Chapter Sixty-One: The First Thorn Awakens

Ivy

I stood frozen as the names bled across the screen, each one more damning than the last.

Lucien’s name—etched in red—flashed like a branding iron across my mind.

Authorization Level RED.

THORN01 – ACTIVE.

THORN02 – DECEASED.

THORN03 – UNKNOWN.

Beneath it, a timestamp: nearly a decade ago. His signature. His access. His creation.

The truth tasted like rust on my tongue.

He hadn’t just been part of the story.

He was its architect.

Lucien didn’t flinch. Not when the lights flickered, not when I turned on him, trembling.

“Tell me this isn’t you,” I whispered.

He stared at the screen. His face pale. His jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle twitch in his cheek.

“I don’t remember doing it,” he said again. “But it’s my clearance. My voice. My code.”

“And that’s supposed to comfort me?”

His voice cracked. “No.”

Clara stepped forward, her hands trembling as she pointed to the feed from Cell Unit 4.

“Something’s happening inside the Vault.”

The screen zoomed in.

And I saw him.

Tall. Shaved head. Electrodes still wired to his skull. Eyes flickering with synthetic fire.

THORN01: Online.

My stomach twisted as I stared at the figure on the screen. His expression wasn’t blank—it was calm. Too calm.

Like he’d just woken up and remembered exactly what he was born to do.

And it was me.

“Protocol 17 is unlocked,” Clara said. “That gives him command override over Blackwood security and HALCYON’s old network nodes. If he reaches the satellite array—”

“He could shut down every system we’re using,” Lucien said. “And track every movement Ivy makes.”

I looked at him. “You said this program was shut down.”

“I thought it was.”

I stepped away before I could say something I’d regret.

The ground beneath me didn’t feel stable anymore. I had been raised with the illusion of control. Groomed to inherit a company. Promised protection.

But in this moment, surrounded by fire and code, I realized:

I was never meant to live.

I was designed to be tested.

Monitored.

Terminated.

“Where is he going?” I asked.

Clara hesitated. “He just accessed the lower garage. Looks like he’s headed for the southern breach—”

Lucien cut her off. “Then I’ll intercept.”

He started for the door.

I grabbed his wrist. “You’re not going alone.”

His eyes met mine, stormy and unreadable. “This was my mistake, Ivy.”

“Then let me help you fix it.”

Something passed between us then. Not forgiveness. Not trust.

But need.

He nodded.

And we ran.

The corridors lit up as we moved—flashing warnings in crimson.

ALERT: BIO-SIGNAL ANOMALY IN SECTOR 3.

The walls pulsed. Emergency lights strobed. We reached the elevator just as it powered down.

Lucien cursed and pulled me toward the emergency ladder well. I climbed behind him, my lungs burning, my hands slipping.

It was so familiar, the feeling of being hunted by something we built ourselves.

At the bottom, the air changed. Thicker. Charged.

Lucien stopped me just outside the breach point. “If he’s activated the neural sync, he might anticipate your movement.”

“Then I’ll give him something unexpected.”

I didn’t wait for his approval.

I walked into the dark.

THORN01 stood just past the generator bay, his back turned, head tilted toward the flickering screen.

He turned slowly.

Our eyes locked.

He looked like Lucien.

But younger.

Sharper.

Empty.

“Ivy Sinclair,” he said, his voice smooth as silk.

“I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

My skin crawled. “You know who I am?”

“You’re the Alpha template. The flame. The glitch that couldn’t be controlled.”

He smiled.

“They called you Ivy. But your name was never meant to be soft. You were born to be detonated.”

Lucien stepped beside me. “What do you want?”

THORN01’s eyes flicked to him, unbothered.

“You, mostly. To remember. To suffer. Then vanish.”

Lucien raised his weapon. “Try me.”

“I don’t need to,” THORN01 said, calm. “You already programmed me to win.”

Before I could react, he moved.

Faster than I could follow.

Lucien fired. Missed.

I dove.

The room exploded in noise and heat as they clashed—Lucien’s rage against THORN01’s precision. But it wasn’t enough. Lucien was slowing.

Bleeding.

I screamed. Grabbed the shock baton from Lucien’s belt.

Charged.

I struck THORN01’s spine—hard.

He convulsed. Snarled.

Then turned.

And for a second—I saw hesitation.

Recognition?

No.

Targeting.

He reached for my throat.

I gasped—

And Lucien tackled him from behind, slamming him into the wall.

“Run!” he shouted.

But I didn’t.

I turned to the terminal and yanked the master fuse.

The lights cut.

Sparks flew.

I heard Lucien cry out.

And then—silence.

When the backup systems came on, I found them both.

Lucien on the ground, coughing blood.

THORN01 missing.

Gone.

Escaped.

“Get up,” I whispered, crawling to him.

He groaned. “Did you… hit the failsafe?”

“Yes.”

“He’s not done.”

“I know.”

He looked at me, eyes dark with pain. “He’s going to find the other two.”

“Then we find them first.”

Lucien gripped my arm.

His hand was trembling.

“Ivy… if I helped make him… if there’s more like me…”

I stared into his eyes.

The same storm. The same fear.

“You’re not him,” I said. “You chose me. You chose this. And if there’s more like you… we’ll burn them before they ever touch what’s mine.”

His breath caught.

“You’re terrifying when you’re angry.”

“Good,” I said.

“Because I’m about to become ruthless.”

We limped back to the war room.

Blood.

Ash.

Data.

Clara patched Lucien’s side while I reviewed the archive logs.

One phrase kept appearing:

THORN02 – DECEASED AFTER BETA INTEGRATION FAILURE.

THORN03 – LOCATION UNKNOWN. POSSIBLE ESCAPE.

A new line blinked into view.

SUBJECT THORN03: “IRIS” – ACTIVATED.

The lights flickered again.

And a new image appeared on the screen.

A woman.

Dark curls. Piercing silver eyes. Wearing my face.

Only not mine.

Sharper.

Colder.

She looked into the camera and smiled.

“Hello, Ivy,” she said. “Let’s see who survives the flames first.”