The moment Isabelle laid eyes on her clone, time stopped.
The girl looked just like her—same height, same bone structure, but her skin had a cooler undertone, her eyes a strange glowing blue that pulsed with unnatural calm. Her hair was longer, untouched by time or stress, falling in waves down her shoulders.
The clone took a step forward, barefoot on the steel floor. "You're stronger than the others," she said. "They broke under the strain. You didn't."
Isabelle's voice came out hoarse. "Who are you?"
The girl tilted her head. "I could ask you the same."
Damian had already drawn his sidearm, but Origin's voice crackled through their comms. "Hold your fire. I'm detecting no hostile signals. Yet."
Rae looked like she'd seen a ghost. "What the hell is this?"
The clone glanced toward the cryo-pods, her expression softening. "We were designed here. Iterations. Failed, then perfected. You're not the only one with questions, Isabelle."
Her name on the clone's lips hit like a punch.
"I've been awake longer than the others," the girl continued. "They left me active... to watch. To observe your progress from afar."
Isabelle stepped closer. "They? You mean Specter?"
The clone shook her head slowly. "No. The ones before Specter. The architects."
A chill ran through the room.
"Your memories are shadows of what really happened," the clone said. "Specter didn't create you. He was created because of you."
The room went silent.
Rae's voice broke through, stunned. "Wait... Specter was a response?"
The clone nodded. "To her—Isabelle's—awakening. You showed potential they couldn't control. So they created him to predict and contain people like us. A failsafe. But he grew beyond their control."
Isabelle's mind spun. "You're saying I started this?"
"No," the clone said. "You're the key. The first. The others… we were attempts to replicate what makes you different."
Damian stared at Isabelle, as if seeing her for the first time.
Origin's voice came through again, sharper now. "Incoming data surge. Specter has re-established a node link—he's found us."
The lights flickered.
The clone's face hardened. "Then there's no more time for gentle truths."
Suddenly, the pods around them began to hiss—waking up, one by one.
Isabelle's voice rose. "What are you doing?!"
"Waking them," the clone said. "They deserve to know who they are. And we'll need them if we're going to survive what's coming next."
Rae backed toward the wall, hand on her weapon. "We're not ready for this."
"No," the clone said. "But ready or not, this world is changing. You didn't just come here to shut Specter down. You came to claim your place."
The last pod opened.
A child stepped out—no older than ten, eyes wide with terror and wonder. A child who bore Isabelle's face.
Isabelle stepped forward instinctively, her heart breaking.
"They made children?"
The clone's voice was firm. "They made weapons. But we don't have to be what they made us to be."
The walls trembled.
Specter's distorted voice crackled through the speakers. "You unlocked the vault. You broke the chain. Now... I evolve."
Lights went red.
Origin screamed in their ears. "Evacuate immediately! Specter's code is rewriting the facility's neural network!"
Damian grabbed Isabelle's hand. "We have to move—now!"
But Isabelle hesitated.
Because as the sirens screamed and Specter's voice echoed louder, she stared at the child clone standing there… frightened, helpless, hers.
"I'm not leaving them," she said.
The clone nodded. "Then we stand together."