> "He did not choose war.
But he would not run from it."
—System Memory: Ryu Core Log, Timestamp T+0025
---
K-13 Ruins – Just Moments Later
The five armed men never fired a bullet.
Their rifles jammed.
Their comms scrambled.
Their bodies went cold and numb before falling silently, as if time had bent around them.
From a nearby rooftop, hidden in shadow, a black surveillance drone watched the entire incident.
It sent a coded message instantly:
> Target Identified: Ryu
Protocol Ghost Storm confirmed active.
Begin Operation: Sister Snare
---
Back Inside the Vault
Reyan held Arya close. His eyes glowed faintly with HUD overlays as the System streamed data directly into his retina.
> [Intrusion Neutralized. 100% Efficiency.]
[DNA scan complete: Vault Data recovered.]
[Warning: Level-8 Government Satellite targeting sequence in progress. Exit zone in 4 minutes.]
Meira's voice cut in: "We need to extract. Now."
Parth: "Sending evac drone to your location. ETA: 90 seconds."
Arya looked up at Reyan. "What's happening? Are we at war now?"
Reyan didn't answer.
He looked up at the crumbling ceiling, then down at the ancient vault.
> "They lit the fire," he whispered. "Now they'll burn with it."
---
Zenith-9 Tower – 1 Hour Later
Reyan returned to his war room, no longer just a strategist.
Now, he was a target.
And his secret weapon—the Infinity System, built from the ashes of Project Prometheus—had just gone live in the eyes of the world.
> "System. Who sent those men?"
> [Scanning...]
> [Affiliation: Special Ghost Unit – Division 09]
[Handler: General Rhagav Mahdev – Indian Defense Black Ops, Ghost Codename: Scepter]
> [Scepter has issued order: 'Capture the sister. Draw the brother out.']
---
System Alert:
> [Arya is now a Level-1 Priority Asset.]
[Risk of abduction: 91% if standard behavior continues.]
[Recommend relocation, shadow escort team, AI guardian protocols.]
Reyan's hand clenched into a fist.
> "If they try to touch her…"
> "Activate Operation: Phantom Net."
> [Confirmed. Project Phantom Net initiated: Arya is now watched 24/7 by cloaked defense drones, false decoys created at school, heat signature masking active, teleport pads in deployment.]
---
Elsewhere – Shadow Base of General Scepter
General Rhagav Mahdev stood in a steel-lined chamber, eyes locked on the footage of Reyan wiping out his elite five.
He wasn't impressed.
> "That wasn't power," he muttered to the screen. "That was a message."
Behind him, his lieutenant stepped forward. "Should we escalate?"
Scepter nodded.
> "Prepare Team Omega."
> "But more than that... I want her."
> "Capture the girl. Do not kill. If we hold the sister, the Ghost will crawl out of his empire."
---
Arya's Life Shifts Again
The next morning, Arya awoke in a new location—one she didn't recognize.
A penthouse. But not the old one. This one was inside a floating city cruiser, constantly moving above the city at 3,000 feet.
A soft voice spoke through the air:
> "Good morning, Miss Arya. You are now under Full Protocol Protection. Your brother will visit you shortly."
She looked around. Glass walls, invisible guards, even a mechanical cat sat blinking beside her bed.
> "System…" she whispered. "What… have you turned my brother into?"
---
Zenith-9 Tower – Later That Day
Reyan stood at the digital globe projection, watching dozens of red dots blinking across countries.
Meira leaned over a table, connecting the dots. "Each one is an asset from Project Prometheus. People your parents worked with."
Parth tapped a key. "Some of them disappeared after the fire. But five… are still alive."
Zeno, CipherGod, crossed his arms. "Then it's time to build the rest of your army."
Reyan looked toward the skyline.
> "No," he said. "We don't need an army."
> "We need a ghost nation."