Episode 9
The forest was silent except for the soft crunch of Iris's boots against damp leaves. Her breath formed small clouds in the cold morning air, every nerve alert.
She had only one goal now: get to the Nightshade Vault hidden beneath the old Pines Mental Institute.
Lucien's data led her here. The hard drive—now hidden beneath layers of encryption—contained partial blueprints of the underground lab. Not all of them were intact, but she knew enough.
This was where her story had begun.
And where it might end.
---
Inside the Ruins
The mental institute stood like a skeleton, cracked windows and mold-covered stone. Ivy crept up the broken walls, and rusted gurneys lay scattered across the courtyard like forgotten corpses.
Iris found the door Lucien had marked. Third floor, Room 317.
A steel slab.
Fingerprint locked.
She pressed her index finger to the pad.
A pause.
Then—click.
How? she wondered. My prints must still be in their system.
The door slid open to reveal a stairwell, descending into darkness.
---
The Vault
The vault wasn't just a lab—it was a fortress. Concrete walls layered with lead. Iris moved silently, weaving through flickering lights and exposed wiring.
Suddenly, she froze.
Footsteps.
Two guards. Armed. Dressed in matte-black gear with the Nightshade insignia.
She ducked behind a surgical cabinet and waited.
One of the guards grunted. "He said she'd be here. Subject IV-2. Draven wants her alive."
"I saw what she did to Alec-09. If that's alive, I'm a saint," the other muttered.
Iris moved like a shadow, crawling past as they turned down a different corridor.
---
The Secret File Room
She found the data core deeper in. Rows of black filing cabinets. But what caught her eye was a biometric freezer labeled:
> VALE-GENESIS PROJECT
Do Not Tamper Without Level-0 Clearance
She inserted Lucien's decryption key into the panel.
A beep.
Green light.
The freezer hissed open.
Inside were stacks of metal canisters. Cryo-tags.
Her hand trembled as she lifted one out.
> Subject I.V.-2 — Iris Vale
Clone Batch: Crescent, Original: Dr. Emilia Vale
Wait. Emilia? Iris had no sister. No daughter. No—
Then it hit her.
She wasn't just the subject.
She was the clone.
Of her mother.
Her real identity wasn't Iris Vale.
It was Crescent-2.
---
The Woman with the Gun
"Now that's a face I didn't expect to see again."
The voice sent chills down her spine.
Iris turned slowly.
A gun was pointed straight at her head.
Behind it stood a woman in her late forties, tall, elegant, face hardened by war and regret.
"Dr. Isolde Merek," Iris breathed. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Funny. They said the same about you."
Isolde didn't lower the gun. "Give me the drive."
"No."
"It doesn't belong to you. It belongs to Nightshade."
"No," Iris said again. "It belongs to me."
Isolde's lip curled. "You don't even know who you are."
"I know enough now."
"You think that'll save you?"
"No," Iris whispered, eyes narrowing. "But I'm not running anymore."
---
The Alarm
Suddenly, klaxons blared.
A red light flashed overhead.
Isolde flinched. "What did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything," Iris said.
Then a voice echoed through the vault.
Deep. Familiar.
"Subject IV-2 located. Initiate Retrieval Protocol."
Alec Draven's voice.
He was here.
---
A Firefight Begins
Explosions rocked the hallway. Debris flew. Isolde was thrown back, the gun flying from her hands. Iris grabbed it mid-air and dived behind a steel desk as soldiers stormed in.
Bullets screamed past her ears. She returned fire.
A scream.
Then silence.
When she looked up, Draven stood alone in the doorway, flawless in his suit, not a hair out of place.
"You're becoming harder to kill," he said, voice calm as ever.
"You're making it easier to try."
"You want the truth, Iris? Here it is."
He stepped aside.
And behind him—
A woman.
No, her.
An exact replica.
Same face. Same eyes.
Except… colder.
Void of empathy.
Crescent-1.
The original clone.
"Iris Vale," she said softly, stepping forward. "You're obsolete. I'm the final model."
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