Silas wasn't the first. He was the only one who survived.
---
5:00 A.M.
Underground Airstrip — Ukraine
Naomi boards a jet in silence.
Destination: Kirensk, Siberia.
Purpose: Find Dr. Anton Resnik, lead behavioral architect of Project Choirseed — presumed dead for 15 years.
But Resistance intel says otherwise.
And the signal came from deep within Russian no-man's-land.
Taye enters, pale.
> "You're really going alone?"
Naomi holsters her pistol.
> "If there are gods being built in the dark,
then it's time I meet the man playing creator."
---
7:42 A.M.
Resistance HQ — Geneva
While Naomi disappears into the frost, panic spreads like wildfire.
Choir attacks in:
Casablanca: burning libraries.
Ottawa: school poisonings.
Lagos: hacked electrical grid, dozens electrocuted.
Bangkok: gas leak made deliberate.
Inside HQ, paranoia blooms.
Agents whisper:
> "Who vetted you?"
"Who trained with Choir operatives?"
"What if they're already inside?"
Taye slams the briefing table.
> "We are not tearing ourselves apart while Silas sharpens the knife."
But even he flinches when he sees the new symbol painted on the Geneva safehouse wall—
> A halo of knives above a child's silhouette.
---
9:00 A.M.
Siberia — The Arkhangelsk Facility Ruins
Naomi reaches the frozen lab.
Abandoned. Burned. Mostly collapsed.
But beneath it, a single working vault hums.
She breaks in.
Inside:
Dozens of cryo-chambers.
Most empty.
Two smashed from inside.
One still cold.
She wipes frost off the nameplate:
> "Subject 0: ISAAC"
Before she can process it—
> "He wasn't the first," a voice croaks behind her.
Dr. Resnik.
Old. Frail. But smiling.
> "He was the last one that worked."
---
9:05 A.M.
Naomi Confronts Resnik
> Naomi: "You built Hollow."
Resnik: "No. I unlocked him."
Naomi: "He was a child."
Resnik: "He was a door. And we needed one open enough to let death through."
Resnik hobbles forward.
> "You think Silas is Judgment?
He's just the spark."
> "Isaac was the flame."
Naomi turns to the chamber.
Inside:
A preserved teen. Blonde. No eyes.
A symbol burned into his chest.
The same one now seen across the Choir's global attacks.
---
9:12 A.M.
Resnik's Final Words
> "We made Isaac first.
But he was too perfect. No morality. No fear."
> "He didn't want to kill the world.
He wanted to erase it."
> "So we froze him."
Naomi levels her pistol.
> Naomi: "Silas is chaos.
Isaac is oblivion.
Why revive him now?"
Resnik grins.
> "Because the Choir doesn't just want a god who kills."
> "They want one who replaces existence."
Naomi pulls the trigger.
Resnik drops, blood painting frost.
---
9:15 A.M.
Back in Geneva
A Resistance medic opens his locker.
Inside: a folded golden robe.
He stares at it…
Then smiles.
> "I've been waiting for this moment."
He opens a vial and drinks.
Elsewhere, at least three sleeper agents activate.
Some start fires.
Others open classified archives.
The Choir has infiltrated everything.
---
Final Scene
In an underground temple, Silas stands before the cryo-case of Isaac, now recovered by the Choir.
He places his hand against the glass.
> "You were first," he whispers.
"But I made the world listen."
Isaac's eyes slowly flick open.
Even eyeless, they burn gold.
---
Final Line:
> "I was the voice," Silas says,
"but now it's time to release the silence."
---