SIXTEEN YEARS LATER

Elara Vance didn't need caffeine.

She needed momentum.

While the rest of her class fumbled with bootups and crashed simulations, she was already four iterations deep into a neural-response loop for adaptive prosthetic limbs. Her fingers flew over her tablet, updating the logic matrix of the robot arm in real time.

The lab's chill didn't bother her. Neither did the hum of twenty other undergrads scrambling around the room. Ravenscroft's Robotics Lab was known for pressure, but pressure had never fazed her.

She thrived in it.

"Run test cycle," she muttered, barely above a whisper.

The machine beside her—Model VYX-A4—whirred to life. The prosthetic hand gripped a foam object, rotated it precisely, and placed it into a tray with zero tremors. Dead center.

Mia leaned in over her shoulder. "For someone who just lost your mother, you seem pretty unfazed, you finished that algorithm in, what, six minutes?"

"Five," Elara corrected without looking up.

"Okay, yeah. Totally normal. Just your average, mind-bending teen genius. Anyway, my deepest condolences for your loss."

"Its okay." Elara let the sarcasm slide. Mia was her closest friend—possibly her only real one at Ravenscroft—but even she didn't know everything.

Didn't know about the nightmares.

Didn't know why Elara flinched every time she heard emergency sirens.

Didn't know what it meant when Elara's smartwatch buzzed in a pattern she didn't set.

Across the lab, someone watched.

Professor Adrian Grayson stood behind the mirrored glass of the observation room, his arms folded. He wasn't smiling. He rarely did.

He was supposed to be here for oversight.

But Elara was different.

And someone upstairs had taken interest in her.

He opened a secure console and typed in a query:

VANCE, ELARA – LEVEL 3 CLEARANCE – ACTIVE MONITORING ENABLED

A red cursor blinked.

A new file opened.

And the surveillance began.

Elara Vance had always lived in the shadow of a man she barely remembered. Her father, Dr. Ethan Vance, was literally uncharted to her. A name spoken in hush tones. A face seen only in old photographs. A legend wrapped in scandal and betrayal.

For sixteen years, he had been gone.

No letters. No calls. No sign that he was even alive. And Elara had spent most of her years trying to not care.

But today – standing alone in a quiet funeral room, staring at her mother's closed casket, she felt a wave of resentment rise in her chest.

Her father should have been here, but just like always, he wasn't.

Elara had inherited her father's sharp mind, his natural brilliance. Engineering, physics, AI. Systems – she excelled in all of them.

But unlike him, she had no desire to hide. She had built a life for herself - a normal one. Studying at Ravenscroft University, a prestigious school known for its cutting – edge technology programs.

She had friends. A future. A plan. And she had no intensions of following in her father's footsteps.

But what was in store displayed a different color. Because while she was determined to forget her father, there was someone else who had never forgotten him.

And they were about to change her life forever.

Outside the funeral home, in a sleek black SUV parked down the street, two men watched Elara through tinted windows.

One of them dressed in a tailored gray suit, lowered a pair of high – tech binoculars. 

"That's her" he murmured.

The driver nodded. "You sure"

The man in the suit smiled faintly. "Victor Kain never forgets a face." 

He reached for his phone, dialing a secure line. "It's time," he said simply. "Initiate extraction." 

That night, Elara sat alone in her apartment, staring at an unopened letter. It had arrived two days ago, just before her mother's death. No return address. No markings. Just her name in precise, unfamiliar hand writing. 

She should have thrown it away. But something about it caused her to hesitate.

Finally, she exhaled and tore the envelope open. 

Inside was a single slip of paper.

It read:

 Elara, you are in danger. They know who you are. They are coming. Trust no one except him. He will find you. – E.V

Elara's heart stopped.

E.V?

"As in Ethan Vance?" she seemed to be asking herself. She barely had time to process it before – 

CRASH!

The front door exploded inward, sending shards of wood flying. Elara stumbled back, eyes wide as three masked men in tactical gear stormed inside. Her instincts kicked in. 

Move. Now.

She spun around grabbing the nearest thing within reach – a heavy metal lamp – and hurled it at the first attacker. 

It smashed against his face, sending him staggering back.

The second man lunged, but Elara was already moving, grabbing the chair from her desk and slamming it into his legs.

But the third man was faster. Before she could react, he grabbed her from behind, an elbow locking around her throat. She fought – elbows, kicks, desperate thrashing – but he was too strong. 

Dark spots danced in her vision. She was losing. Then out of nowhere – 

BANG!

The third man jerked violently and collapsed. A second shot rang out, then a third. The other two attackers dropped instantly. 

Elara gasped for breath, stumbling back. And that's when she saw him.

A man in his late twenties, dressed in sleek black tactical gear, stood in the shattered doorway. A silenced pistol in one hand and a modified wrist mounted device in the other. 

His face was handsomely sharp, and covered in a light layer of stubble. His dark eyes locked onto hers with fierce intensity. 

"Elara Vance?" he said. 

She could barely nod.

"Good, we need to go"

"Who are you!" she demanded, still breathless. He didn't answer. Instead, he tossed her a key fob.

"Your father sent me."

Elara's stomach dropped. 

"What?!" 

But before she could process it, she heard shouting outside. The gunfire had attracted more of them. 

The man turned, gripping her wrist. "I'll explain later. Right now, we run."

And with that – they were gone.