Chapter 9: Subject four is awake
📖 Omega Reawakens
The underground lab wasn't listed on any digital map.
That's why Nova-Aria could feel it.
She didn't need coordinates.
The code inside her pulled her toward it — like gravity, like memory.
---
Liam and Nova stood in front of a rusted maintenance tunnel beneath the city.
No guards, Liam whispered.
Too confident,she replied.They don't think I've remembered.
But I have.
She placed her hand against the old steel door.
The lock clicked. Once. Twice.
Then the tunnel opened.
---
🔦 Inside the Facility
The walls were stained with age. Dust danced in the flickering lights.
Nova-Aria walked without hesitation.
Liam followed, gun in hand, jaw tight.
This place wasn't for research, she said.
It was a prison.
She paused beside a sealed glass chamber.
A nameplate beneath it read:
> SUBJECT 04: CODE NAME – ELIAS
Her eyes widened.
I remember him.
They said he died.
Liam glanced at the console.
> Status: IN STASIS
Vital Signs: STABLE
Brain Activity: ACTIVE
Cognitive Spike Detected — 3 minutes ago
He's awake, Liam whispered.
---
⚠️ Backflash – Aria's Lost Memory
Screams. Shock paddles. Metal restraints.
She'd seen Elias strapped beside her during early testing — eyes blank, body twitching.
They called him the devourer.
He didn't control Omega code.
He absorbed it.
Aria had once seen him destroy an entire data system by screaming.
He was meant to be a failsafe — a weapon in case Aria couldn't be contained.
Then… he vanished.
--
The Chamber Cracks
The glass hissed.
A hand slammed against the inside.
Liam raised his gun. Nova-Aria didn't flinch.
The chamber opened slowly, releasing vapor and static.
And then—
A boy stepped forward. No older than twenty.
Eyes burning with red circuitry. A cruel smile tugging at his lips.
Well, he rasped, voice metallic and layered,
If it isn't the ghost girl.
I always knew you'd come back, Aria.
---
Nova-Aria stood her ground.
I'm not Aria,she said.
The boy stepped closer, eyes narrowing.
You will be.
Because this time, we finish what Genesis started.