The night bled into dawn across the Austrian highway.
Amira's reflection blurred against the van window, her pulse still racing from Vienna. Leonardo drove in silence, the hum of the engine mixing with the storm's low growl behind them.
Every few miles, she looked back — half expecting headlights, half dreading what she might see.
None came.
"Where are we going?" she asked finally.
Leonardo's voice was tight. "Zurich. There's a contact who can decode what's left of the Covenant servers. If Celeste was right about the Blood Network, we'll need proof before it's too late."
Amira frowned. "The Blood Network… it's more than data, isn't it?"
He glanced at her, jaw tense. "It's DNA-based surveillance. They're not tracking devices — they're people. Every Covenant agent has their bloodstream mapped, networked through nanotech to transmit bio-signals. Whoever controls the Blood Network controls them."
Amira's heart dropped. "You're saying they could control a person's mind?"
"Not quite," Leonardo said. "But they can read it. They can predict thought before it becomes action."
A chill slid down her spine. "So they're watching us. Right now."
Leonardo didn't answer — which meant yes.
Hours later, the van stopped inside an abandoned rail terminal outside Zurich.
The massive structure was half-eaten by ivy, windows shattered, but generators hummed faintly somewhere below. Leonardo keyed a code into a hidden pad, and a metallic door slid open, revealing a dimly lit corridor.
"Who built this place?" Amira asked.
"Me," he said flatly. "Before I ever met Victor Lang. I needed somewhere the Covenant couldn't reach."
Inside, the air smelled of metal and ozone. Screens flickered to life across a concrete wall, showing strings of code and thermal scans.
Leonardo sat, typing fast. "We'll run a bio-trace."
Amira stood behind him. "On who?"
He looked up. "Us."
The words sank in like cold water.
Within minutes, the monitor glowed red. A heartbeat graphic pulsed on screen — two signatures.
But one began to glitch, lines flickering, data fracturing into strange geometric patterns.
Amira leaned forward. "What's that?"
Leonardo's face went pale. "That's… not possible."
The red pattern stretched across the screen, twisting into a spiral. A message appeared beneath it:
ACTIVE NODE DETECTED – LINKED BLOODSTREAM FOUND.
Amira's throat went dry. "It's me, isn't it?"
He turned slowly. "They tagged your blood. Probably during your time with Lang. You're still connected to the Network."
Her voice broke. "Then they know where we are."
Leonardo slammed the keyboard. "Not for long."
He ripped open a drawer, pulling out a syringe filled with shimmering blue fluid.
"What is that?" Amira asked.
"Nanophage. It destroys Blood Network cells. But it's experimental."
"Meaning?"
He hesitated. "Meaning it could save you… or stop your heart."
Amira looked at the syringe, then at him. "Do it."
"Amira—"
She stepped closer. "They're tracking me, Leo. If I die from this, fine. But I'm not letting them use me again."
He swallowed hard. "Lie down."
She obeyed. He injected the blue fluid into her arm — cold fire racing through her veins. Her body seized, vision fracturing into shards of light and sound. She gasped, clutching the edge of the metal table.
Leonardo held her down. "Breathe—Amira, breathe!"
Her pulse spiked on the monitor — 150, 170, 200 bpm — then flatlined for half a second.
Leonardo froze. "No…"
But then, a sound — soft, steady — her pulse returned. The red node on the screen dimmed… then vanished.
She opened her eyes, tears streaking her face. "Did it work?"
He checked the data feed — clear. "You're free."
Amira sat up, trembling. "Then we move. Before they find another way."
But they were already too late.
On the outskirts of Zurich, a convoy of black vehicles tore down the wet highway — the Covenant's retrieval team. Inside the lead car, a woman in a dark coat watched the tracker feed on her tablet.
"Signal lost?" the driver asked.
She smiled faintly. "No. It means the host went dark."
"Orders?"
Her eyes glimmered under the dim lights. "We smoke them out."
At the terminal, Amira and Leonardo prepped to leave. Leonardo packed a portable drive of decrypted data; Amira holstered a pistol she'd taken from Vienna.
Then the lights flickered — once, twice — and died.
"Backup generator's offline," Leonardo muttered.
A voice echoed through the hallway — metallic, distorted.
"Leonardo Voss. You've been a difficult ghost to chase."
Amira's blood ran cold. "They're here."
Leonardo grabbed her wrist. "Downstairs — move!"
They sprinted into the lower tunnels. Shadows danced on the walls, footsteps pounding behind them. Amira fired twice, bullets sparking off metal.
"Left!" Leonardo shouted, kicking open a maintenance door.
They burst into an underground rail line, tracks gleaming faintly under emergency lights. At the far end — a single maintenance car.
Leonardo jumped in, pulling Amira beside him, slamming the ignition.
The car roared to life just as gunfire erupted behind them.
Bullets clanged off the rails. Sparks lit the tunnel like fireworks as the vehicle sped forward into darkness.
For miles, neither spoke. Only the echo of wheels on steel filled the silence.
Finally, Amira whispered, "What if we can't stop them?"
Leonardo didn't look at her. "Then we burn the whole system."
She turned to him. "You mean destroy the Blood Network."
He nodded. "Every trace of it — every node, every signal. It all leads back to one core. They call it The Red Vault."
"Where?"
He hesitated. "Geneva. Beneath the World Biotech Council's main server. They hid it under a humanitarian front."
Amira stared ahead, jaw set. "Then that's where we end this."
Two hours later, dawn broke over Geneva.
The city gleamed in early light, unaware that beneath its spotless towers, a silent war waited to erupt. Leonardo and Amira parked in a construction site two blocks from the council's tower.
Leonardo handed her a small capsule. "EMP charge. Short-range. We'll use it to fry the main relay once we breach."
Amira nodded, slipping it into her pocket. "What about the security grid?"
He smirked faintly. "That's why you're here."
They slipped inside through the underground access ducts. Every corridor hummed with energy — polished, sterile, humming with hidden power. The deeper they went, the colder it became.
Finally, they reached a reinforced door marked AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
Leonardo tapped into the keypad. Sparks flickered. The lock released with a hiss.
Inside was a chamber of light — a cathedral made of glass and circuits. At its center stood a column of crimson energy pulsing like a living heart.
Amira whispered, "The Red Vault."
Leonardo's voice was almost reverent. "This is it. Every blood-linked identity on the planet flows through that core."
They approached. The hum grew louder, vibrating through their bones.
Leonardo reached for his terminal — and froze.
Amira followed his gaze.
On the far side of the chamber stood Madam Serpent.
She stepped forward, her eyes glimmering with cold amusement.
"You made it farther than I expected," she said softly. "Celeste underestimated you."
Amira's hand tightened on her gun. "You're the one controlling the Blood Network."
"I am the Network," Serpent replied. "And so are you. Every drop of your blood carries my design."
Leonardo drew his weapon. "Not anymore."
She smiled. "You think your little nanophage erased me? It didn't destroy the link — it evolved it."
She lifted a small remote, pressing a button.
The Vault pulsed violently — and Amira screamed, collapsing.
Leonardo caught her, eyes wide. Her veins glowed faintly red beneath her skin.
Serpent's voice was calm. "Do you understand now? The Network doesn't need to control minds. It merges them. You're the key, Amira. You always were."
Leonardo aimed his gun. "Then I'll break the key."
He fired — but Serpent vanished, her hologram shattering like glass.
A mechanical voice boomed: "CONTAINMENT BREACH DETECTED."
The Vault's energy flared, circuits melting, alarms wailing. Leonardo grabbed Amira, dragging her toward the exit.
"Leo—" she gasped. "The EMP!"
He turned, hesitating only a second — then hurled the capsule at the core.
A blinding white flash filled the chamber.
The world split apart.
When the dust settled, the Vault was gone — burned to ash.
Leonardo lay half-conscious on the floor, Amira beside him, her pulse faint but steady. Above them, faint sunlight streamed through the broken ceiling.
Amira stirred, whispering, "Did we… do it?"
Leonardo looked around at the ruined servers. "We did."
But on a single surviving monitor, lines of code began to rewrite themselves — red symbols crawling across the screen like living fire.
A message appeared:
PROJECT SERPENT: REINITIALIZING… 12%.
Amira's voice trembled. "It's not over."
Leonardo's expression hardened. "Then we finish it."