Roman’s hideout reeked of stale alcohol and sweat, the underground fight club’s distant roars echoing through the walls.Malcolm, Carter, and Zeke sat around a battered steel table, staring at the decrypted files. The tension was thick enough to slice with a blade.“This isn’t just a weapon,” Carter murmured, scrolling through the data. “It’s a biotech experiment—a hybrid between AI and organic matter.”Zeke frowned. “So… a robot that bleeds?”Carter shot him a look. “More like a virus that thinks.”Roman leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. “Great. And what’s that got to do with you idiots breaking into one of the most secure facilities in the city?”Malcolm exhaled. “Because that’s where they’re keeping the prototype.”Roman let out a dry laugh. “Let me guess—you wanna steal it?”Malcolm nodded.Roman’s laughter died instantly.“You’re out of your damn mind.”Carter pulled up a digital map on her tablet, showing the Syndicate’s Research Facility—a massive, high-tech fortress hidd

Malcolm stared at the screen, his heartbeat hammering in his chest.His brother. Alive.Bruised, bloodied, and shackled in some dark interrogation room.Carter’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. “This isn’t deepfake tech. It’s real, Malcolm.”Roman exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “That’s impossible. You told us he died years ago.”“I thought he did,” Malcolm murmured. His mind was a storm of memories—the fire, the gunshots, the night everything fell apart.But now, staring at his brother’s face, reality slammed into him like a freight train.Zeke folded his arms. “So what do we do? Because if the Syndicate has him, this is a setup.”Carter turned back to the screen, running a trace. “Signal’s coming from an off-grid Syndicate compound on the city’s outskirts.”Malcolm clenched his jaw. “Then that’s where we go.”Roman swore under his breath. “You realize this is a trap, right?”“I don’t care.”Roman sighed, rubbing his temples. “Of course you don’t.”Zeke threw up his hands. “Gre

The streets were in chaos. Fires burned, sirens wailed, and the city teetered on the edge of collapse.Malcolm drove through the wreckage, gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. The Syndicate had declared war—and no one was safe.Roman sat in the passenger seat, loading his gun. “This is getting out of control.”Zeke leaned forward from the backseat. “Getting? We’re way past that.”Carter’s voice crackled in Malcolm’s earpiece. “You’re not gonna like this.”“Spit it out.”Carter hesitated. “Eleanor just put a bounty on you. Five million. Dead or alive.”Malcolm cursed under his breath. “Great. So now every trigger-happy merc in the city is coming after me.”Roman smirked. “At least we know we’re popular.”Malcolm exhaled. “We stick to the plan. We find the stronghold, we find the truth, and we end this.”Tracking the Syndicate’s Original BaseCarter had traced the coordinates from Project Omega’s files.The location?An abandoned research facility—deep beneath the city.

INew York had never been this silent.Malcolm stood on a rooftop, staring at the blacked-out skyline. The streets below were filled with chaos—flashing sirens, car horns, and the distant crackle of looting.The city was alive, but barely.He exhaled, gripping the edge of the rooftop. This was the cost of stopping Project Omega.Footsteps behind him.Roman.“She’s still out there,” Roman said, his voice low.Malcolm nodded. Eleanor was smart. She wouldn’t disappear. She’d regroup. Retaliate.Carter’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “I ran a search. Eleanor vanished before the blackout hit. No signal. No movement. It’s like she knew we’d win.”Zeke groaned. “Great. So what now? We just wait for her to kill us in our sleep?”Malcolm’s jaw clenched. No.They weren’t waiting. They were hunting.“Get everyone ready,” Malcolm said, turning. “We end this. Tonight.The team regrouped in their safe house—a hidden bunker beneath an abandoned subway station.Carter had seven monitors glowing

One week later.Malcolm sat on a rooftop in New York City, staring at the skyline. The war was over. Eleanor was locked away in a maximum-security black site, Project Omega was dismantled, and the Architects had been exposed.So why didn’t it feel like a victory?Carter joined him, holding two beers. “Figured you could use one.”Malcolm took it but didn’t drink. “You ever think about what comes next?”Carter scoffed. “Next? I just want a vacation.”Zeke’s voice came through their earpieces. “Uh, guys? You might wanna turn on the news.”Malcolm frowned, pulling out his phone.The headline made his stomach drop.BREAKING NEWS: HIGH-SECURITY BLACK SITE ATTACKED. PRISONER ESCAPED.And then—Eleanor’s face flashed on the screen.Zeke cursed. “I hate this job.The team regrouped at the safe house.Roman was furious. “How the hell did she escape?”Carter pulled up security footage. A high-tech extraction.Zeke groaned. “She’s got friends. Again.”Malcolm clenched his fists. “Then we find her.