Chapter 60: A Thousand Faces

The moment Ivy stepped into the Syndicate command room, the air shifted.

It wasn’t just the vastness of the space or the eerie hum of machinery. It was the weight of being watched—by versions of herself that never lived, never breathed, but existed all the same. The walls, lined with screens, flickered with images of her face—each a different iteration. Some smiling. Others screaming. A few staring back, blank and soulless.

Asher gripped her hand tightly, his face pale. Jaxon entered last, eyes wary.

“This… isn’t what I expected,” Ivy whispered, her voice echoing in the silence.

“This is where it all began,” Jaxon murmured. “And where it has to end.”

Before Ivy could speak, the screens flickered simultaneously.

Then a voice—smooth, commanding, and terrifyingly familiar—filled the room.

“Welcome home, Ivy.”

A door at the far end hissed open. From it emerged a tall man in a tailored suit, his silver hair slicked back, his eyes cold and calculating.

He looked at Ivy like a collector admiring a rare artifact.

“I’ve waited a long time to see you fully formed,” he said.

“Who are you?” Asher demanded, stepping protectively in front of Ivy.

“I’m the one who created you both,” the man said simply. “Dr. Malrick. Head of the Syndicate Genetic Evolution Program.”

Ivy’s heart thudded. “You… made Asher?”

“I refined him,” Malrick replied. “He was already a marvel. But he wasn’t enough. Not without you.”

“I’m not your experiment,” Ivy snapped.

Malrick chuckled. “Oh, Ivy… you were never just an experiment. You’re the keystone. The bridge between failure and perfection.”

Jaxon stepped forward. “You said you abandoned the clone program.”

“I lied,” Malrick replied with a shrug. “Some results are worth a little deception.”

He walked over to a terminal and tapped a few keys. A new image appeared on the screen—a fetus, surrounded by glowing data points.

“That’s your child, Ivy. And it’s everything we’ve worked for.”

Asher stepped forward, fists clenched. “You will not touch her or our child.”

Malrick tilted his head. “You don’t get it, do you? The child is already ours. Its DNA isn’t just yours, Ivy. It’s been enhanced—by us.”

He gestured to Asher.

“And he was the delivery system.”

Ivy’s stomach dropped. “You’re saying… you planned this pregnancy?”

“From the beginning,” Malrick confirmed. “Every interaction. Every emotion. Carefully orchestrated.”

Ivy’s hands shook.

“So what was I?” she asked, her voice a whisper. “A vessel? A lab rat?”

“You were hope,” Malrick said. “A living evolution.”

Jaxon grabbed Ivy’s shoulder. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

But Malrick was already smiling. “You’re free to leave, of course… but you’ll take nothing with you. Not the child. Not your memories. We’ll extract and reset.”

“You’re insane,” Asher growled.

Malrick’s smile vanished. “No. I’m necessary.”

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the room.

Lights flickered. Sirens blared.

Ivy staggered, shielding her belly.

“Security breach in Wing Zeta,” a robotic voice announced.

Malrick’s calm demeanor cracked. “Impossible.”

Jaxon smirked. “Guess your clones aren’t as loyal as you thought.”

The side wall blew open, debris scattering.

A woman stepped through the smoke—tall, dressed in black tactical gear, her expression unreadable.

“Ivy Hale?” she asked.

Ivy nodded, stunned.

“I’m Kira,” the woman said. “With the Underground.”

Malrick’s eyes widened. “You’re dead.”

“Not yet,” Kira replied coolly. “And neither are they.”

Behind her, a group of rebels stormed in, weapons drawn.

“We’ve come to shut this place down,” she told Ivy. “But we need you.”

“Why me?” Ivy asked.

“Because you’re the only one the system won’t kill,” Kira said. “You’re the master key.”

Gunfire erupted as guards poured into the room. Asher pulled Ivy behind a console.

Kira tossed a weapon to Jaxon. “Cover me!”

They fought their way through the corridor, each step a battle. Ivy felt her child shift within her, as if sensing the chaos.

“Almost there!” Jaxon shouted, blasting a security panel.

Doors slid open, revealing a helipad.

But waiting there was the clone—her hair windswept, eyes burning with resolve.

“You’re not leaving,” she said. “Not with my destiny.”

Kira raised her weapon. “She’s not you.”

“She’s what I was meant to be!” the clone screamed.

She lunged.

Asher tackled the clone. They rolled across the floor, locked in a brutal fight.

Ivy cried out as they neared the edge.

Jaxon pulled her back, but she broke free.

“Asher!” she screamed.

The clone pinned him down, a scalpel in hand.

“I’ll cut her out of you if I have to!” she snarled.

Asher grunted, grabbing her wrist.

And then Ivy stepped forward.

“Stop.”

The clone froze.

Ivy held out the crystal the clone had given her before—its light pulsing erratically.

“I’ve figured it out,” Ivy said. “This isn’t a weapon. It’s a key.”

She pressed it into the ground.

The facility rumbled.

A pulse of light surged through the floor.

All screens flickered. The clone screamed, clutching her head.

Malrick’s voice echoed one last time.

“System override—detonation imminent.”

Kira’s eyes widened. “We have ninety seconds!”

Asher, bloodied, grabbed Ivy’s hand. “We have to jump!”

Helicopters hovered above.

Jaxon covered their escape.

They ran for the ledge.

Explosions ripped through the compound.

Ivy looked back—just once—and saw the clone smile… as the world collapsed around her.

Then—

Darkness swallowed them.