Chapter 16: The Mirror and the Monster
1041 Words
(Arianna’s POV)
---
I’ve never been afraid of my own reflection.
Not even when I saw blood on my hands.
Not even when the mirror stared back empty.
Not even when my eyes screamed what my mouth couldn’t say.
But Prague changed that.
Because now, when I look into the glass...
I see her.
The replica.
The assassin wearing my skin.
The woman I might’ve been—if I never escaped.
---
We arrived in Prague two nights after the message.
Silas set up surveillance from an abandoned bell tower overlooking the Kestrel Building, the last known location of Project NERO’s signal.
Leo paced behind me, watching blueprints flicker across the screen.
"Thirty stories. Main servers on 27. Top floor’s a penthouse. No windows. That’s where Ricci is."
Silas looked up.
"And that’s where she is too."
He tapped a still image.
Grainy, but clear enough.
Her face.
My face.
Wearing a black combat suit.
Hair tied like mine.
Expression unreadable.
But something in her eyes...
It wasn’t me.
She had the shell.
But not the soul.
Not anymore.
Leo leaned down beside me, voice low.
"You okay?"
I didn’t sign.
I just nodded once.
Lied.
---
We went in through the underground tunnels—access shafts built during the Cold War, now used for storage and black market deliveries.
Leo went ahead, clearing the path.
I followed silently.
Each step took me closer to the moment I didn’t want to face—
Fighting myself.
---
We reached the server room first.
Silas patched in through comms.
"Two minutes before they notice us. Get the data, then move."
Leo watched the door.
I plugged in the USB.
Files poured in.
Names. Missions. Training logs.
Replication data.
I read it silently.
And felt my stomach twist.
> Subject: A-01 (Cruz, Arianna - Prime).
Cognitive pattern successfully mapped.
Memory fragments preserved during sedation.
All units are compliant.
Except A-09. Terminated.
My hands trembled.
A-09 tried to fight.
Tried to break free.
And they killed her.
Leo stepped close.
"We take this to Interpol. Blow the lid off everything."
I nodded.
But I wasn’t done.
Because one file was still locked.
One labeled simply: ECHO.
I opened it.
And saw video footage.
Me.
But not a clone.
Me.
Twelve years old.
Sitting in a white room.
Volkova’s voice in the background.
"She doesn't need to speak. She feels what they feel. Lies hurt her like knives. But if we train her... she can become our perfect weapon."
Leo watched too.
He didn’t speak.
Just turned away, fists clenched.
I closed the file.
Because I didn’t need to watch the rest.
I remembered it.
All of it.
---
"They’re coming," Silas warned. "Multiple signatures on the 28th floor. You’ve got company."
Leo grabbed my hand.
"We move now."
---
We took the elevator up.
Thirty floors in silence.
Until the doors opened—
And I saw her.
Waiting.
Me.
Replica-01.
She tilted her head.
Mirrored me.
Same height.
Same scars.
Same stillness.
Leo raised his gun.
But I stepped forward.
Signed slowly:
You don’t have to do this.
She didn’t react.
Didn’t flinch.
Then she did something strange—
She signed back.
I was born for this.
Then she attacked.
---
She moved like me.
Trained like me.
But she didn’t think like me.
That’s where I found my edge.
She went for the throat—predictable.
I dodged.
Countered with a sweep.
She recovered fast.
Spun. Kicked my rib.
I winced.
But smiled.
Because pain reminds me I’m real.
We clashed again.
Knives out now.
The sound of steel on steel echoed down the corridor.
Leo moved to intervene.
I signed: No. I need to end this. Myself.
---
She feinted low.
I fell for it.
Blade sliced my shoulder.
Blood poured.
She smirked.
But I laughed—silent but sure.
Then I struck her temple.
Staggered her.
And drove my elbow into her chest.
She collapsed, gasping.
I grabbed her wrist, pinned her to the wall.
Signed one last thing:
You were built to be me.
But I became me.
That’s the difference.
Then I knocked her out cold.
Tied her wrists.
Leo pulled me into a corner.
"We need to reach Ricci. Now."
---
The penthouse was sealed.
Until Leo hacked the panel.
And the doors opened to a room of smoke, gold, and silence.
Enzo Ricci sat on a throne-like chair.
Hair white. Eyes like frost.
"My son," he said with a smile.
Leo didn’t answer.
Just raised his gun.
"You’re not my father."
"And yet here you are. Playing Don. Playing soldier. Beside your little weapon."
He looked at me.
"She’s quite the specimen. Volkova was proud of her. Pity she turned wild."
I stepped forward.
Blood on my arm. Ash on my cheek.
And I smiled.
You’re scared of me.
Ricci laughed.
"Scared? No. Intrigued? Deeply. You were never meant to have a will. But now you’ve killed Volkova. Burned my network. And made my i***t heir believe you’re more than a machine."
Leo’s voice turned sharp.
"You tried to erase my family. My name. You used my legacy to build monsters."
"I perfected it."
Ricci stood.
"The world doesn't need old families. It needs new gods. You should’ve ruled beside me."
Leo’s gun fired.
Once.
Straight through Ricci’s heart.
He staggered.
Collapsed.
Bleeding.
And still smiling.
*"I still win..." he whispered.
Then died.
---
We burned NERO.
Every floor.
Silas extracted us from the roof by copter.
As Prague glowed behind us in smoke and flame.
---
Back in Italy, the news exploded.
Interpol raided safehouses worldwide.
Rescued dozens of trafficked subjects.
Destroyed Ricci’s empire.
But they never found the replica.
She disappeared.
Vanished into shadow.
Somewhere in the world...
She’s still out there.
Still wearing my face.
But I’ll be ready.
---
Leo stood beside me at the Bianchi graveyard.
He placed a rose on his mother’s tomb.
Then turned to me.
"You’ve seen the worst of me. You still stay."
I signed:
Because you saw the worst in me… and you didn’t flinch.
He pulled me close.
"Let’s end the cycle."
"No more ghosts. No more bloodlines."
I looked at him.
Nodded.
Then finally—
Spoke aloud.
My voice, soft but certain.
"Let’s build something real."
- Writer
