The Shattered Cipher

to Syndicate. The cabin shuddered, São Paulo's neon skyline fading as a Syndicate drone's missile grazed the wing, smoke trailing. Jace wrestled the controls, his face g

e and Clara, clones engineered for the Syndicate's vault, their minds synced, her thoughts the key to an econo

ull: Hostile drones: two, 100 meters. Jet integrity: 62%. Crash probability: 45%. Lena's vision blurred, the override forcing her hand toward th

the storm. His Syndicate tattoo glinted, a constant d

shattered her. Their memories, their bond, were Syndicate lies, engineered to sync their minds for Vault

caught. Neural archive? The vault wasn't just a lockbox-it was a server, storing codes to crash global markets, and her synced mind with Clara's was the key.

al. She was the backup, her thoughts meant to replace Clara's, sacrificing her sister to open th

ighting the controls. "Fuel line's hit. We're l

'Voss sabotages flight.' Her hand jerked, reaching for the console's emergency shutoff. "No!" she roared, slamming her fist into her

e stronger than that thing!" He yanked a lever, the je

apped to the dead operative's earpiece, its LED blinking red. "Tracker," she hissed, lunging for it. The

her mind, ripped out to unlock the vault. Clara's vision replayed-her sister's convulsions, her mind a

ailable: Code Shift. Cipher Points: 0. New memory fragment: Berlin, 2023. Clone protocol. A vision hit-Lena and Clara, unconscious in a lab, their brains wired to a ser

orward, pain exploding. The cabin tilted, smoke choking the air. Jace unbuckled, coughing,

ash site compromised: Syndicate ground team, 500 meters. ETA: 5 minutes. Her ribs burned, th

n move. Istanbul's our shot to save Clara." He pulled a flare from h

ed, reaching for Jace's flare to ignite it, a beacon. She screamed, dropping it, her will splintering. The Cipher pulsed: Over

her in Berlin. But the vault's truth-her mind as the override-meant saving Clara might doom the

figure materialized, cloaked, holding a neural scanner, its beam locking

s now. A final vision hit-Clara, lifeless, the vault glowing, codes streaming. Lena's scream tore free, her body collapsing, the scanner's beam inten