BLOODCAPE
Chapter 116 – The Signal Ghost

Chapter 116: Chapter 116 – The Signal Ghost

The basement levels beneath Tower Six weren’t on any active schematics. They existed like bruises beneath the grid — old war-era infrastructure sealed off when history became inconvenient. Where the polished floors of upper command echoed with clean light and scheduled loyalty, this deep, the only thing that echoed was memory.

Nico walked ahead, flashlight in one hand, scanner rig on his shoulder like a shield. The capsule drive at his hip gave off faint warmth — like a pulse, anxious to be read. His boots stepped carefully, like the ground might remember who last used it.

Hernan followed two paces behind, silent as breath, a tactical jacket thrown over his usual fieldwear. His hand hovered near the hilt of his shockblade, fingers brushing it on reflex every time the corridor narrowed.

Neither of them spoke for the first two minutes.

Then: "You’re sure about the trace?" Hernan asked.

Nico nodded. "The Echo Burn trigger wasn’t clean. It bounced. Four relays. The last one led here — Node Seventeen. Cold since the Accord."

"Except now it’s not."

"Exactly."

The corridor ended at a corroded bulkhead, thick with neglect. Dust caked the corner seams. A Zodiac-era facility stamp was still barely visible:OCT-NODE_17 / Relay Sub-Tower Alpha

Nico ran his hand across the access pad. No lights. No hum. No response.

"Dead plate," he muttered. "Manual only."

Hernan didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward, drove his fist into the plate’s center.

A shock of sound. Air hissed. Locks unlatched. The door groaned as it opened inward into total dark.

The air inside was heavier. Thinner. Like it hadn’t been disturbed in years.

They moved in slow.

Rows of old uplink racks loomed from the shadows like metal husks. Most were dead. Melted wiring. Fried ports. The bones of a machine once built to whisper in silence.

But one terminal still blinked.

Nico stepped toward it. "This whole room’s supposed to be dark. But that uplink’s been syncing every 48 hours. Still active. Still transmitting."

"Still listening," Hernan corrected, scanning the shadows.

He leaned closer to the blinking screen.

TWR-00_PING_CYCLE: ACTIVELAST CONTACT: 46H AGONEXT CONTACT: 02H 17M

"Tower Zero," Hernan muttered.

Nico gave a grim nod. "Which means it never stopped watching."

He slid the capsule drive into the port. The interface flared. Strings of old Zodiac command code spilled down the display — deprecated protocols, encrypted call signs, unknown modules labeled simply with redacted tags and file hashes too old for system memory.

Then came a folder, buried deep.

SUBJECT FILES – XFR_RESIDUALS

Nico glanced at Hernan. "Crossfire logs."

Hernan said nothing. He just stepped closer as Nico opened the folder.

Dozens of faces filled the air. IDs, partial names, biometric overlays, unreadable condition statuses. Some marked "NEUTRALIZED." Others "FAILED." All flagged as early-phase Crossfire test candidates.

Many Hernan recognized.

A boy from training rotations — gone after week one.

A woman from offworld tracking units — brilliant, too quick. Disappeared after a routine test. "Transfer," they said.

Now listed here as decommissioned assets.

Discarded blueprints.

Ghosts.

Then Nico tapped one last file.

It opened with a low chime.

Subject: XFR-07BName: Kira VanceStatus: ACTIVEEcho Burn: STANDBY

Hernan froze.

"I know her," he said. "She was orbital ops. Sparred her once. She vanished after Velas."

"She didn’t vanish," Nico said. "They shelved her."

"She’s still flagged live?"

Nico nodded. "Which means she’s either being held, used, or prepped for activation."

Hernan turned slowly. His gaze swept the dead machines. The thick dust. The decay.

"This wasn’t just a comm node," he said. "This was a monitoring station."

"And it’s still online," Nico added. "Still talking to Tower Zero."

He backed out of the console. Wiped the runtime log. Closed everything with manual commands. No pings. No automation.

And yet—

The server blinked once more.

PING RECEIVED

"We need to move," Hernan said.

They left the way they came. No words. No sound.

Just the realization that Crossfire hadn’t ended.

It had evolved.

And Tower Zero was listening.

Chapter 116 – Continued: "Aya’s Choice"

Evac wing, Sublevel 3. Dimmed lights. Low ambient hum. A silence wrapped in routine and antiseptic smells — the kind that masked how often blood had been cleaned off the walls.

Tessa was organizing vials when the silence broke.

"You’re not subtle, you know," said a voice behind her. "If you’re hiding a revolution, maybe don’t do it in the ward that tracks vitals for a living."

Tessa didn’t turn.

She finished stacking the shelf, slid it closed, and looked back.

Aya leaned in the doorway. No uniform jacket. Hoodie half-zipped. Arms crossed. Voice casual. But her eyes were sharp.

"You followed me," Tessa said flatly.

"Only because you stopped walking like yourself."

Aya stepped in slowly, her boots light, her tone quieter now.

"I know Hernan’s logs don’t match. I know Nico’s been ghosting nodes that shouldn’t even be reachable. And I know you’ve been running med scans with the power off."

Tessa said nothing.

"So the real question," Aya continued, "is why you didn’t trust me."

Tessa exhaled. "Because it’s dangerous."

Aya’s expression didn’t shift. "So is breathing. And jumping out of aircraft. And trusting people."

"I’m trying to protect you."

Aya’s voice turned sharp. "Don’t. If this thing blows up — whatever it is — I’d rather stand inside it than wonder why my friends left me behind."

Tessa hesitated.

Then crossed the room, opened the drawer near the sterile packs, and pulled out a slim cloth-wrapped capsule.

She handed it to Aya.

Aya took it carefully, her fingers brushing Tessa’s for half a second.

"What’s this?"

"Crossfire files. Echo Burn. What they built into Hernan — and how they plan to shut him down if he steps out of line."

Aya’s breath caught. "He knows?"

"Some of it. Not all. The failsafe’s real. Terminal-level. Once activated, it’ll destroy him at the cellular level."

Aya’s jaw tightened.

"They engineered a hero," she said. "And buried a kill-switch under his skin."

Tessa nodded.

"And if he finds out too fast, he might go quiet. Lock us out."

"Then we move first."

Aya slipped the capsule into her inner jacket pocket. "And we do it together."

They stood in silence.

The lights dimmed another notch. A shift change loomed. And a war they hadn’t asked for pressed closer with every second.

"What now?" Aya asked.

Tessa looked toward the medbay door.

"Now we stop waiting."

Aya cracked the faintest grin. "Finally."

And for the first time in weeks, neither of them felt alone.

They weren’t just breaking rules anymore.

They were building a rebellion.

And Tower Zero had no idea what was coming.

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