452: Broken Codes and Buried Bloodlines

Location: Vault Zero – Emergency Shaft Delta, Tavara

Smoke thickened the air as emergency sirens blared within the collapsing inner sanctum. The shockwave from Matthias' sabotage had destabilized the vault's core systems. Damien ducked low behind a decontamination pod, his mind racing.

He wasn't just facing a rogue operative.

He was facing a Kane.

A family ghost.

Nora's voice cut through the scrambled comms as static tried to devour her words. "Damien—are you alive?! They're jamming the frequencies. You need to get out of there, now!"

"I'm fine," Damien replied. "But Vault Zero is compromised. We've got a situation—Matthias Kane. Alive."

There was silence.

Then: "That's impossible."

Damien glanced over his shoulder as another tremor shook the underground. Fire licked the edges of the room, and power conduits sparked wildly. His elite unit had scattered during the blast, some injured, others fighting rogue automated drones now under Matthias' control.

He pressed forward, vaulting over a crumpled steel beam to reach the Master Terminal.

Sparks sprayed across his path, but Damien ripped open the access panel.

He had to retrieve the ancestral backup files before Matthias corrupted them completely.

He typed fast. Sequences of encrypted bloodline data danced across the screen, flickering in red. One signature stood out.

Project Dominion.

Linked to: Matthias Kane

Secondary Executor: Dominus

But then he saw something else.

Project Seraphim.

Primary DNA Key: Nora Calhoun.

Co-Originator: Ira Kane.

Status: UNKNOWN.

His breath caught.

Nora's name… her bloodline…

And Ira?

His mother?

The data spun in his mind like a collapsing star.

Before he could process further, Matthias' voice echoed from the vault speakers. "Dig deep enough, Damien, and you'll find bones in every family tree. But yours? Yours was watered with betrayal."

A hiss sounded beside him as a pressure vent released—and a combat drone lunged out from the wall.

Damien didn't flinch.

He fired point-blank, the drone collapsing in a pile of scorched metal.

He turned back to the screen.

The core backup was nearly complete.

But just as it hit 100%, the system locked.

"Authorization required," the AI prompted. "Biological clearance: Matthias Kane."

Damien ground his teeth. He didn't have the biometric override.

But he had something better.

Nora.

"I need Nora," he said into the mic, rising as the fire advanced. "Have her prep for DNA sync. This is bigger than us."

On the surface, as helicopters prepared for evac, Nora stood frozen by the transmission.

Matthias Kane.

Dominion.

Project Seraphim.

Her eyes met the rising sun, lips trembling.

"I knew it," she whispered. "This wasn't just about blood. It's about power. Secrets they buried in us... from birth."