Chapter 15: Unclassified Subject

Melissa steadied herself, blinking against the bright overhead lights of Jay's underground hideout. Her body was here, her mind intact but something inside her had shifted.

She wasn't just free from Requiem's programming.

She was different.

Ethan kept his hand on her wrist, his grip grounding her. "Melissa. Are you..."

She nodded slowly. "I think… I think I broke more than just their override."

Jay was scanning his monitors, eyes darting over streams of code. "Whatever you did, you triggered something else in their system. I'm getting activity spikes across multiple channels like Requiem just scrambled every active protocol."

Melissa's pulse picked up. "They weren't prepared for me to fight back."

Caleb leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Which means they're either panicking… or adapting."

Melissa clenched her jaw. "Then we have to stay ahead of them."

Jay turned the screen toward her. "Take a look at this."

Lines of data scrolled down the display, flickering under his fast-moving keystrokes.

Melissa's name was still in their system.

But beside it, a new label had appeared.

UNCLASSIFIED STATUS — PRIORITY TARGET.

"They don't know what to do with you," Jay murmured. "That makes you dangerous."

Ethan exhaled. "That makes her their biggest threat."

Melissa took a deep breath. Vaughn wasn't finished, and neither was Requiem. But she wasn't just running anymore.

She was rewriting the rules.

"What's next?" Caleb asked.

Melissa squared her shoulders.

"We go after Vaughn. Directly."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Bold."

Melissa met his gaze. "We don't have a choice. If Requiem can't define me, they'll try to erase me again. And this time, I won't survive it."

Ethan nodded. "Then we make the first move."

The tension crackled between them, solid and unbreakable.

Vaughn was expecting her to run.

Instead, she was coming straight for him.

And Requiem was about to learn that ghosts don't disappear.

They haunt.

Melissa didn't hesitate. Requiem had spent years controlling people like her rewriting their memories, burying their identities but she had shattered their framework. And now, Vaughn was the last piece standing.

Jay pulled up satellite feeds and encrypted intel, typing furiously. "If Vaughn's as high up as I think he is, he won't be in one place. He moves constantly."

Ethan leaned in. "Then we catch him mid-transition."

Caleb nodded. "We create a disruption big enough that he has to respond."

Melissa smirked. "Make Vaughn come to us instead of chasing him."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "You're thinking like them now."

Melissa's expression darkened. "Good. Because that means I know how to dismantle them."

Jay scanned his screen. "I have a location. Vaughn is scheduled to oversee a closed-room briefing high-clearance, deep state, private. If we can get in, we can corner him."

Caleb exhaled. "We have a chance. But he won't come alone."

Ethan met Melissa's gaze. "If we go in, it's war."

Melissa tightened her jaw. "Then let's end it."

The final confrontation was set. Vaughn wouldn't see them coming. And Requiem had no idea that their perfect system had already begun to collapse.

The team moved fast, knowing every second counted. Vaughn was expecting his meeting to go uninterrupted, secure within the walls of his private operation, but Melissa was about to crash his carefully crafted illusion of control.

Jay pulled up schematics of the meeting location. "It's deep-state government property, no public access. The perimeter is locked down with biometric security. Once you're in, there's no walking out unnoticed."

Caleb cracked his knuckles. "Then we make sure we're not 'noticed' until it's too late."

Ethan leaned over the blueprints. "Vaughn won't risk exposure. That means two things—one, he'll have minimal guards inside, so they don't ask questions. And two… if things go sideways, he'll have an extraction plan."

Melissa smirked. "Then we make sure he never gets to use it."

Jay exhaled. "We have two options, stealth, or a full-force takeover."

Caleb tapped the map. "Stealth gets us close. Full-force puts Vaughn in a corner."

Melissa considered. "Stealth first. We infiltrate. Get inside. Make Vaughn believe he still has control. Then we take control."

Ethan nodded. "And what about his extraction?"

Melissa's smirk widened. "We shut it down before he even realizes he needs it."

Jay's fingers moved swiftly across his screen. "I can tap into their system remotely and scramble their security feeds, but I'll only be able to hold it for fifteen minutes tops."

Melissa cracked her knuckles. "Then fifteen minutes is all we need."

The plan was set.

They weren't just coming for Vaughn.

They were coming to end Requiem.

The infiltration was set. Melissa and the team moved into position, their steps precise, calculated. Jay had scrambled the security feeds just as planned, buying them a fifteen-minute window.

Caleb led the way, slipping through a service entrance, while Ethan and Melissa followed, dressed in carefully curated disguises, Requiem operatives, blending into the shadows of the facility.

Inside, the air was sterile, cold, thick with quiet efficiency. They passed high-clearance personnel, their forged credentials holding up under quick scans. Vaughn's meeting was just ahead.

Melissa's pulse was steady. This was no longer about slipping in unnoticed.

This was about making Vaughn realize he was no longer the one in control.

They entered the secured briefing chamber, rows of executives, officials, silent figures observing holographic projections of classified data.

And at the center of it all Vaughn.

Melissa's breath hitched.

Ethan kept close beside her, his posture rigid, ready.

Caleb muttered under his breath. "This is it."

Melissa stepped forward.

Vaughn glanced up, his sharp gaze locking onto her.

A flicker of recognition. Then, amusement.

"You certainly took your time," he said.

Melissa didn't blink. "I wanted you to feel safe first."

Vaughn chuckled. "Bold. But you're mistaken if you think walking in here gives you any advantage."

Melissa smirked. "See, that's the problem with people like you. You think control is something that can't be stolen."

Vaughn exhaled, unimpressed. "And yet, here we are. You standing before me, hoping you can end what you don't fully understand."

Melissa took another step forward.

"You don't understand either," she said quietly. "Because whatever you put in me, whatever you programmed, it didn't hold. And now, Requiem is starting to fall apart."

Vaughn's smile faded.

Jay's voice crackled through Melissa's hidden earpiece. "Disrupting their system now. In five seconds, every secure terminal in this room is about to go dark."

Melissa didn't react.

But when the lights flickered...

And the systems shut down...

Vaughn realized too late.

Melissa Kingsley wasn't just breaking Requiem's grip.

She was rewriting the story.