Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 79: "The Mirror and the Fire"
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The sky above the city was blood-red.
Smoke coiled through the skyline like veins of a dying beast, and the hum of activated sleeper agents echoed in the distance — a sound both mechanical and human.
In the heart of it all, Kara stood in silence. Nemesis, her mirror, sat slumped on a broken bench inside the orphanage, her breathing shallow and uneven.
Kara turned to her. "Do you trust me?"
Nemesis looked up. Her expression was unreadable. "I don't know how to trust… but I remember how to fear. And I think I'm afraid of what they'll make me do."
Kara knelt beside her. "Then stay with me. If you can feel fear, you can choose not to be their weapon."
Nemesis's fingers trembled. "What if it's too late?"
Kara gently pressed her forehead against hers. "Then we burn it all down before they use you again."
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Back at the Van
Adrian slammed the back door shut, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.
Through the comms:
"We've got a city full of sleeper agents, Kara. What's the plan?"
Kara's voice was steady.
"We break their signal. All of it. Nemesis has the core codes from the Lazarus neural hive. If we can amplify it through the Omega Beacon, we can override the command center."
Tessa cut in, her voice grim.
"You want to hack the hive with the prototype? That's suicide."
Ronan added,
"Even if it works, the feedback could fry Kara's brain… or worse."
Kara didn't flinch.
"It's worth the risk."
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Inside the Beacon Tower
The team moved fast.
The Omega Beacon was hidden inside an abandoned radio tower cloaked by decay. Massive cables pulsed with faint blue light, carrying the activation codes through the city.
Nemesis entered first, scanning the systems like muscle memory.
"I can bypass the encryption," she muttered, fingers flying. "But it's laced with Vane's failsafes. I'll need time."
"You have five minutes," Ronan said, watching the doors. "That's when the first wave hits."
Kara stood beside her. "I'll upload my neural signature to the override."
Nemesis looked up. "That could erase who you are."
Kara gave a small, weary smile. "Then make sure I come back."
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The First Wave Hits
Outside, chaos erupted.
Agents poured through the alleys, eyes glowing, bodies twitching like puppets. Adrian and Ronan opened fire, laying down suppressive rounds.
Tessa launched an EMP drone, but it barely slowed them down.
Inside, Kara's mind plunged into the stream of code — her memories flooding in, her soul stretching between now and what once was.
She saw her mother's face.
Dr. Vane's twisted grin.
The cold water.
The shattered glass.
The whispers.
The fire.
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Within the Hive
Kara's consciousness floated within the digital void, surrounded by countless minds trapped under Vane's control.
She heard their thoughts — screaming, crying, lost.
And then… her voice echoed.
"Wake up."
A wave of light burst through the neural hive.
One by one, the minds began to flicker… stutter… remember.
A child's laughter.
A wedding.
A song.
A name.
A mother.
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Back in Reality
The Beacon pulsed.
The agents outside froze mid-step — some collapsing, others dropping their weapons, blinking in confusion.
Adrian lowered his gun, stunned. "Did it work?"
Tessa stared at her tablet. "Signal's broken. Hive's collapsing."
Inside, Kara fell to her knees, bleeding from her nose.
Nemesis caught her before she hit the floor. "Stay with me. You can't leave me now."
Kara looked up, vision blurry. "We did it… right?"
Nemesis nodded, jaw tight. "You gave them back their minds."
"But what about mine?" Kara whispered, fading.
Her world went black.
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Elsewhere – Vane Watches the Collapse
Glass shattered under Vane's fist.
Selene stared at the dead monitors. "She destroyed the hive."
"No," Vane hissed. "She hijacked it. That girl is more dangerous than I ever calculated."
"What now?"
Vane turned, eyes cold. "Now… we bring in Subject Zero."
Selene froze. "That program was sealed."
"Unseal it. Release him."
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In the Dark – Subject Zero Awakens
A massive chamber deep beneath the city began to light up, red glow flooding the glass tanks.
Inside one of them, a shadow moved.
Tall.
Silent.
Eyes glowing like molten gold.
And then — they opened.
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To be continued…
🔥 One enemy f
alls, another rises. But how much of Kara is still Kara?
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The fire spreads — and what's coming next will change everything.