The rain hadn't stopped since the night of the lab fight. It drummed against the safehouse windows like endless whispers of warning.
Ethan sat at the workbench, the small black drive glowing under a flickering bulb. His reflection stared back at him from the metal casing. He looked tired, scarred, but determined.
Natalie typed quickly on her laptop beside him. "I've isolated the encryption. Vale really didn't want anyone opening this."
"He knew what kind of people would try," Ethan said quietly.
"Yeah," she muttered, "and now we're two of them."
He gave her a faint smirk, but the tension in his voice remained. "Do you think Vale trusted me with this because he thought I'd protect it or because I'd use it?"
Natalie stopped typing. "Maybe both. Maybe he knew you'd have to decide which one you really are."
Her words hung between them. The faint hum of the laptop filled the silence until suddenly, the screen flashed green.
Natalie straightened. "It's decrypting."
Lines of code appeared and then formed into a single video file labeled PROJECT PHOENIX.
Ethan's pulse quickened. "Play it."
The video opened with static. Then Victor Vale appeared, looking older than Ethan remembered, sitting in his old office. His face seemed tired, but his voice was strong.
"If you're watching this," Vale began, "then I'm already gone. The Circle has fallen into the wrong hands."
Ethan leaned forward, his breath catching.
"You've inherited the Phoenix Ring and, with it, my final work. What they call The Code isn't just data. It's an AI network that can control the entire city grid. Banks, surveillance, security, even communication lines. Whoever owns it owns Eastbridge."
Natalie's eyes widened. "He built a control system?"
Vale continued, "But I never meant it for power. I meant it for protection. The Code can rebuild the city, erase corruption, cut off criminal funds, and restore balance. But in the wrong hands, it can turn Eastbridge into a prison."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Ethan," Vale said softly, "if you're the one holding this, you are the last Phoenix. The Circle will come for you. They will try to twist your purpose. But remember: rebirth requires destruction first. Burn only what must never rise again."
The screen went dark.
For a moment, neither spoke. The air felt heavy, too full of truth to breathe.
Natalie broke the silence. "So, Iris doesn't just want control. She wants the whole city."
Ethan nodded slowly. "Vale built the Code to cleanse corruption. She wants to use it as a weapon."
"Can we destroy it?"
He shook his head. "If we do, we lose our only way to stop her. She already has access to the city's systems. The only way to beat her is to use the Code before she does."
Natalie frowned. "You're talking about using the very thing Vale warned against."
"I'm talking about finishing what he started," Ethan said. "We can use it to expose the Circle. Every secret deal, every hidden transaction, every murder they've covered up."
She hesitated. "If you're wrong, you'll become exactly what you're fighting."
He looked at her, eyes cold and steady. "Then I'll make sure I'm not wrong."
Hours passed. Natalie worked on stabilizing the drive while Ethan paced the room, piecing everything together.
Vale's system, the Circle's rise, Iris's control—it all led back to the same place: Locke Tower.
That was the main data hub. If they wanted to activate the Code, they'd need to plug the drive directly into the core servers right under Damian Locke's nose.
"Going back there is suicide," Natalie said, reading his expression.
"Maybe," he said, "but it's the only way."
She sighed. "You're insane."
He grinned faintly. "That's how you survive in this city."
By nightfall, Ethan and Natalie were parked across from Locke Tower again. The skyline shimmered under the rain, neon lights reflecting off the wet pavement.
Natalie loaded her gun. "Security's doubled since your last visit."
"Good," Ethan said. "That means he's scared."
They moved quickly—down a side alley, through a maintenance tunnel, and into the lower floors of the tower. The air smelled of metal and ozone.
Natalie hacked the access door, sparks flying from the keypad. "We've got five minutes before the system resets."
Ethan slipped inside, gripping the drive. "Then let's make them count."
The server room was massive—rows of glowing towers stretching into darkness. The hum of machinery echoed like a heartbeat.
Ethan approached the central console and slid the drive into the port.
The screen lit up. Vale's phoenix logo flickered to life, spreading like fire across every monitor.
Natalie stared. "It's activating."
Data began to pour across the screens—files, names, secret transactions, evidence of years of corruption.
"This is it," Ethan whispered. "Everything Iris built her empire on."
But then the monitors shifted. The phoenix symbol turned red.
Natalie's eyes widened. "Ethan… someone's in the system."
A voice filled the speakers—smooth, familiar, dangerous.
"Did you really think you could use my creation against me?"
Ethan's jaw tightened. "Iris."
The monitors flickered, showing her face. Her expression was calm, almost amused.
"Victor was brilliant, but he made one mistake—trusting you. The moment you plugged that drive in, you connected to my network. You didn't steal the Code, Ethan. You gave it to me."
Natalie cursed under her breath. "She's overriding us!"
Ethan slammed his fists on the console. "No. Not yet."
He typed rapidly, trying to block her connection, but every firewall he built was instantly crushed. The screens flashed red, one by one.
"You've always been a survivor," Iris said. "That's why I want you alive. You'll be proof that even the Phoenix burns for me."
Then the system went black.
Alarms blared. Red lights filled the room.
Natalie grabbed his arm. "We have to go!"
Ethan pulled the drive out just as sparks erupted from the terminal. "She's in full control now."
They sprinted down the hallway as lockdown doors slammed shut behind them. Guards flooded the corridor. Bullets ripped through the air.
Ethan fired back, dropping two before ducking behind a column. "This way!"
Natalie followed, reloading on the move. They reached the elevator—it was blocked. Ethan smashed the fire alarm and kicked open a maintenance door.
They climbed the emergency stairwell two steps at a time. Sirens wailed below them.
By the time they reached the roof, the rain had turned into a downpour. The city burned below—Iris's new empire, alive and watching.
Ethan stood at the edge, soaked and breathing hard. "She's got the Code now. Everything Vale built. Everything we fought for."
Natalie looked at him, rain running down her face. "Then what do we do?"
He stared at the horizon, at the endless lights and chaos.
"We adapt," he said. "Vale built the Phoenix to rise from ashes."
She frowned. "And what are we now?"
Ethan's voice was quiet but certain. "The ashes."
Far below, in a secure server room, Iris stood watching her screens. Every feed in the city now ran through her system—banks, communications, traffic, even police networks.
She smiled faintly.
"Eastbridge belongs to me."
Her assistant approached nervously. "And the Phoenix?"
She looked out the window, where lightning flashed across the skyline.
"He'll rise again," she said. "And when he does… I'll be waiting."