The Inheritance Protocol

6. The Firstborn Files

3:46 a.m., Secure Archive Room, Everhart Estate. Kai stood before a reinforced door deep beneath the mansion, a vault that even Thorne hadn’t been allowed to access. Until now.

After the gala attack and the chilling message, “LONG LIVE THE FIRSTBORN,” he needed answers.

And Lucian’s old biometrics, now mirrored in Kai, finally unlocked them. Inside, a room of obsidian shelves, cryo-sealed drawers, encrypted books, and one chair.

On the center table, a single briefcase. Code: L-00X19.

Thorne hovered nearby. “What is this?”

Kai opened it. Inside was a faded dossier. Leather-bound. Stamped with the Lazarus crest.

Title: THE FIRSTBORN PROJECT

The Firstborn weren’t just a myth. They were failures. Or so Everhart had claimed.

An experimental division buried decades ago, created to manufacture loyalty through bio-engineered lineage.

Lucian’s obsession. Creating heirs with selective genetic enhancements. Intelligence boosts. Accelerated healing. Emotional suppression.

Lazarus wasn’t just a program. It was a bloodline modifier. But many of the subjects, children, either died or disappeared when the project was “shut down.”

Or so they said. Kai flipped through the pages. "Subject 01, Codename: Oracle. Status: Rogue. Known abilities: Quantum recall, multilayer perception. Terminated: false. Last sighted: Lisbon, 9 years ago."

"Subject 07: Codename: Revenant. Status: Unstable. Traits: Synthetic pain tolerance, enhanced cognition, sociopathic traits. Missing: 12 years."

"Subject 13: Codename, Ash. Note: Unknown genome fusion. Obscured lineage. Current threat rating: Level: Omega (do not engage alone)."

Thorne’s voice was low. “Ash. That name was whispered during Lucian’s reign.”

Kai looked up. “He’s not a myth?”

“He’s the ghost Everhart failed to kill.”

…

Elsewhere…In a storm-battered warehouse off the coast of Tunisia, a man stitched a wound on his own chest. Cold. Silent. Eyes like burned steel.

A figure in a hood entered. “The gala?”

“Useless,” the man said.

“They saw your symbol.”

“I wanted them to.”

He stood, turning toward a wall where Kai Everhart’s face played on a loop from a news report. “I’m not here to take his crown,” Ash said. “I’m here to end the bloodline that stole mine.”

…

Back at the estate…Kai activated a hidden Lazarus terminal in the archive. “Would you like to view Project Ash?”

He clicked YES. The screen went black. Then loaded a single line of Lucian’s own handwriting, “If Ash ever returns… bury the vault and run.”

Kai stared at the words. Then whispered, “I don’t run.”

...

"Fire doesn’t need a reason to burn. It just needs fuel." Unknown (intercepted Firstborn transmission).

In Kai’s Office at Everhart Estate at about 6:11 p.m. Thunder rolled over the horizon as Kai read the Lazarus files in silence.

Each line was a dagger, children reprogrammed, lives destroyed, lies buried. Thorne’s voice broke the silence, “Valencia is in Geneva. Gerrit Duvall retreated to his compound. But Eleanor Zhao’s asking for a meeting.”

“Why?”

“She says it’s urgent. And she mentioned someone by name.”

Kai turned slowly. “Who?”

Thorne paused. “Nova.”

Nova Carter, The Hacker Heiress. Brilliant. Sharp-tongued. Impossible to intimidate.

Kai’s closest ally before the inheritance. She once cracked a Chinese firewall from a school laptop just to access a banned anime.

When Kai went silent after his rise, she vanished, his way of keeping her safe. Until now. 

…

London, 3:14 a.m. Nova sat in a quiet café, laptop open, fake ID in her pocket.

She watched the security footage from the gala again, and paused at one frame.

A masked figure not attacking… but protecting a server room. Not destroying it.

“Ash,” she whispered. “You weren’t after Kai. You were after data.”

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Back doors. Ghost files. Traces of Lazarus scattered in darknet nodes. She was close to something. Too close.

So when her screen flickered, and turned to static, she knew. She was found.

Back at the Everhart Estate An alert lit Kai’s screen. NOVA CARTER, LOCATION BREACH. TRACE DISRUPTED. STATUS: UNKNOWN.

Kai’s chest locked. “Find her. Now.”

Thorne moved instantly. “She’s smart,” Kai muttered. “She’s fast.”

Then his phone lit up, One message. No number. Just a photo.

Nova.

Bound to a chair. Bruised. Bloody. And one line beneath, “Come alone, heir. Or she dies like the rest.”

Two hours later, Derelict Warehouse, Berlin. Kai stepped into the dark with only a pistol and fury. Rain dripped through broken rafters. Rats scattered.

Nova sat in the center, tied up. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. “Kai!”

Then a voice echoed from the shadows. “Still rushing into traps, I see.”

Ash emerged. No mask. No need to hide now. The resemblance was eerie, the jawline, the eyes, even the voice, but hardened. Twisted. Like a version of Kai born in fire and left to rot.

“You’re him,” Kai said.

“I’m what your father tried to erase.”

“What do you want?”

Ash smiled. “Justice.”

Then, without blinking, he fired, not at Kai, but at Nova.

Kai dove. Caught the bullet in the shoulder. Screamed. Returned fire blindly.

Ash was already gone. Ten minutes later, ambulance bay, Berlin. Nova survived. Barely.

Kai sat beside her stretcher, bleeding, shaking, whispering, “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you everything.”

Nova groaned, half-conscious. “You’re a… dumbass. But at least you’re rich now.”

Later, back in the estate Thorne stitched Kai’s shoulder silently.

“Firstborn aren’t shadows anymore,” Kai said. “They’re flesh.”

Thorne nodded. “And now it’s personal.”

Kai stood. “No more waiting. No more reacting.”

He walked to the encrypted panel and entered a new command. “Activate: Protocol Black Rain. Subroutine: Hunt All Firstborn Assets Worldwide”.

Because this time, the fire isn’t just coming. Kai is bringing it.