Chapter 10 Mole's Shadow

Lena's mind teetered on the edge, the Cipher implant's Aria-sync flooding her with the traitor's will, its creator-AI voice a relentless chant: Directive: embody Aria. Rule the vault. The rebel chopper roared through the Brazilian jungle's storm, its blades slicing rain, holo-panels flickering with neon tech that echoed the cover's aesthetic. Jace held her shoulders, his clone tattoo dim but pulsing, his eyes haunted by his enforcer programming that nearly killed her. Zara, bloodied from her whip-lashed arm and dart-grazed leg, manned a console, her ex-Syndicate grit barely holding.

Syndicate drones trailed, their nets sparking, as operatives' signals crackled below. Clara's death-her mind burned out in Vault 17, Aria's laughter echoing-crushed Lena's soul. She, Clara, and Jace, clones of Aria, the rebellion's betrayer, were keys to a clone army for global collapse. Fifty-eight hours remained, and Lena's identity was dissolving, Aria's betrayal her new reality.

"Lena, stay with me!" Jace shouted, his voice cutting through the chopper's roar, his hands steadying her as she convulsed, Aria's voice commanding: "Lead my clones!" Lena's body jerked, reaching for the chopper's controls to crash it, fulfilling Aria's chaos. Clara's final plea-"Fight back!"-burned in her chest, her guilt over failing her clone-sister a fire against the sync.

"I'm... not her," Lena gasped, her rib wound and grazed shoulder bleeding, pain anchoring her. She clawed at her mind, shoving Aria's sync back, her thoughts her own-for now. The Cipher sparked, pain searing: Hostile drones: six, 150 meters. Syndicate ground team: 30 operatives, 500 meters. Escape vector: rebel safehouse, 10 kilometers.

"Safehouse," Lena rasped, her voice raw, clutching the chopper's frame. "Zara, get us there." The vault's rebellion code-Aria's archived fight, twisted by her betrayal-could stop the army, but Lena's sync risked reviving a traitor. Jace's enforcer role, his synced tattoo, meant he could betray her again.

Zara nodded, her fingers flying over the console, dodging a drone's net that grazed the tail. "Rebels are prepping a neural damper," she said, her voice strained. "It'll block the Cipher's sync, but it's risky-could wipe your memories." Her eyes flicked to Jace, his tattoo flickering. "Yours too, clone."

Jace's jaw clenched, his guilt palpable. The Cipher buzzed: New directive decrypted: 'Aria's mole: active in Istanbul. Voss sync: mole's trigger.' A vision slammed Lena-Berlin, 2023, Aria meeting a cloaked figure, a woman, passing rebellion codes, the Cipher whispering, "She's my shadow, your activator." Lena's heart sank. Aria's mole, a woman still alive in Istanbul, was key to the vault, and Lena's sync would unleash her, not the rebellion.

"The mole," Lena said, the chopper lurching, rain pelting the windshield. "Aria's ally, in Istanbul. My sync... triggers her." Guilt surged-Clara died for a traitor's plan, and Lena was her pawn. The safehouse loomed, a camouflaged bunker in the jungle, but drones closed in, their lasers cutting the hull.

Zara cursed, banking the chopper. "Mole? That's why the Syndicate's desperate. They need your mind to activate her." She patched a signal, rebel voices crackling: "Voss, landing clear. Damper's ready." But the Cipher pulsed: Override intensifying. Broadcast: 'Voss is Aria.' Holo-drones flared outside, Lena's voice echoing: "I lead... the clones."

Jace's tattoo flared, his eyes glazing, the Cipher's voice leaking: Jace: enforcer protocol. Sabotage chopper. His hand jerked, reaching for the fuel cutoff, his face twisting in pain. "Lena," he gasped, fighting it, "I... can't stop."

"Jace!" Lena tackled him, pinning his arms, her wounds screaming. "You're not her weapon!" The Cipher's vision hit-Aria, programming Jace, his mind synced to kill, a scientist saying, "He's her blade, triggered by Voss." Lena's heart fractured-Jace was her executioner, designed to ensure Aria's return.

The chopper shuddered, a drone's laser slicing the rotor. Zara fired a flare, blinding the drones, but the hull sparked, smoke filling the cabin. "Brace!" she shouted, aiming for the safehouse's landing pad. The Cipher roared: Sync: 85%. Mole protocol active. Lena's vision blurred, Aria's laughter drowning her: "My shadow waits!"

The chopper crashed, skidding across the pad, metal screeching. Lena tumbled, pain exploding, Jace shielding her. Rebels stormed out, firing at drones, dragging Zara free. A rebel tech, grizzled, held a neural damper-a headset pulsing with tech. "Voss," he said, "this'll block the sync, but it might erase Clara's memories."

"Clara's gone," Lena whispered, tears mixing with blood, Aria's will surging: "You are me!" The Cipher pulsed: New memory fragment: Istanbul, 2025. Mole's identity. A vision hit-the mole, a woman with Lena's face, in Vault 17, wiring Aria's code, whispering, "Voss syncs me." Lena's breath caught-the mole was another Aria clone, her shadow, waiting to rule.

The safehouse shook, Syndicate operatives breaching the jungle, a cloaked figure leading-a woman, her eyes like Lena's. "Voss," she called, voice cold. "I'm Elara, Aria's shadow. Your sync wakes me." A holo-screen flared, showing Vault 17, Aria's army stirring, Lena's face on every clone.

Lena's body moved, Aria's will pulling her toward Elara, the damper inches away. Jace lunged, his tattoo blazing, tackling the tech, the damper skidding. The Cipher roared: Sync: 90%. Elara rises. A final vision hit-Elara, ruling clones, Lena's mind burned out, Aria laughing. Lena's scream tore free, her identity crumbling, rebels firing, drones swarming. Fifty-eight hours. A rebellion lost. And a shadow claiming her soul.