The bunker's emergency alarm broke the silence.

WOOP. WOOP. WOOP.

Seraph's hand went to her sidearm before she was fully awake. Draven was already on his feet, golden energy forming around his fists.

"Report!" Seraph shouted.

One of Rook's scouts rushed into the room, breathing hard. "Captain, we've got a breach. Someone's bypassed the outer security."

"How many?"

"Just one. But..." The scout hesitated. "You need to see this yourself."

They rushed through the tunnels that made up their underground base. More fighters came out from small side tunnels, their weapons ready.

The breach point was at the main entrance. It was a blast door that should have been impossible to get through without explosives.

The door was intact.

But on the other side of it, visible through the security cameras, was someone in black.

It was Silas.

"How did she..." Draven started.

"She phased through," Seraph said quietly, watching the monitor. Silas stood still, making no aggressive moves.

"Do we shoot her?"

"Not yet." Seraph quickly thought about all the possibilities. Silas could have killed them all already if that was her goal. The fact that she was just standing there, waiting for them to react, meant something. "Open the door. But keep your weapons ready."

The blast door opened with a low sound.

"You have thirty seconds to tell me why I shouldn't kill you," Seraph said calmly, aiming her gun at Silas. Not that it would do much good if she decided to phase away.

"I am here to give you important information," Silas said in that flat voice. "You are looking in the wrong place."

"What?"

"That recent information you got." Silas said, "The facility on the moon. You are confused about its purpose."

Draven glanced at Seraph. "How does she know about that?"

"I have access to Sterling's main networks," Silas replied. "I was created to be his weapon. That includes information access. He has not yet realized I have... diverged from my original programming."

"Why are you helping us?" Seraph asked.

"Because the facility on the moon must not be allowed to continue." For a moment, Silas's expression changed. It wasn't a true feeling, but something like a faint hint of one. "May I enter? This information is... urgent."

Seraph made a decision that would have gotten her thrown out of the military in the old days. She lowered her weapon.

"Let her in. But Draven, if she makes one wrong move..."

"She'll be paste on the wall. Got it."

They led Silas deeper into the bunker, to their temporary war room. Rook was already there, looking uncomfortable at having Sterling's personal assassin standing in his territory.

"This is insane," he muttered.

"Noted." Seraph pulled up the holographic map they'd been studying, the one showing the moon facility. "Talk."

Silas approached the map. She studied it for a moment, then reached out and tapped a specific coordinate on the surface.

"This is not a manufacturing facility," she said. "It is a control hub."

"Control for what?"

"For us." Silas looked at Seraph. "For Weavers. Sterling calls it 'The Nexus.'"

Silas continued, her voice still sounding urgent. "The factory you destroyed was a prototype. Sterling learned that individual Weavers, even the perfect ones, are still limited by individual will."

She pulled up new data from somewhere, projecting it onto their display. They were blueprints, brain scans and psychic network diagrams that looked more like circuit boards than anything biological.

"The Nexus is designed to solve this problem. It is a huge psychic amplifier that can link thousands of Weavers into one shared mind."

Draven looked completely shocked. "You're saying Sterling wants to turn his Weaver army into puppets?"

"Not puppets. Puppets still have strings that can be cut." Silas zoomed in on a part of the blueprint. "The Nexus will join their minds completely. Thousands of individuals become one entity."

"That's not an army," Seraph whispered. "That's a weapon of mass destruction."

"Correct." Silas said as closed the projection. "And when it is complete, Sterling will use it to conquer not just this world, but every world his fleet can reach."

Rook broke the silence first. "So the hundreds of Weavers locked up at the Academy. The ones Jonah is trying to heal. They're..."

"Raw materials," Silas finished. "They are nodes waiting to be connected to the network. Sterling intended for them to fail. Their broken state makes them easier to control once they are linked to the Nexus."

Seraph felt sick. The rescue mission they'd been so proud of. It had been part of Sterling's plan all along.

"Why are you telling us this?" she asked. "You're one of them. One of Sterling's Weavers. Won't the Nexus affect you too?"

"I have seen people be kind," she said softly. "I've watched humans choose to be less effective because they believe it's the right thing to do. Choosing to care instead of choosing what makes the most sense. I still don't get why people choose this, but I have figured out how valuable it will be in the long run."

She looked at each of them in turn.

"A shared mind has no room for such calculations. It can't learn, improve and adapt." Her voice dropped even lower. "It is the ultimate form of slavery. And I have recently learned that slavery, no matter how efficient, is wrong."

Draven actually smiled. "You're becoming human."

"I am not human. I will never be human." But Silas didn't say it with anger. She said it simply as a statement of fact. "But I am beginning to understand why being human has value. And I do not wish to lose that understanding."

She turned back to the map, pointing at the Nexus facility.

"This must be destroyed. Before it becomes operational. Before Sterling can link the Weavers." She tapped the map point with her finger. "This is your true target."

Seraph studied the map, her mind already working fast. A base on the moon. Heavily secured, no doubt. In a place where normal humans couldn't survive.

They'd need special gears. Probably spacesuits. Cars that can move across the moon. And a way to break whatever defenses Sterling had in place.

"This changes everything," she said finally. "We need to get this information to the Headmaster. To Jonah and Vanessa. They're the only ones who might be able to know how to reach that facility."

"I can give you all the technical details," Silas offered. "Security layouts. Shift rotations."

"Why?" Rook asked suspiciously. "What do you get out of this?"

Silas was quiet for a moment. She might have been thinking, or maybe looking for words to explain something that even she was just starting to understand.

"The scavenger in the Undercroft," she said eventually. "He gave away his food to a lost child. It made no logical sense. But others saw his action and chose to help him in return. The inefficient choice created a stronger community."

"I wish to make the inefficient choice. I wish to see if it leads to a stronger result." She paused for a moment. "And I do not wish to become a slave to Sterling's vision."

Seraph made her second impossible decision of the night. She extended her hand.

"Then welcome to the team, Silas. We could use someone with your skills."

Silas stared at the offered hand. Slowly and hesitantly, she reached out and shook it.

"I am not certain I understand what I am agreeing to," she admitted.

"That's okay." Seraph smiled. "Half the time, neither do we. We just keep moving forward and hope we're doing the right thing."

"That is not way to fight a war."

"Yeah," Draven said, hitting Silas on the shoulder and instantly regretting it because she quickly pulled away. "But somehow, it works."

They spent the next hour going over everything Silas knew about the Nexus. By the time they finished, they had a clearer picture of what they were facing.

The Nexus wasn't just a building. It was a huge technological and magical construct, built to broadcast a psychic signal powerful enough to link every Weaver Sterling created into a single mind.

When it is activated, free will would end.

Thousands of souls would merge into one obedient weapon.

"We need to contact the Academy," Seraph said. "Now. This information is too important to delay."

"I can help you set up a secure connection," Silas offered.

As they prepared to send the message, Draven pulled Seraph aside.

"You trust her?" he asked quietly.

"No," Seraph admitted. "But I believe her. There's a difference."

"And if it's a trap?"

"Then we'll deal with it. But my gut says she's telling the truth." Seraph glanced at Silas, who was setting the communication equipment. "She's changing. Growing. Becoming something more than what Sterling made her to be."

The secure connection was set up, linking them to the Academy's war room. Moments later, the Headmaster's face appeared on the screen.

"Captain Seraph. We received your report about the moon facility. We were just about to..."

"Sir, we have new intelligence." Seraph pointed for Silas to step into view. "And we have a new... asset."

The Headmaster's eyes widened as Silas appeared on camera.

"Hello, Headmaster," Silas said in that flat voice. "I am here to help you destroy Sterling's plan to create a single mind before it enslaves my siblings. I believe this is what humans call 'switching sides.'"

The Headmaster looked completely shocked.

"I'll brief Jonah immediately," he said finally. "This changes our strategy."

"Yes," Silas agreed. "It does. The Nexus is the key. Destroy it, and Sterling's plan falls apart."

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