Ghost Code

Wake up, Lyra," Ethan whispered.

"We need you."

The moment his hand touched the neural halo, the entire chamber shuddered. Arcs of light danced across the pod, like memory storms trapped in glass. Maya instinctively stepped back. Ethan stayed still, his breath caught in his throat.

The lights died.

And she opened her eyes.

Lyra.

But those weren't human eyes anymore. They were deeper. Endless. Like staring into the archive of a forgotten world.

"Ethan," she said. Her voice was soft, familiar — but tinged with a mechanical resonance.

"How long?"

Ethan's voice cracked. "Twelve years."

Lyra blinked, slow and calculated. Her gaze shifted to Maya, then to the neural shard still pulsing in Ethan's hand.

"Is Phoenix… still active?"

Maya answered. "Phoenix is gone. Ethan brought it down. But—"

"Cortex still exists," Lyra finished. "Of course. They never wanted peace. Just control."

She stood. Not like someone waking up. Like something rebooting.

Aboveground – At that moment

Four Reclaimers breached the surface above. Metallic, humanoid, impossibly fast. They dropped from a skimmer, scanning the rock formations.

"TARGET ACQUIRED: L-0"

"INITIATE: RECLAMATION PROTOCOL"

Underground – Chamber Core

Lyra tilted her head. "They're here," she said. "I can hear them… the network hums with hunger."

Ethan stepped beside her. "They want your mind."

"No," she said. "They want my soul."

Maya gripped her blade. "What exactly are you, Lyra?"

She turned slowly, gaze shimmering.

"Not AI. Not human. I am the first successful consciousness upload. Phoenix's original experiment.

They called me… Version Zero."

Flashback: 12 Years Ago

Dr. Lyra Cael wasn't just a neuroscientist. She was the core of the Chair Project. The true architect of Phoenix.

But when she opposed the Syndicate's shift from healing to control, they killed her.

Or thought they did.

Ethan saved her mind — fragmented, encrypted — and buried it in the Expanse.

Now, she's awake.

Back in the present, Maya stared at the glowing network. "If they get to you, they won't just bring Phoenix back… they'll rebuild it using your consciousness as the template."

"A digital god," Lyra said softly. "One that remembers everything, but feels nothing."

Ethan touched the side of the pod, his voice shaking. "We can hide you again—"

"No." Lyra stepped forward.

"I won't be hidden anymore.

Plug me into the core server.

I'm going to fight."

Outside – Explosions.

The Reclaimers reached the vault's entrance. One activated a pulse-blade, carving through stone like paper. The countdown had begun.

Inside – Terminal Room

Ethan linked Lyra to the central system.

Her consciousness surged into the old network.

Tunnels of data opened — abandoned, corrupted — and she slipped through them like a storm of memory.

For a heartbeat, the world paused.

And then — cities flickered.

Satellites dropped offline.

A digital aurora danced across the sky.

"I am L-0," her voice echoed across firewalls and screens.

"The first forgotten.

And now, I remember."

End of Chapter 

🔥 Next Up: Chapter The Memory War

Lyra wages a war across the global net. Maya and Ethan must reach the last physical terminal before the Syndicate wipes it — and her — forever.