Prototype Zero Awakens

Location: Echo Vault Core, Tavara

A cold hiss escaped the cryo-unit as the decades-old chamber began its thaw cycle. Red mist spiraled off the glass, curling like serpents around the motionless body inside.

Victor stepped back, hand instinctively drifting toward the sidearm at his hip. "Is he… alive?"

"He never died," Zuri replied grimly, studying the biometric scanner. "Vitals steady. Neural activity is accelerating. He's waking up."

Nora narrowed her gaze at the boy inside. He looked eerily peaceful—pale skin untouched by time, black hair falling over his eyes like a shadow of secrets. But the longer she stared, the more uneasy she became.

Something in that stillness wasn't human.

---

Location: Surveillance Chamber, Dominion's High Command

Thorne's fingers trembled as he reviewed the live data feed. "Subject Zero... still operational?"

A younger officer looked up in disbelief. "But he was scrapped—declared too unstable!"

"He wasn't unstable," Thorne muttered, voice as sharp as a blade. "He was too powerful. He questioned his programming."

The room fell into silence.

Then Thorne whispered the words that made every eye widen:

"He was the only one who chose not to obey."

---

Location: Echo Vault Core

The cryo-unit snapped open with a hydraulic hiss.

The boy's chest rose—slow, deep. Then his eyes flicked open.

They were entirely black. No iris. No white. Just pure void.

Victor drew his weapon instantly.

"Stand down!" V-One barked. "He's scanning. Not hostile—yet."

The boy sat up with unnerving grace, his movements precise, calculated… as though every joint was being rebooted. Then he spoke, voice hollow but ancient:

"Who awakened me?"

"I did," Victor said. "We need your help."

The boy tilted his head, curious. "You are not Dominion."

"No. We fight them."

The silence that followed was dense.

Then, without blinking, the boy asked: "Is Thorne still alive?"

Victor's eyes narrowed. "You know him?"

"I was made in his image. His mind is in my blood. And I will burn it out."

---

Location: Dominion High Command

An alarm shrieked.

"Sir!" the comms officer gasped. "Subject Zero has regained consciousness. And he—he remembers everything."

Thorne clenched his jaw.

"We neutralize him now."

---

Location: Echo Vault – Exterior

Explosions thundered across the ruins as Dominion shock drones descended like a swarm of locusts. Black wings filled the sky, their weapons locking onto one single location: the Vault.

Inside, alarms blared.

"They're coming," Zuri warned. "By air and ground."

Victor turned to Prototype Zero. "Will you help us?"

The boy smiled—just slightly.

"I was born in war. And now… I'll end it."