Chapter 133

Chapter 133

00:30:00

The alarm continued to scream.

Red lights flashed across the room.

The peaceful atmosphere of the Vault vanished instantly.

Now it felt like every other part of the island.

Cold.

Dangerous.

Wrong.

Vale's voice faded from the speakers, leaving only the countdown and the wailing sirens.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Sophia stood by the window, her face pale.

Luca moved closer to Damon instinctively.

Not enough to touch him.

Just enough to be there.

As if he had made a silent promise never to let Damon face anything alone again.

Damon noticed.

He always noticed.

Especially now.

Especially after everything.

But there was no time to think about it.

Not yet.

Children were in danger.

The island was moving toward catastrophe.

And they still didn't fully understand what Ascension was.

Damon turned back to Sophia.

"What is Ascension?"

His voice cut through the alarms.

The question seemed to age Sophia ten years.

She closed her eyes.

For a long moment she simply stood there.

Gathering strength.

Gathering courage.

Preparing herself to speak the truth.

When she finally looked up, tears glistened in her eyes.

"It's a massacre."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Even the alarms seemed distant.

Massacre.

Not evolution.

Not salvation.

Not progress.

Massacre.

The word settled heavily over the room.

Luca's jaw tightened.

Isabella looked sick.

Damon felt ice spread through his chest.

Sophia swallowed hard.

"Over the years, Vale gathered thousands of children."

Her voice shook.

"Some from orphanages."

"Some kidnapped."

"Some purchased through criminal networks."

The horror of it made Isabella look away.

Sophia continued.

"Most of them failed her standards."

A bitter laugh escaped her.

"Of course they did."

"Because her standards were impossible."

No one could become Elena.

No one could become the fantasy Vale had created inside her own mind.

Yet children had suffered trying.

Thousands of them.

Sophia pointed toward the island below.

"The older children."

"The teenagers."

"The ones she considers failures."

A pause.

"Ascension is meant to eliminate them."

The room froze.

Damon stared.

Unable to process it.

"Eliminate?"

Sophia nodded.

Slowly.

Painfully.

"She believes only the strongest deserve to survive."

The words sounded exactly like something Vale would believe.

Cold.

Detached.

Cruel.

Luca swore under his breath.

For once, nobody corrected him.

Because the situation deserved worse.

Far worse.

Sophia walked toward one of the monitors mounted on the wall.

She pressed several buttons.

The screens flickered to life.

Instantly, live camera feeds filled the room.

Dozens of them.

The nursery.

Laboratories.

Training compounds.

Dormitories.

Underground tunnels.

The entire island appeared before them.

And chaos had already begun.

Children were running.

Guards were shouting.

Vehicles moved between buildings.

Smoke rose from several sectors.

The island looked like it was tearing itself apart.

Then one screen caught Damon's attention.

Nova.

Cassian.

Mira.

Seraphine.

Hale.

The nursery team.

They stood near a large compound surrounded by frightened children.

Relief flooded him.

They were alive.

For now.

But the relief didn't last.

Because another figure stood opposite them.

The Shepherd.

Young.

Cold.

Perfectly conditioned.

Behind him stood dozens of Guardians.

All armed.

All waiting.

The situation looked bad.

Very bad.

Cassian appeared to be arguing.

Nova looked ready to start a war.

Seraphine looked ready to finish one.

Damon almost smiled.

Almost.

Then the screen changed.

Another section of the island appeared.

Huge underground doors.

Massive steel gates.

Hundreds of children being forced toward them.

The sight made Sophia's face turn white.

"No..."

Isabella turned toward her.

"You know what that is?"

Sophia nodded.

"The Processing Chambers."

The name alone sounded terrible.

Then she confirmed it.

"They're where Ascension begins."

Damon felt his stomach drop.

"Begins?"

Sophia pointed to the screen.

"Vale designed a sequence."

The monitors changed again.

Now they displayed a blueprint of the island.

For the first time, Damon saw the entire structure.

The island wasn't simply an island.

It was a machine.

Every tunnel.

Every laboratory.

Every facility.

Everything connected to one location beneath the center.

A massive circular chamber.

Sophia pointed directly at it.

"The Core."

Silence.

The blueprint glowed red.

Warning symbols flashed around it.

Whatever the Core was

It was important.

Very important.

"What does it do?" Luca asked.

Sophia's expression hardened.

"It controls everything."

The room fell silent.

"The security systems."

"The surveillance network."

"The experimental facilities."

"The island power grid."

A pause.

Then she delivered the worst part.

"And Ascension."

The realization hit instantly.

Destroy the Core.

Stop Ascension.

The answer seemed obvious.

But Sophia was already shaking her head.

"It's not that simple."

Of course it wasn't.

Nothing on this island was simple.

"The Core has safeguards."

Sophia looked toward Damon.

"And Vale will be waiting."

The statement changed everything.

Because this was no longer about finding Vale.

She wanted to be found.

She wanted them to come.

She wanted a final confrontation.

The thought sent chills through Damon.

For years, Vale had controlled every piece on the board.

Now she was arranging the final move.

Then one of the monitors suddenly changed.

Static flickered across the screen.

The image distorted.

Everyone frowned.

Then Vale appeared.

The room immediately tensed.

She sat comfortably in a chair somewhere deep within the island.

Calm.

Elegant.

Perfectly composed.

As if thousands of lives weren't hanging in the balance.

As if she weren't preparing mass murder.

Vale smiled.

"Hello, Damon."

Nobody answered.

Vale seemed amused.

"You found Sophia."

Her gaze shifted toward the elderly woman.

A strange emotion crossed her face.

Not hatred.

Not affection.

Something in between.

Something complicated.

Then it vanished.

Vale looked back at Damon.

"I suppose she's told you about Genesis."

Silence.

Vale sighed dramatically.

"She always leaves out my favorite parts."

Luca rolled his eyes.

The reaction was so genuine that Damon nearly laughed.

Nearly.

Vale noticed.

Of course she did.

Her smile widened.

"Still protecting him."

The comment made Luca's expression darken immediately.

Vale laughed softly.

"Some things never change."

Then she leaned forward.

For the first time, her smile disappeared.

Her eyes locked onto Damon.

And suddenly she looked less like a scientist.

Less like a mastermind.

Less like a villain.

And more like someone completely consumed by obsession.

"You know what makes you extraordinary?"

Damon didn't answer.

Vale answered herself.

"Choice."

The word surprised everyone.

Vale continued.

"Every child on this island was shaped."

"Conditioned."

"Broken."

"Rebuilt."

Her eyes never left Damon.

"But you kept choosing."

The room fell silent.

"You chose compassion."

"You chose loyalty."

"You chose love."

Something twisted painfully in Luca's chest at that last word.

Vale smiled faintly.

"And that's why I knew."

Damon frowned.

"Knew what?"

Vale's expression softened.

Almost proud.

"You were the closest thing to Elena I ever found."

The statement made everyone uncomfortable.

Especially Sophia.

Especially Damon.

Because there was nothing healthy in Vale's admiration.

Nothing normal.

Nothing human.

Only obsession.

Then the alarms intensified.

The countdown flashed across every screen.

00:25:00

Twenty-five minutes.

The room collectively froze.

Vale looked upward.

Listening to the alarms.

Listening to the island.

Listening to the beginning of her masterpiece.

Then she smiled.

"The end is finally here."

The transmission cut off.

The screens went dark.

The room fell silent.

Only the countdown remained.

00:24:57

Damon looked toward Sophia.

Toward Luca.

Toward Isabella.

Toward the island below.

Thousands of children.

Thousands of lives.

Depending on them.

Finally, he spoke.

"We stop Ascension."

No one argued.

No one hesitated.

Because there was no other choice.