The Broker’s Price

"Don't shoot," I said, my hands raised but the black card hidden in my palm.

Chloe didn't lower the rifle. Her face was a topographical map of violence—purple bruises, split lip, and a gash above her eye that had been crudely stitched.

"Give me one reason," she rasped.

"Because I'm going to finish what we started in Tokyo," I said. "I'm going to the Vault."

"The Vault is a myth," Chloe said. "A bedtime story Lucius told us to keep us obedient."

"It's real," Felix said, stepping out of the shadows. "And we have the key."

Chloe looked at Felix, then back at me. The rifle wavered, just slightly.

"You left me," she said. "In the facility. With the gas."

"I thought you were dead," I said, the guilt a sharp stone in my throat. "I saw you go down."

"I held my breath," Chloe said, a bitter smile twisting her lips. "And then I fought my way out. While you were playing hero on the roof."

"I killed Lucius," I said.

Chloe laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "You think you killed him? You just made him angry."

"He's dead, Chloe. I saw the body. I saw the light go out."

"Then why are his death squads still sweeping the city?" she asked. "Why is the network still active?"

"Because of the source code," I said. "It's in the Vault. That's why I need to get in. To kill it for good."

I held up the black card.

"The Broker gave me this. It's a one-time pass."

Chloe stared at the card. The hunger in her eyes was terrifying. She didn't want revenge. She wanted access.

"We go together," she said.

"Fine," I said. "But you drop the gun."

She lowered the rifle but didn't safe it. "After you, *Founder*."

The sarcasm stung, but I ignored it. We moved through the service tunnels, a grim trio of ghosts.

The Citadel loomed above us, a monolith of glass and steel piercing the night sky. The service entrance was a nondescript steel door in a loading bay.

I swiped the card. The reader flashed green. The door hissed open.

"We're in," Felix whispered.

"Not yet," Chloe said. "This is just the lobby. The Vault is fifty floors down."

We entered the service elevator. It was a metal cage, smelling of oil and ozone. I swiped the card again. The button for sub-level 50 lit up.

The descent was slow, agonizing. Every floor we passed was a potential ambush.

"So," Chloe said, leaning against the wall. "You're a Vane."

I looked at her. "The Broker told you?"

"The Broker tells everyone everything, for a price," she said. "It explains a lot. The aptitude. The clearance. The way Lucius looked at you."

"Like a project," I said.

"Like a daughter," Chloe corrected. "A twisted, messed-up daughter."

The elevator stopped. The doors opened.

We weren't in a hallway. We were in a cavern.

The Vault was massive, carved out of the bedrock beneath the city. Rows of servers hummed in the darkness, their lights blinking like distant stars. And in the center, suspended over a chasm, was a glass cube.

The Source.

A walkway led to it. A single, narrow bridge of transparent polymer.

"That's it," Felix breathed. "The brain of the beast."

We stepped onto the walkway. It felt like walking on air.

Halfway across, the lights in the cavern flared to blinding brightness.

I threw my arm up to shield my eyes.

"Welcome home, Aria," a voice boomed from speakers hidden in the rock.

It was Lucius's voice.

But he was dead.

I looked at the glass cube. A figure was standing inside.

It wasn't Lucius.

It was a woman.

She was older than me, but the resemblance was undeniable. The same dark hair. The same eyes.

She pressed her hand against the glass.

"Mom?" I whispered.