They moved before sunrise.

Ji Woo laid out the floorplans of Blue Star's primary server hub—an underground fortress beneath a tech campus in Gangnam, disguised as an AI research lab. Buried in its core: the master protocol for Project Evolution.

"If we can destroy the codebase," Ji Woo explained, "we cripple Mi Na's ability to replicate or update enhanced subjects. She’d have to start over."

Rin and Rae exchanged a look. A silent agreement. No hesitation.

At 4:32 a.m., the Resistance Sisters breached the outer perimeter. No alarms.

They moved like ghosts. Trained. Synchronized.

Bong Soon and Ji Woo coordinated from an ops van two blocks away. Drones gave a live-feed overlay. Ji Woo’s voice stayed calm in their ears.

"North corridor clear. Reinforcements staged two levels down. Move fast."

Rin sliced into the elevator system, freezing cameras. Rae pried open the shaft, and they slid down to Sublevel 4.

Steel corridors. Blue lighting. Silence thick as cement.

Then—

"Movement," Ji Woo warned. "South hall. Five incoming."

Rae cracked her knuckles. "I’ve got ‘em."

The hallway exploded into motion. Five guards in upgraded exo-rigs charged. Rae moved like a wrecking ball—dodging, disarming, dropping them one by one. Her silver-glow surged with every hit.

Meanwhile, Rin reached the server vault. She planted the virus Ji Woo had preloaded. A progress bar blinked alive: Uploading—3%... 12%...

Then the lights went red.

"System breach detected," an automated voice announced.

Doors slammed shut.

"They’ve cut the uplink," Rin said. "I need thirty more seconds."

Rae burst in, breathing hard. "Then take thirty. I’ll hold the line."

Back in the ops van, Ji Woo’s face went pale. A new alert flashed.

Priority Combatant Incoming: Codename Aegis.

"No," she whispered. "She deployed Aegis already? That wasn’t supposed to happen."

Bong Soon turned. "Who’s Aegis?"

Ji Woo looked haunted. "Her first true success. Everything Chimera wasn’t—precise, adaptive, cruel. And programmed to kill legacies on sight."

The floor trembled. Something huge approached.

Rae backed toward Rin. "I think our thirty seconds are up."

From the shadows stepped Aegis—tall, armored, expressionless. But behind the helmet was a face Rae recognized.

Rae’s voice cracked. "No... it can’t be."

Rin looked up. "You know her?"

Rae didn’t answer. Couldn’t.

Because Aegis was someone they’d buried long ago.

And now she was Mi Na’s deadliest weapon.