Zurich, SwitzerlandHelix Dynamics HQ – Level 0
The Helix building stood like a shard of black glass jutting into the skyline—impenetrable, silent, and alive with surveillance. Beneath it, far below the bustling streets of Zurich, Adrian Kessler watched a holographic interface rotate slowly before him. Dozens of data streams flowed in, projections flickered with simulations, and at the heart of it all—SIGMA glowed red.
"Status update," Kessler said calmly.
An analyst turned from her station, skin pale under the sterile lights. "SIGMA is stabilizing post-Echo loss. Neural model remains intact. Deployment sequence is green."
"Timeline?"
"Seventy hours. Countdown initiated."
Kessler nodded. "And Mercer?"
"Alive. As predicted. Their interference has not disrupted the core schedule."
"Good," Kessler murmured. "Let them run. Fear makes better martyrs than corpses."
He turned to the glass, where the Alps towered in the distance.
"The world is about to be corrected."
Undisclosed Location – Mediterranean Coast
The team regrouped inside a temporary safehouse nestled in an abandoned monastery overlooking the sea. Faded frescoes surrounded them—angels and demons locked in eternal struggle. Fitting, Tanya thought grimly.
Grimm sat at a crude table, hands resting on a dossier Wraith had compiled.
"We've confirmed it," Wraith said. "SIGMA was never just predictive software—it's directive. Self-adjusting. Capable of initiating global-scale responses based on pre-modeled scenarios."
"War, regime change, economic collapse," Tanya added. "All manipulated. All clean on paper."
Bull crossed his arms. "You mean it starts the fire and hands out the extinguishers?"
"Exactly," Reyes said through a comm link, patching in remotely. "It'll predict a threat, then manufacture evidence to justify a preemptive strike. The ethics filters? Stripped. It's math playing God."
Grimm stared at the intel packet. "And it goes live in less than three days."
Wraith leaned forward. "There's only one way to stop it. Kessler's master access key. His biometric ID is hardcoded into the final launch command. We take him out—we freeze SIGMA permanently."
Bull smirked. "That's all? Just break into the most secure building in Europe and assassinate a man protected by half a private army and an AI defense grid?"
Grimm looked up. "Exactly."
Meanwhile – Helix Dynamics HQ
Kessler walked through a vault beneath HQ: the SIGMA Core. Towering servers pulsed like a synthetic heart, flanked by rows of armed guards in exo-suits. One of them, a scarred man with a cybernetic jaw, turned as Kessler approached.
"Director," he greeted with a nod.
Kessler returned it. "Commander Vance. Is Razorcell replenished?"
"Fully. We've deployed two new squads to global hotspots—test runs for SIGMA's adaptive targeting. Efficiency is improving."
"Good. Mercer and his team remain the only unknowns. Make them disappear."
Vance's lips curled into a thin smile. "With pleasure."
Back at the Safehouse
Wraith traced the outline of the Helix complex on a holomap. "Kessler will be under biometric lockdown. No data transmissions, no remote kills. We have to go in physically."
"Entry point?" Grimm asked.
She tapped a red dot. "Utility tunnel, used for geothermal maintenance. It's unlisted—buried under six floors of non-essential access points. Leads to a sub-basement two levels below SIGMA."
Tanya scanned the blueprint. "Security?"
"Everything. Turrets, drone patrols, thermal tripwires. And worst of all—facial recognition synced to Kessler's AI."
Reyes chimed in: "I can spoof systems for exactly 22 minutes. After that, the grid will auto-correct. You'll be ghosts until then."
"Twenty-two minutes," Grimm repeated. "In, kill Kessler, shut down SIGMA, and exfil."
Bull cracked his knuckles. "Tight window."
Grimm stood, pulling his combat gear together. "Then we don't waste a second. Wheels up at dawn."
Later That Night
Grimm stood alone by the cliffside, watching waves crash against the rocks far below. Tanya approached, arms folded.
"You sure you're ready for this?"
Grimm didn't look at her. "Doesn't matter. We've got no choice."
She stepped beside him. "You ever wonder how it got this far? All this tech... AI predicting death before it happens. Playing chess with human lives."
Grimm's voice was low. "The second we stopped questioning the cost of peace... we started building our own chains."
Tanya was quiet for a moment.
"When this is over... what then?"
Grimm looked at her. "We'll find out—if we survive."
Elsewhere – Zurich
Kessler stood inside a private chapel built into the foundation of Helix HQ. Candles flickered under stained glass. A priest droned scripture, but Kessler didn't hear it.
He was already preparing for the endgame.
A message pinged on his internal comm.
PHASE THREE – CONFIRMED.
INITIATE FINAL LOCKDOWN IN T-MINUS 60 HOURS.
He crossed himself slowly, not out of faith—but out of habit.
The future was coming.
And he would be the architect.