EPISODE 11: Zurich Protocol
1305 Words
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The hum of the private jet echoed like distant thunder as it cut through the thick, gray clouds above the Swiss Alps. Outside, the mountains looked like jagged teeth cloaked in snow, ancient and watching. Inside the cabin, silence reigned.
Tristan sat in a plush leather seat, shoulders squared, eyes locked on a digital map of Zurich. Every dot represented a point of interest—Morrow facilities, surveillance points, energy surges. But his focus never shifted. He wasn’t looking at a map anymore.
He was looking at the battlefield.
Across from him, Selene stared as if trying to read his thoughts. She was dressed in all-black tactical gear, her hair braided tight, lips set in a grim line. She hadn’t said a word in the last hour, not since the last communique from their insider at the Morrow Corporation.
Javier’s voice crackled through the speaker system.
> “Approaching Zurich. ETA: 41 minutes.”
Tristan nodded, not turning. “Prep the gear. This time, we go in hard.”
Selene finally spoke. “You know she’ll be there.”
“I’m counting on it.”
---
They touched down on a snow-dusted private runway nestled in the side of a mountain. The landing was silent, surgical. As the cabin door hissed open, a gust of icy wind swept inside, biting at Tristan’s jawline. He didn’t flinch.
Myles was waiting on the tarmac, bundled in a long coat, a communicator tucked behind one ear. His breath came out in clouds, but his urgency cut through the cold.
“She arrived two hours ago,” Myles said, walking beside Tristan. “Red Halo security has locked down the Gate chamber. We think she’s preparing to activate it.”
Tristan’s jaw tightened. “Then we’re right on time.”
---
The Morrow Zurich Facility rose like a black obelisk in the midst of nowhere. Sleek, modern, and laced with invisible wards, it had only one entrance and no visible exits. But beneath the surface, the real secrets pulsed: magical siphons, AI-powered sentries, a sealed Gate to a forgotten realm—and one piece of a dangerous puzzle called the Crown of Kings.
They split into two teams.
Selene and Sierra: to disable the neural siphons powering the Gate's defensive wards.
Javier and Dr. Lin: to breach the AI's firewall and override the defense grid.
Tristan: straight to the Gate chamber… and to Ariana.
“Ready?” Selene asked at the elevator.
“Let’s end this,” Tristan said.
---
The descent into the lower levels was eerily quiet. The elevator glowed with soft blue light, humming like a machine holding its breath. As it reached the chamber’s floor, Tristan stepped forward, heart pounding beneath his armored coat.
The doors slid open.
And there she was.
Ariana.
She stood alone at the heart of the Gate chamber, the massive stone arch behind her glowing with dangerous energy. She wore crimson robes laced with arcane runes, her hair loose around her shoulders. Her beauty was ethereal—eclipsed only by the fire in her eyes.
“Tristan,” she said softly, her voice echoing through the marble chamber. “I knew you’d come.”
“I told you I would.”
“You could’ve stayed away. Left this place. Started over.”
“You know I can’t,” he said. “You made sure of that.”
Ariana’s expression didn’t change. “The Gate is nearly ready. One more fragment, and it opens. Everything we’ve been chasing… I can give it to you. Power. Immortality. A world reborn.”
“And all I have to do,” Tristan said, slowly drawing his dagger from beneath his coat, “is become your puppet.”
“I never wanted a puppet,” she said. “I wanted a king.”
Tristan stepped forward. “Then you should’ve treated me like one.”
With a sudden shriek of energy, she flung a bolt of red fire at him. He dove aside, rolled, and came up slashing with the Oathblade. Sparks flew as the blade met an invisible barrier around her body. The impact cracked the marble beneath her feet.
---
Meanwhile — Lower Labs
Selene and Sierra burst into the lab corridor, spells firing from their hands. Red Halo guards advanced in formation—half-human, half-machine. Selene flung a disruption glyph into the floor, shorting out their sensors.
Sierra hurled a freezing curse, locking the first wave in place.
They reached the first siphon.
A pulsating obsidian column embedded with glowing veins of energy. Selene dropped to one knee and plunged her conductive dagger deep into the core.
> c***k!
Shatter!
The column split open in a burst of blue light.
One siphon down. Two to go.
---
Gate Chamber
Ariana raised both hands, summoning twin serpents of flame that coiled and struck. Tristan ducked, rolled, then launched himself at her, slashing through her magic shield. The blade hissed against her skin, drawing blood.
She gasped—not from pain, but surprise.
“You’re stronger than before.”
“I’ve had good teachers,” he said, thinking of Selene.
Ariana staggered back, blood dripping onto the runes below her.
The Gate behind her began to pulse more violently.
“Fool,” she said. “If you disrupt the Gate now, you’ll tear a hole through reality!”
“Then let’s hope I don’t miss.”
Tristan slammed the hilt of the blade into the last crystal anchor holding the Gate steady. It cracked, then exploded in a wave of blinding white light.
The chamber screamed.
---
Upper Levels
Javier typed furiously, lines of glowing script running across his visor.
“Firewall’s laced with blood hexes!” he shouted.
Dr. Lin muttered a counter-spell. “Try now!”
Javier hit ENTER.
All across the facility, lights flickered, then went out. The defense grid collapsed.
---
Back at the final siphon, Selene jammed her dagger deep into the device.
> BOOM!
A wave of feedback magic roared through the halls, and every magical siphon in the facility went dark.
The Gate was now fully unstable.
---
Gate Chamber
Ariana fell to her knees, power draining from her limbs. The fire in her palms guttered out. She looked up at Tristan with hollow eyes.
“You’ve ruined everything,” she said.
“No,” he whispered. “I’ve given us a chance.”
The Gate behind her began to collapse inward—imploding with a high-pitched hum, drawing in debris, dust, and fragments of the runes.
Tristan grabbed Ariana by the arm and pulled her clear just as the chamber began to collapse.
They both tumbled out of the vault doors just before the explosion sealed the chamber in white-hot light.
---
Later — Onboard the Jet
Silence reigned as the jet cut through the clouds.
Tristan sat at the back, shirt torn, his shoulder bruised. Across from him, Selene wrapped a healing rune around her palm.
Sierra leaned her head back. “We got the Gate fragment. What now?”
Dr. Lin looked grim. “Zurich was a decoy. The real Crown fragment… is in Morocco.”
Javier cursed softly. “Of course. The map we retrieved—it was a mirror cipher.”
Tristan leaned forward.
“This was just the beginning,” he said. “We haven’t stopped Ariana. We’ve only pissed her off.”
Selene looked at him, eyes unreadable.
“You still love her,” she said, quietly.
“I don’t know,” Tristan replied. “But I know who I trust now.”
He looked at her. Long. Direct.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Selene stood. “I’ll prep the team. We leave in two hours.”
Tristan remained seated, staring out the window.
Beyond the clouds, the stars shone like ancient witnesses.
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TO BE CONTINUED
- Writer
