Rain still fell over Seoul, but the streets buzzed with cautious optimism. News anchors reported the capture of Mi Na, analysts praised the Do sisters’ heroism, and security agencies ran simulations to prevent any future threat like Blue Star.

But not everyone celebrated.

In a nondescript café in Busan, a woman in a grey hoodie sipped black tea while scanning an encrypted tablet. Her eyes never left the screen.

Project Ember.

A protocol locked deep within Mi Na’s network. One only a few had access to. And now, she had inherited it.

She smiled.

Back in Seoul, Rin met with Ji Woo at the Department of Emerging Tech. They pored over archived Blue Star logs.

"You were right," Ji Woo said. "There’s chatter about a secondary cell. Quiet. Adaptive. It went dark six months before Mi Na’s first public move."

Rin frowned. “A failsafe.”

Ji Woo nodded. “And whoever’s running it now isn’t operating from a lab. They’re using real-world tests—embedding themselves in communities.”

Rae entered, tossing a jacket on a chair. “Then let’s flush them out. Start with anyone Mi Na ever recruited and backtrace their last six months.”

Ji Woo handed her a file. “Already ahead of you. But here’s the twist—some of these people were declared dead.”

Rae blinked. “So either we’ve got a ghost network… or someone’s resurrecting more than just tech.”

That night, Rin couldn’t sleep.

She stood on the rooftop of their building, staring out at the skyline. The air smelled of ozone and rain.

Rae joined her, two mugs in hand. “Still thinking about what Mi Na said?”

“She had a point,” Rin admitted. “Ideas don’t die. They evolve.”

“But so do we,” Rae said. “And we’ve got the one thing she never had.”

Rin looked over. “What?”

“Each other.”

They stood in silence, sipping hot tea as the wind picked up.

Below them, the city kept breathing—alive, alert, and waiting.