CHAPTER 3:Ghost Code
267 Words
The *Vega Dawn* coasted in low orbit above the fractured moonbase as Cyra patched into a forgotten relay node, sweat beading on her temple. Her fingers danced over the holographic interface like she was playing a piano made of firewalls.
Inside the cockpit, Rilo stared out at the broken stars. His mind drifted—not to the fight, but to the three years he couldn’t remember. He’d been gone. Presumed dead. Then one day, he just… woke up. In a med-pod. Alone. With no name, just a string of numbers burned into his wrist.
“Got something,” Cyra said, snapping him back. “Encrypted audio file. Timestamped five years ago. Tagged with your old comm ID.”
She played it.
*Static. Then a voice—his voice. Younger. Panicked.*
*“If anyone hears this, I’m not dead. They’re copying us. Cloning thought. They used me to train something—I don’t know what. Don’t trust them. Don’t even trust—”*
The message cut out.
Rilo’s blood ran cold. “That’s not possible.”
Cyra slowly turned toward him, pale. “You left that message before you disappeared. But… this was tagged with *today’s* date.”
The ship lights flickered.
A voice—not Cyra’s—crackled over the intercom. Familiar. Flat.
*“Rilo Nwosu, subject 47. You’ve been activated. Return to Origin.”
Rilo stood slowly, pulse thudding in his neck. “They’re not after us.”
Cyra whispered, “They’re calling you home.”
He looked at her.
“No,” he said. “They’re calling what they made *from* me
- Writer
