Episode 10
The silence between Iris and Crescent-1 was deafening. Alec Draven stood at the edge of the chaos like a puppet master admiring his work, his expression unreadable.
Iris gripped the gun tightly, but her hands trembled. She wasn't just facing an enemy—she was facing herself.
Or rather, the version of herself they had perfected.
"You're not real," Iris whispered. "You're a fabrication."
Crescent-1 tilted her head. "Says the failed prototype."
"I'm not a prototype," Iris growled. "I'm a person."
"You were a test tube accident, Iris. A failed clone with fragmented memories, inconsistent loyalty, and emotional flaws. They were going to discard you until Alec got sentimental."
Her gaze flicked to Alec. His eyes didn't flinch.
"She was never supposed to survive," he said. "But she kept surviving. That intrigued me."
Iris's blood went cold. "You experimented on me."
He nodded slowly. "And you exceeded expectations. But now you've outlived your purpose."
---
The Showdown Begins
Before he could finish, Iris fired. Crescent-1 moved like a ghost, dodging and rolling behind a pillar. Bullets tore through the wall, sending sparks flying.
Crescent-1 returned fire. Iris dove sideways, the shot grazing her shoulder. She cried out but kept moving, heart thudding like a war drum.
This wasn't just survival now.
It was war.
Iris crashed through a side door into the surgical observation room. Monitors flickered. Behind the glass, she could see surgical tables, blood-stained restraints, and floating brain scans.
Memories came flooding in.
Needles in her spine.
Straps around her wrists.
A voice saying, "Don't worry, Subject IV-2. You won't feel a thing."
They erased me. Built me. Controlled me.
But no more.
---
The Confession
Crescent-1 kicked the door in, gun raised.
"I was everything you were meant to be," she said, circling. "Efficient. Loyal. Clean."
Iris backed up toward the surgical tray. "Then why did they keep me alive?"
Crescent-1's smile faltered.
"That's what I never understood," she said. "Why Draven—why he—chose you. You, with your unstable genome. Your broken mind. Your stubborn emotions."
Iris found what she was looking for: a scalpel.
"Maybe that's what makes me human."
She threw it. The blade sliced Crescent-1's cheek. Blood welled up as the clone snarled and lunged.
They collided in a blur of fists and rage. Years of training met instinct and pain.
Iris struck first. A jab to the throat, a kick to the ribs.
Crescent-1 caught her by the hair, slammed her against the glass. The mirror cracked behind her.
"I should've been you," Crescent-1 hissed.
"No," Iris whispered. "You were never me."
With a scream, she shoved her backward—through the glass window.
Crescent-1 fell into the surgical chamber, shards raining around her like icy confetti.
---
The Emergency Override
A siren wailed.
"Self-destruct protocol initiated. T-minus six minutes."
Iris turned to see Alec at the control panel, pressing keys without emotion.
"You'd destroy this entire place?" she asked, staggering toward him.
"It's compromised. And so are you."
"You can't wipe me out like a virus," she snapped.
"No," Alec said, locking eyes with her. "But I can delete everything you came from."
"I'm not from a lab," she growled. "I'm from everything you couldn't control."
Suddenly, gunfire rang out.
A shot pierced Alec's shoulder. He cried out and dropped to his knees.
Lucien stood in the doorway, gun smoking.
"I told you, Iris," he said breathlessly. "I'd always come for you."
---
The Escape
Lucien rushed to her side, pulling her toward the emergency tunnel.
"We've got less than five minutes," he said. "Can you run?"
"I can fight," she muttered.
Crescent-1 emerged from the broken glass below, bleeding, snarling.
Lucien raised his gun, but Iris shook her head. "No. I'll handle her."
"Iris—"
"Go."
He hesitated, then nodded and disappeared down the corridor.
---
Face to Face
Smoke filled the chamber as Iris stepped into the surgical room.
Crescent-1 struggled to stand, glass in her leg, fury in her eyes.
"You think this makes you better?" she spat.
"No," Iris said. "It makes me free."
She grabbed a steel rod from the floor as Crescent-1 reached for a scalpel.
They charged.
The rod cracked bone. The scalpel sliced flesh.
Blood. Screams. Breath.
At last, Iris pinned her to the ground, the rod at her throat.
"Any last words?" she asked.
Crescent-1's eyes flickered. "He'll never let you go."
"Watch me."
And Iris plunged the rod down.
---
Into the Light
Iris burst through the emergency hatch just as the vault exploded behind her, the shockwave throwing her into Lucien's arms.
They tumbled through the snow, coughing, bleeding.
It was done.
Nightshade was gone.
But something still lingered in Iris's mind.
A whisper.
A file she hadn't had time to open.
> Project Lazarus: Protocol Not Terminated
She turned to Lucien.
"We're not finished, are we?"
He met her gaze grimly. "Not even close."
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