Chapter 20: 20. Beneath the Mountain
The Tetra Mountains loomed larger than life, their icy peaks slicing the gray sky. Elara adjusted her visor as a flurry of snow pelted her cheeks. Behind her, Damien checked the stabilizers on Kira’s suit while Lyne recalibrated the holographic map.
The team approached an old maintenance hatch carved into the mountain base. Hidden behind overgrown lichen and ice, the metal door bore the faded spiral insignia, this time, unmistakably the one from the photo.
"Found it," Lyne said. She keyed in an old biometric code. The panel blinked red, then green. The door groaned open.
A musty, sterile wind blew past them, tinged with something Elara couldn’t name. Memory, maybe. Regret.
They stepped inside.
Cold fluorescent lights flickered as they walked deeper into the tunnels. Decades of dust clung to the sterile walls. Security doors sealed long ago had been rusted over or pried open.
"It’s like time stopped," Kira whispered, eyes wide.
Elara stopped at a wall covered in old drawings, childish crayon scrawls on laminated paper. A sun. A double helix. A little girl holding a blue flower.
"I remember drawing that," she murmured.
Damien stood beside her. "This was your nursery?"
"No," Elara said. "My testing chamber. They let us draw to ’monitor creativity response.’"
Kira blinked. "That’s messed up."
"That’s Spiral."
Halfway through the facility, the team triggered a motion sensor. A hidden panel slid open, revealing a holographic projector. A blue-tinged face flickered into view: a woman’s, smooth and cold. Mairee’s face, only younger.
"Welcome back, Elara," it said.
Kira drew her weapon.
"Don’t," Elara said. "It’s not her. It’s a recording."
The hologram continued, "If you’re seeing this, you’ve outlived your purpose, or exceeded it. Congratulations. You’re one step closer to understanding."
Damien frowned. "She’s mocking us."
Lyne stepped forward. "No. She’s guiding her contingency plan. This isn’t a message, it’s a path."
The AI’s eyes locked on Elara. "Below this chamber lies the Vault of Genesis. Only a successful subject may enter."
They found the vault doors an hour later, sealed with biometric locks coded to Elara’s DNA. She placed her palm on the scanner. It hissed, beeped, and slid open.
Inside was a massive chamber, frigid and quiet. Rows of cryogenic pods lined the walls. Some were shattered. Others still glowed with faint blue light.
Kira approached one.
Inside lay a girl, her face eerily similar to Elara’s, but with sharp features and white-blonde hair.
"Another version," Damien muttered. "A failed prototype?"
Lyne checked the console. "No. This one was never activated. She was meant to be the backup. The Omega."
Elara stared. "Then why keep her frozen?"
A soft hiss broke the silence. Another pod was opening on its own.
The girl stepped out of the pod, bare feet touching cold metal. Her eyes opened, glowing faintly violet.
She looked at Elara. "You’re me."
"Not quite," Elara replied.
"I was meant to replace you."
Kira tensed. "Do we fight her?"
Elara held up a hand. "No. Let’s hear her."
The girl looked around, her voice robotic but curious. "I have memories I didn’t live. Training I didn’t earn. Yet I know how to kill every one of you."
Damien raised his gun slightly. "That’s not comforting."
"I don’t want to," she added quickly. "But if Mother commands it—"
Elara stepped forward. "She’s gone. You’re free."
The girl faltered. "I don’t know what freedom means."
Elara offered her hand. "Then we’ll teach you."
Later, tension ran high in the makeshift camp set inside the vault.
Damien confronted Elara. "You’re taking in every weapon Mairee built and hoping it won’t backfire."
"They’re people."
"They’re programs. Kira. This new girl. You’re betting on instincts Mairee tried to erase."
Elara’s voice trembled. "Because I believe they can choose differently. Just like I did."
Kira stood nearby, hearing every word.
The new girl sat alone, staring at her hands.
Kira approached. "Got a name?"
"Designation E-3."
Kira scoffed. "Lame. I’m Kira. That’s Elara. You should pick something. Something that’s yours."
The girl thought. "Nova."
"Cool."
They sat in silence for a while, the icy vault humming quietly.
Kira whispered, "Are you scared?"
Nova nodded. "But I want to live. That’s a start, right?"
Just as they prepared to leave the vault, an alarm blared.
Lyne’s console blinked. "Someone’s trying to access the outer perimeter. Someone alive."
Elara tensed. "Reinforcements?"
Damien: "Or hunters."
They took defensive positions.
From the hallway, a shadow emerged, cloaked in Spiral’s elite operative armor. But instead of attacking, they collapsed to the floor.
Damien rushed forward. "She’s wounded. Badly."
The woman looked up, blood dripping from her m
ask. "Tell Elara... Mairee knows. She’s coming."
Then she passed out