Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 41: "The Omega Threshold"
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A chilling silence followed Dr. Elias Vane's words. The flickering lights cast distorted shadows of him across the room, making him seem less like a man and more like a phantom.
Kara clenched her fists, her eyes burning with a storm of emotions—rage, confusion, and fear. "What do you mean, 'Omega Phase'? What did you do?"
Vane smirked. "You don't remember, do you? That's the beauty of memory manipulation, Kara. I could make you forget who you were. I could make you love, hate, fight, or surrender. And you—" his gaze flicked to Adrian, "—you were her failsafe."
Adrian's knuckles whitened on the grip of his gun. "You used her. You turned her into a weapon."
"Not just a weapon," Vane said, stepping closer to the console. "She's the trigger."
Kara's breath caught. "Trigger… for what?"
Vane turned the device in his hand and pressed a sequence of buttons. The chamber around them began to tremble, metal groaning as unseen machines activated deep beneath the facility.
Tessa shouted from her position, "He's booting the Omega system! Kara, we need to stop him now!"
But before anyone could move, a sudden blast of static filled their earpieces. The lights flickered violently. Then everything went black.
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Underground Control Sub-Core – Unknown Depth
Kara gasped awake, her body strapped to a gurney. The air was cold. Metallic. She wasn't alone. All around her, figures in stasis pods pulsed with blue light—faces she didn't recognize but felt inexplicably connected to.
Echoes of a woman's scream pierced her skull. Flashes of a child with silver eyes. A hand reaching out of fire. A symbol carved into flesh.
She wasn't remembering—she was reliving.
A voice echoed in her mind, robotic yet eerily familiar.
"Protocol Omega initiated. Subject 001-KA entering final sequence."
"No!" Kara thrashed against the restraints. Her body burned with a strange heat, her veins tingling like they were filled with electricity.
From the corner of the room, Vane emerged from the shadows.
"You were made for this, Kara. Born from ashes, destined to ignite the new world."
"Shut it down!" Kara screamed.
"I can't," Vane said calmly. "Only you can. You are the key."
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Above Ground – Sanctum Operations Hall
Adrian groaned as he regained consciousness. The rest of the team was scattered across the floor, dazed from the system shock.
"Mara!" he yelled, dragging himself toward her. "Can you trace Kara?"
She blinked, blood trailing from her forehead. "Trying… she's not on the main grid. Wait—there's a sub-core. A hidden level, locked behind quantum encryption."
Adrian's jaw tightened. "We're going down."
Ronan loaded a fresh mag into his rifle. "We'll get her back, or we won't come out."
Tessa nodded. "Let's raise some hell."
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Sub-Core - Omega Chamber
Kara's restraints released suddenly. Her body hit the floor hard. She gasped, the surge inside her growing stronger. The pod lights around her turned red—every other "subject" now awakening, eyes glowing faintly.
"What did you do to them?" she whispered.
Vane knelt beside her. "You're the prototype. They're your successors. But only you can lead them… or destroy them."
Kara's mind swirled with emotion, but deep inside, something else was waking. A power buried so long, it had become myth.
She reached for the console behind her. Symbols flashed—symbols from her fragmented memories.
With one final breath, she activated the override.
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The room exploded in blinding white light.
Above, the team watched in awe as the foundation of Sanctum cracked open like a scar in the earth.
From the breach, Kara emerged—her body wrapped in glowing threads of energy, her eyes wild with power.
But she wasn't alone.
Behind her, over a dozen subjects walked in perfect unison—silent, powerful, dangerous.
Adrian ran to her. "Kara—"
She looked at him, something ancient in her voice. "They're awake. And now... everything changes."
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To be continued…
🔥 A new force rises, and the fire burns deeper than ever.
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