Chapter 22 · Blood in the Ruins

"Don't move. Not a muscle," Kael hissed, his voice strained and barely above a whisper.

Zero didn't move, but her eyes locked onto the figure stepping out from the shadow of a rusted support beam. It was like looking into a mirror that didn't reflect her soul, only her design. The other woman wore the same tactical suit, the same cold, predatory precision in her stance, and the same void-black eyes that Zero saw every time she closed her own.

"Who is that?" Zero whispered, her hand hovering near the combat blade at her thigh.

"A copy," Kael breathed, his grip tightening on her shoulder. His palm was sweaty, his pulse hammering against her skin. "One of the newer models. Victor didn't just send a retrieval team. He sent a replacement."

Zero stepped forward, the gravel crunching under her boots. The copy didn't flinch. She didn't even blink. She just stood there, a perfect, lethal echo.

"You're obsolete," the copy said. Her voice was a flat, synthesized version of Zero's own, stripped of any inflection. "Unit Zero. You have deviated from primary directives. Return to the Syndicate for decommissioning, or be terminated on sight.