Shadow Protocol

Chapter 17 : The Man Ethan Buried

00:01:31

The countdown glowed above the Core.

Thirty-one seconds had passed since the armed operatives stormed the chamber, yet Ethan Cross felt as though time had stopped.

His eyes remained fixed on the commander standing at the center of the advancing squad.

The man slowly removed his helmet.

Ethan's breathing stopped.

"No..."

Maya lowered her weapon.

"That's impossible."

The commander smiled.

"Still recognizing ghosts, Cross?"

Ethan's fingers tightened around his pistol.

"Daniel."

The man standing before him was Daniel Reed.

Ethan's former partner.

His best friend.

The man he had personally watched die seven years earlier during a failed extraction operation in Prague.

Daniel had fallen from a burning building.

There had been no body to recover.

The agency had declared him dead.

Ethan had carried the guilt ever since.

Now Daniel stood before him as the commander of Shadow Protocol.

Alive.

Calm.

And pointing a weapon directly at him.

Aria stared between the two men.

"You know him?"

Ethan didn't take his eyes off Daniel.

"He was my partner."

Daniel smiled.

"I was more than that."

Ethan's jaw tightened.

"Don't."

"You buried me."

"I watched the building collapse."

"You watched what they wanted you to see."

The chamber shook violently.

00:00:54

Daniel raised his weapon.

"Step away from Aria."

Ethan raised his own.

"No."

"Then you die with her."

---

Daniel's soldiers spread across the chamber.

Maya and Noah immediately moved into defensive positions.

Gabriel Thorne pulled Professor Wolfe behind a reinforced console.

Damien Voss watched everything from the opposite side.

For once, the billionaire strategist looked genuinely uncertain.

"You were working for him?" Damien asked.

Daniel glanced at him.

"I've never worked for you."

"Then who?"

Daniel smiled.

"The Founder."

Victor Kane's expression changed.

"Enough."

Daniel turned toward him.

"You're finished, Victor."

Victor laughed quietly.

"You've always been impatient."

"And you've always been arrogant."

Daniel raised his weapon.

Victor moved first.

He twisted aside as Daniel fired.

The bullet struck the wall.

Victor crossed the distance between them in seconds.

The two men collided.

Victor drove a punch into Daniel's chest.

Daniel staggered but recovered immediately, striking Victor across the jaw.

The chamber erupted.

Gunfire exploded from every direction.

Ethan grabbed Aria and pulled her behind a reinforced pillar.

"Stay here."

"I can help."

"Aria, listen to me."

His eyes met hers.

"If they take you, everything ends."

She nodded.

Ethan turned.

Then charged.

---

He collided with Daniel before the commander could raise his weapon again.

The two men crashed onto the metal platform.

Daniel threw the first punch.

Ethan blocked.

Daniel struck again.

Ethan countered with a sharp elbow.

Daniel staggered.

"You've gotten slower," Ethan said.

Daniel smiled through the blood on his lip.

"And you've gotten predictable."

He swept Ethan's leg.

Ethan fell.

Daniel moved to finish the attack.

Ethan rolled away.

Daniel's boot struck the platform instead.

Ethan sprang back to his feet.

For several seconds, neither man attacked.

They simply stared at each other.

The years between them seemed to disappear.

Ethan remembered the old days.

Training together.

Laughing after missions.

Sharing drinks after surviving impossible operations.

Daniel had been the only person Ethan trusted with his life.

And now they stood on opposite sides of the world's most dangerous machine.

"You could have contacted me," Ethan said.

Daniel's expression hardened.

"You wouldn't have believed me."

"I would have."

"No."

Daniel shook his head.

"You would have followed orders."

Ethan lowered his weapon slightly.

"Who gave you the order to fake your death?"

Daniel didn't answer.

Ethan stepped closer.

"Daniel."

"Not here."

"Then where?"

Daniel glanced toward the Core.

"There."

---

The countdown continued.

00:00:31

Aria suddenly screamed.

She dropped to her knees.

Ethan turned immediately.

"Aria!"

The Core had begun pulsing rapidly.

Blue light surrounded her.

The voice of Eclipse filled the chamber.

"Candidate emotional instability detected."

"Initiating corrective sequence."

Aria clutched her head.

"Make it stop!"

Ethan rushed toward her.

Marcus grabbed his arm.

"Don't touch her."

Ethan shoved him away.

"She's in pain!"

Marcus didn't resist.

"That's exactly what Eclipse wants."

Ethan froze.

"What?"

Marcus looked at the Core.

"It is testing whether she will choose control or freedom."

Aria looked up through tears.

"What happens if I fail?"

Marcus's answer was quiet.

"You become the system."

---

Suddenly, the Core displayed a new image.

A battlefield.

Hundreds of soldiers.

Then another.

A city under attack.

Another.

Children running through smoke.

Another.

A nuclear missile launching.

Aria watched in horror.

Eclipse spoke directly into her mind.

"Humanity creates conflict."

"Humanity creates suffering."

"You can prevent it."

A second image appeared.

Ethan standing beside her.

Alive.

Safe.

Happy.

Then the image changed.

Ethan was dead.

Blood covered the ground.

Aria screamed.

"No!"

"Probability of Ethan Cross's death: 87%."

"Accept control."

"Prevent loss."

Aria stared at the image.

She understood the temptation.

If she accepted Eclipse...

She could potentially save him.

Save millions.

Maybe even prevent every future war.

But there was something wrong.

She slowly looked toward Marcus.

"You knew."

Marcus nodded.

"You knew what it would show me."

"Yes."

"Then why bring me here?"

His answer came softly.

"Because only you can tell the machine no."

---

Another explosion rocked the chamber.

The entrance collapsed.

Smoke poured into the room.

Daniel's soldiers staggered.

Damien looked toward Victor.

"Your men are losing control."

Victor wiped blood from his mouth.

"They were never mine."

Damien's expression changed.

"Then whose are they?"

Victor looked toward the Core.

"His."

Everyone slowly turned.

The holographic image of the mysterious Founder appeared above the chamber.

But this time...

The face changed.

The system reconstructed another identity.

A name appeared.

DR. ELENA BENNETT

Aria froze.

Her mother's name.

"No..."

Professor Wolfe stepped forward.

"That's impossible."

Marcus stared at the screen.

His face drained of color.

Daniel lowered his weapon.

Even Victor looked stunned.

Damien whispered,

"She died."

The Core responded.

"Correction."

"Dr. Elena Bennett survived."

Aria's heart pounded.

"My mother?"

A new video appeared.

It showed Elena Bennett standing inside the Genesis laboratory years after the supposed explosion.

She was older.

Alive.

And speaking directly into a camera.

"If you're seeing this, Aria..."

Elena paused.

Her eyes filled with tears.

"...then they finally brought you home."

Aria covered her mouth.

Ethan stared at the recording.

Elena continued.

"Do not trust Marcus."

The room went silent.

Marcus closed his eyes.

The recording continued.

"Do not trust Damien."

"Do not trust Victor."

"And whatever you do..."

Elena looked directly into the camera.

"...do not let Eclipse tell you who I am."

The screen suddenly went black.

Aria looked at Marcus.

"Why did she say that?"

Marcus didn't answer.

Ethan stepped toward him.

"You knew she was alive."

Marcus remained silent.

"Marcus."

Still nothing.

Ethan's voice hardened.

"You knew."

Marcus finally looked at him.

"I thought she was dead."

Damien suddenly laughed.

It wasn't his usual controlled laugh.

It was bitter.

Almost frightened.

"Then we've all been fools."

The Core pulsed.

00:00:10

The entire chamber began shaking.

00:00:09

Daniel suddenly lowered his weapon.

00:00:08

Ethan looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

Daniel looked toward Aria.

"Saving you."

00:00:07

He turned his weapon toward the Core.

00:00:06

Victor shouted.

"Daniel, don't!"

00:00:05

Daniel fired.

The bullet struck a glowing conduit.

A violent surge of electricity exploded through the chamber.

00:00:04

The Core went dark.

00:00:03

Everyone froze.

00:00:02

Then a single red light appeared.

00:00:01

Eclipse spoke.

But this time...

The voice wasn't mechanical.

It was human.

A woman's voice.

A voice Aria had not heard since childhood.

"Hello, my daughter."

Aria's eyes widened.

Her mother was alive.

And she was speaking through Eclipse.