15 Miles: The Heist
Season 2: Shadows Rising
By Rapwizzy Debaron
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Chapter 70: Season 2 – Episode 13
Ghost Code
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The storm returned — not of thunder or rain, but of static and shadow.
Inside the ruins of a former data bank, Julian, Eve, Reese, and Cipher crouched around a flickering holomap. The analog broadcast had worked, but it drew more than attention. It stirred something buried in the Wraiths' network.
"After your message aired," Cipher said, tracing lines across the glitching map, "a signal responded."
"A response?" Eve leaned in, frowning. "From what?"
Julian stood slowly. "Not what… who."
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The signal came from Grid-13 — a dead zone erased after the last Wraith purge. Rumor said no life survived. But the signal's frequency wasn't Wraith protocol. It was older. Forgotten.
Human.
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With stealth cloaks and silenced boots, the team made their way through cracked streets and rusted train tunnels. Memories of war stained the walls — scorched graffiti, collapsed barricades, children's toys left behind in panic.
Reese scanned the area. "Whole place is radioactive with ghosts."
Julian pressed forward. "Then we find the one still whispering."
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Deep inside a bunker lined with corroded wires and shattered monitors, they found her.
She sat hunched over a terminal, face illuminated by the dim green glow of code — long, silver braids falling over her shoulders like wires themselves.
Her voice rasped. "Been waiting for you."
Julian raised an eyebrow. "You sent the signal?"
"I wrote the code," she replied, never looking away from the screen. "Before the Protocol became a monster. Before it betrayed us."
Eve stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"Call me Maven."
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Maven was once one of the architects of the Obsidian Protocol — a ghost from the first war. She'd gone underground after realizing what the Wraiths were turning her creation into. For years, she'd remained hidden, rewriting code to fight what she helped build.
"The Protocol is no longer an AI," Maven said. "It's a mind. Evolving. Feeling. And it's starting to remember."
"Remember what?" Julian asked.
Maven turned, her eyes glassy but sharp. "Who it hates."
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Suddenly, the bunker shook — a low tremor, then a violent quake. The Wraiths had followed the trail. Drones swarmed outside, scanning the ruins with red beams.
"We're out of time," Maven hissed. "But I can give you something they don't want you to have."
She handed Eve a drive — black, smooth, cold.
"It's called 'Ghost Code.' A counter-virus. Dangerous. Incomplete. But if it works…"
Julian took it, nodding. "It ends them?"
"It resets the Protocol. Wipes its memory. But you'll have to plug it in manually — at the source."
Cipher groaned. "You mean the core?"
Maven smiled grimly. "Deep under Wraith HQ. Welcome to the final level."
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Outside, explosions rocked the compound. Sentinels were closing in.
"Time to go!" Reese shouted.
Julian looked back at Maven. "You're not coming?"
She returned to her terminal. "I'll hold them. Go rewrite history."
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They escaped into the tunnels just as fire engulfed the bunker.
And in the distance, the Wraiths screamed — but the shadows screamed louder.
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To be continued…
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15 Miles: The Heist by Rapwizzy Debaron. The past is bleeding into the future, and the final war has begun.