2025-08-06 22:41:10Chapter 7: Ghost Protocol
Downtown City — 2:15 AM — Kane Industries Headquarters
Most lights were off. Security was skeleton crew. But the 47th floor of Kane Industries—the executive data center—was still pulsing.
Damian stood across the street on the rooftop of a parking tower, dressed in black, visor on, earpiece buzzing.
“Systems override in three… two… one.”
The building’s lights flickered.
Elara, seated beside a laptop inside a black van nearby, smiled.
“Elevators unlocked. Internal surveillance looped for five minutes. You’re go.”
“Good,” Damian said, stepping onto the ledge. “Then I’ll make this quick.”
He jumped.
Fifty feet.
Landed with the ease of someone who’d done it a hundred times.
Inside — Kane Industries
Damian moved through the halls like a shadow.
He knew every blind spot, every sensor glitch.
He had designed half the systems when Kane Industries bought his former tech firm years ago. Back when he wore his real face.
Now, he was stealing secrets from the very company that tried to erase him.
The elevator beeped. He slid a small device onto the panel.
“Elara, keep the doors overridden for ninety seconds. If I’m not out—”
“You’ll be out,” she cut in. “Don’t tempt fate.”
He smirked.
She was adapting fast.
47th Floor — Executive Data Center
Damian stepped into the data room, laser sensors crisscrossing the space like a deadly spiderweb.
He didn’t flinch.
Instead, he walked straight into them.
Nothing happened.
Because he’d coded the bypass phrase himself.
“Alpha returns,” he whispered.
The sensors blinked—then shut down.
He moved quickly, inserting a microchip into the terminal.
Lines of encrypted code flooded the screen.
Accessing: Project Phoenix Directory
Target: Active Operatives — Global List
Status: Decryption… 73%
He waited.
List after list scrolled past. Politicians. Military generals. Billionaire donors.
But one name froze him.
Victor Kane — CODE BLACK
Elara’s voice came through the comms. “Damian, I’ve got company—someone’s hacking into the feed—wait—”
The lights flickered.
Then every screen went black.
Back at the Van
Elara stared at the monitor. Static.
Then a live feed appeared.
From inside the building.
But it wasn’t Damian.
It was her.
Serena Kane.
Wearing a blood-red dress.
Staring straight into the camera.
“I warned you once, Damian. I don’t like being watched.”
Inside the Building
A metallic door slammed shut behind Damian.
He turned.
Serena was there.
Alone. Unarmed.
But dangerous.
Always dangerous.
“Looking for ghosts?” she asked.
“I’m looking for the truth.”
“Then you should’ve stayed dead.”
He stepped closer. “You tipped off the General.”
She didn’t blink. “You think I take orders from him?”
“You used to.”
Her lip curled. “I surpassed him.”
She gestured to the data center.
“Everything in here is fake. Do you really think I’d keep the Phoenix list inside my father’s office?”
“You kept the bait.”
Serena smirked. “And you took it. Like always.”
Then she turned—and the walls exploded inward.
Emergency Lights On — Red Alert
Gunfire.
Masked agents stormed in from all sides.
Damian rolled, firing as he moved. Two down. Three.
Serena disappeared into the smoke.
“Damian!” Elara shouted through the earpiece. “You’re surrounded. Exit north hallway, stairwell B!”
“On it.”
He sprinted.
Dodged bullets.
Climbed onto a server rack and dove through a vent.
Back Outside — Rooftop Extraction
Elara pulled the van to the side of the building, opened the sunroof, and aimed the drone cable downward.
Thirty seconds later, Damian launched himself out of a fifth-story window, grappling the cable midair.
He slammed into the roof of the van, rolled, and yanked the hatch open.
Elara drove off without a word.
“Nice timing,” he said, breathing hard.
She didn’t smile.
“You got the list?”
He hesitated.
Then handed her the chip.
“Only one name decrypted.”
She took it.
Then paused.
“Wait. This can’t be right.”
“What?”
She showed him the screen.
Another name had surfaced.
Lucian Vale – Deceased
But next to it: ACTIVE – CLASSIFIED LOCATION
Her father.
Still alive.
Flashback — Years Ago
A surgical room. A man lies on a table. Lucian Vale.
A heart monitor flatlines—then stabilizes again.
His pulse returns.
A voice off-screen says: “We have him. Initiate Phase Zero.”
Back to the Present
Elara’s hands shook.
Damian didn’t move.
“You said they killed him.”
“They did. Or… I thought they did.”
She stared at the screen.
And whispered, “Then who raised me?”
Elsewhere — Unknown Location
A man sat in a dark room, hooked up to machines.
His face: older. Weathered. Eyes closed.
A nurse approached.
“Mr. Vale… it’s time.”
The man’s eyes opened slowly.
Unblinking.
Alive.
Damian just uncovered that Lucian Vale — the man Elara thought was dead and Damian believed was executed — is alive and possibly working for Project Phoenix.
But even worse… Serena Kane has just sent the twins.
The last two survivors of the original Phoenix trials.
And they were trained to do one thing:
Hunt Alpha.
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