The Shattered Cipher

mmanded, its voice a cold blade, forcing her lips to mutter, "I sabotage the world." Neon signs flickered in the distance, the airstrip's floodlights a faint beacon. Jace ran

er abandoning her sister to the CIA's labs was a heavier chain. Seventy-two hours to

ed tarmac, its engines a low roar. Syndicate operatives' radios crackled behind, their stun darts hissing through the rain. The Cipher

s LEDs fading. The device dulled the override, but her hands still twi

scanning the dark. "Pilot's cle

were twins, engineered-shook her. She wasn't Clara's older sister, just a lab-crafted double,

he Cipher buzzed: Anomaly detected: Syndicate signal, onboard jet. Source: pilot. Her stomach dr

ot's new-Syndicate must've flipped him." He fired at a drone, it

ged: Directive: destroy keycard. Her fingers tightened, bending the plastic. She screamed, forcing her hand ope

Points: 0. New memory fragment: Berlin, 2023. Voss protocol. A vision hit-Lena and Clara, side by side in a sterile lab, their blood mixing in a vial, a scie

ning, the override roaring: Confess and disable jet. Her voice leaked out, robotic: "I... crash..

rawing a stun pistol. Jace tackled him, slamming his head against the console. "Stay down!" Jace growl

into the pilot's seat. "I can fly it,"

adcast live: 'Voss is traitor.' Her vision blurred, her fingers clawing at her scalp. "It's... in my head," s

ng forward. Drones battered the hull, their nets

pped. Override? She wasn't just a key-she was the backup, designed to replace Clara. A new vision surged-Clara, in Vault 17, her mind hijac

he Cipher's controlling Clara. We're no

ing through the storm. "Clones or not, you're her

Lena dove, the jammer skidding across the floor. The operative lunged, his blade grazing h

d Syndicate. Her arm froze, refusing to strike. The operative grinned, his earpiece crackli

w into the operative's throat. He choked, collapsing. Lena grabbed his knife, panting, blood dripping

on fading below. Jace glanced b

's earpiece crackled, a voice clear: "Clara's blood

Clara, convulsing, a scientist saying, "Her mind's breaking. Lena's sync is stronger." The jet shook, a drone's missile grazing the wing. The