The rain had been falling since morning. The sky above the capital city was heavy with dark clouds, and the sound of thunder echoed like distant drums. Ash stood near the window of a safehouse, quietly watching raindrops slide down the glass. His mind was not on the storm—it was on the message Orion had left behind.

“He’s coming,” Orion had said before vanishing.

That simple sentence kept repeating in Ash’s head.

“He’s coming.”

Who was “he”? Who was powerful enough to scare even Orion, the cold, calculated leader of the Order?

Ash turned away from the window. Sable and Agent Duran were seated at a long table covered with maps, old files, and a tablet flashing encrypted messages. The team was tired. The mission at the Spire had left everyone drained—physically and emotionally. But there was no time to rest.

Ash ran his fingers through his damp hair and sat beside Sable.

“We need to find out who ‘he’ is,” Ash said quietly.

Duran looked up. “The Order was built around Solomon. Orion took over, but maybe… Solomon’s not really gone?”

Ash's eyes darkened. "I trained under Solomon. If he's back, things are worse than we thought. He doesn't believe in mercy. He believes in control."

Sable spoke for the first time. “Then we need to find him before he finds us.”

Ash nodded. “Exactly. And I know where to start.”

---

The next day, the rain stopped. Ash, Sable, and Duran traveled to a secret underground facility hidden deep beneath the ruins of a government lab—once used by Solomon himself. Ash had discovered it during his early spy days, but he had never gone back. Now, he had to.

The corridor smelled of rust and chemicals. Water dripped from broken pipes, and thick cables ran along the ceiling like black veins. The walls were filled with old screens, many broken, some still flickering with unreadable code.

In the center of the main room was a large glass chamber, filled with empty chairs and wires. It had once been used for Project Silk.

Sable stared at it. “This is where it all started?”

Ash nodded. “Yes. Solomon's project. They took orphans, wiped their memories, and trained them to become spies, assassins, hackers. Like me. Like Orion.”

Duran whispered, “Monsters made by monsters.”

Ash moved to the terminal and connected his device. Lines of code filled the screen. Slowly, he unlocked the encrypted archives.

A single video loaded.

They watched in silence. It was a recording of Solomon. He looked older than Ash remembered—gray streaks in his beard, deep lines on his face—but his eyes burned with the same fire.

“This world is broken,” Solomon said in the video. “Nations fall. People lie. Only one force can bring peace—control. True peace demands sacrifice.”

He looked straight at the camera.

“And when the time comes, my sons will return.”

The screen went black.

Ash stood still.

“My sons,” he repeated. “He’s not talking about me and Orion. There are more.”

Duran looked alarmed. “How many?”

Ash didn’t answer. He was already moving.

---

That night, the team set up camp in a safehouse on the outskirts of the city. Ash sat on the rooftop alone, watching the city lights flicker in the dark. Sable joined him, wrapping a coat around her shoulders.

“He trained you,” she said. “Taught you to be cold, to survive. But you chose a different path.”

Ash didn’t reply.

“You’re not like him,” Sable added.

Ash gave a small smile. “I know. But if Solomon is really alive… we’ll need to do more than survive. We’ll need to stop him. No matter what.”

---

The next morning, Ash met with General Kade, a high-ranking official who once supported Project Silk but now worked against it.

“Solomon’s been hiding in the eastern mountains,” Kade confirmed. “He’s been rebuilding. Recruiting. He has his own army now. Ghosts. People we thought were dead.”

Ash took a breath. “We’ll stop him. But we need access to the Vault of Echoes.”

Kade’s face went pale. “That place is cursed. It holds the files, yes—but also traps, weapons, mind experiments Solomon never finished.”

Ash’s voice was firm. “Then that’s exactly where we need to go.”

---

By the end of the week, Ash, Sable, and Duran stood before the ancient doors of the Vault. Fog swirled around them as they stepped inside. The walls were lined with glass cylinders, each containing memories, clones, and failed experiments.

One cylinder suddenly lit up.

Inside was a boy—alive, barely breathing.

Sable gasped. “He’s… one of us.”

Ash stared at the boy’s face. It looked familiar.

Then he saw the name etched in the glass.

“Subject Zero.”

The first creation.

Ash whispered, “Solomon’s original child.”

Suddenly, the facility shook. An explosion rocked the hallway. The Order had found them.

Gunfire erupted. Ash pulled Sable and Duran behind a control panel.

“We’re outnumbered!” Duran yelled.

Ash smirked. “Good. I like a challenge.”

He activated a defense system hidden in the wall. Lasers shot out, forming a barrier between them and the intruders.

Amid the chaos, Ash grabbed the files marked “Zero Protocol.” He shoved them into his bag and turned to Sable.

“Time to go.”

They escaped through an underground tunnel just as the Vault collapsed behind them.

Outside, Ash looked back one last time.

“Solomon started this,” he whispered. “But I’ll be the one to end it.”