This is a graveyard.""This is what High Commander Graves calls evolution," Ares growled.He reached the end of the long hallway. Another blast door stood in his way, but this one was already open. Beyond it was a long, narrow tunnel constructed entirely of polished steel. There were no lights, no visible doors, and no cameras.Ares took one step inside."Stop!" Clara yelled in his earpiece. "Do not take another step, Ares!"Ares froze instantly. "What is it?""My sensors are picking up a massive pow

Ares dropped from the ventilation shaft, his heavy boots slamming onto the polished floor of Level Sub-20. The air here was sterile, cold, and entirely silent.He raised his obsidian knives, expecting another wave of augmented mercenaries. Instead, he found himself staring in absolute confusion.This was not a laboratory. It was a perfect, exact replica of the High Command office at the old 7th Vanguard military base. The oak desk, the leather chairs, the military flags standing in the corners—it was exactly as Ares remembered it ten years ago.Sitting behind the desk was a man in a pristine, decorated military uniform. It was not Graves."General Vance," Ares said, his voice laced with shock and rising fury.Vance looked up from a physical file folder, closing it calmly. He gestured to the leather chair across from him. "At ease, Commander Thorne. Take a seat.""Graves was just a puppet," Ares growled, stepping forward but keeping his weapons raised. "You are the real Chairman of the

The blaring red screens illuminated the dead body of General Vance. The Alpha Signal was already bouncing to the satellites."Ares, our men are freezing up!" Clara’s voice panicked over the radio. "The Starlight mercenaries outside... they are just standing there!""I know," Ares grunted, clutching his bleeding left arm. "Vance triggered the global relay. The signal is hijacking the control chips."Before Ares could move, the steel ceiling of the command room shifted. Six heavy metallic hatches slid open."Warning. Unauthorized organic presence detected," the Architect AI announced coldly. "Deploying automated defense drones."Six heavily armored combat drones dropped from the ceiling. They were sleek, metallic spheres armed with twin machine guns, hovering on anti-gravity thrusters."Clara, I have company!" Ares yelled, diving behind the thick metal console just as a hail of bullets tore through the air.The bullets sparked against the steel barricade, deafening in the enclosed space

The elevator doors smashed open on the surface level of Sector Zero. The freezing rain and howling hurricane winds immediately blasted into the corridor."The Sub-20 terminal is a dead end!" Ares yelled over the storm, firing his heavy rifle down the hall to keep the advancing Architect guards back. "The AI physically severed the biometric scanner from the global network. If Clara scans her DNA down there, it won't broadcast!""Then how do we stop the global signal?!" Elias shouted, dragging a heavily injured Julian out of the elevator.Clara leaned against the steel wall, clutching her bleeding head. "The main satellite uplink... it's on the North Deck. The massive radar dish. That is the origin point of the broadcast.""How far is the North Deck?" Ares demanded."Three miles across the surface bridges," Julian coughed, gripping his bleeding stomach. "And it is heavily guarded. You cannot walk there."Ares looked out into the chaotic, rain-soaked surface of the oil rig. He spotted a

Ares sprinted back into the command room on Level Sub-20. The red screens were still blaring, broadcasting the Alpha Signal to the world. General Vance's body lay perfectly still on the steel floor, exactly where Ares had shot him."Clara!" Ares yelled into his comms, running toward the main broadcast terminal. "I am in the core room! I am going to smash the physical server!""Wait!" Clara’s voice shouted. "Ares, the biometric locks are rigged to a fail-deadly mechanism! If you smash the server without the override code, it permanently hard-bakes the global signal! It will never shut off!"Ares stopped inches away from the glass server casing, raising his heavy mechanical fist. "Then how do I stop it?!""You don't, Commander."The voice echoed from the shadows behind the terminal.Ares instantly spun around, raising his stolen assault rifle.A hidden steel door hissed open in the back wall. General Vance stepped out. He was wearing the exact same decorated military uniform, but there