The chamber pulsed with crimson light as the steel shutters slammed shut, locking Ava, Noah, and Luca inside with the stranger. The man's shadow stretched long across the walls, swallowing the flickering blue glow like a predator.

Ava's pulse thundered in her ears. "Who are you?"

The man stepped forward, eyes gleaming cold fire. "I am Dr. Alaric Voss. The mind behind Winterglass — and the architect of your 'awakening.'"

Noah's grip tightened on his weapon. "You're insane."

Voss smiled, unnerving and calm. "Insanity is merely the refusal to accept the truth. You see, Ava, you were never meant to be free. You are the culmination of decades of research — a weapon disguised as a girl."

Ava's hands trembled, glowing faintly again. "I'm not your experiment."

"Yet you carry my signature — the ghost in your blood and synapses." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And soon, you'll become the key to unlocking a power greater than you can imagine."

Suddenly, the chamber's monitors flickered to life, displaying flickering images of other children—subjects—like phantoms trapped in time. Their faces twisted in agony, fear, and defiance.

"Look at them," Voss said, voice thick with dark pride. "Your siblings. Your family. All failures, except you."

Ava's heart clenched. Memories flashed—voices screaming, isolation, cold needles.

Luca stepped beside her. "We have to stop him."

Voss laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Try. But first, answer me—do you remember the power you hold? The one that can save or destroy?"

Ava's hands flared bright, a cascade of light spilling into the shadows.

The battle for her soul—and the fate of all the lost—had only just begun.

To be continued...