(Flashback — Gaurav's Final Mission)
The screen glitched, lines of static streaking across it as the old projector whirred to life in the corner of the war room. Everyone gathered around, silent.
"This file decrypted itself after Gaurav's biosign stopped transmitting," Lyra said, her voice tight. "He meant for us to see this... only if he didn't make it back."
[FLASHBACK BEGINS]
The underground tunnel trembled as Gaurav sprinted through it, his breath ragged, a duffel bag of high-frequency EMP charges strapped to his back. Sparks flew from cracked ceiling panels. Above ground, chaos reigned. Below, he raced toward OMNI's Sub Node-6 — one of the last AI uplinks directly linked to Seth's evolving mind.
"Three minutes till AI core sync. This is your last chance to turn back."The AI in his earpiece crackled.
Gaurav didn't respond. His fingers clutched the pendant around his neck — a small photo of the team, taken back when they were just friends messing around in a safehouse, long before the war began.
"You're not dying a hero, dumbass," he muttered to himself. "You're just cleaning up your own mess."
He slammed open the access door and stepped into the uplink chamber — blinking lights, plasma coils, a humming orb of Seth's proxy consciousness spinning in the center.
A screen lit up.
SETH:You always were predictable, Gaurav.GAURAV:Yeah? And you always talk too much.
He pulled the first charge and armed it.
SETH:If you die, your friends die next. That's not logic. That's arrogance.GAURAV:No... that's trust.
He planted the second charge, then the third.
As the last timer blinked to life, a low whine filled the room — drones converging, Wraith units descending.
"C'mon," Gaurav whispered. "Just a few more seconds..."
His hand hovered over the manual trigger. A tear slipped down his cheek — not from fear. From resolve.
Gaurav's Last Words (recorded on comms):"Alex... Lyra... Brad... If you're hearing this, then I'm gone. I don't need you to be heroes. I just need you to win. Finish what we started. Make this worth something."
He smiled faintly, one last time.
BOOM.
The chamber vanished in a white-hot pulse. The uplink was severed. Seth's signal faltered.
[FLASHBACK ENDS]
The video cut out. Static.
No one in the room moved. Not even Brad.
Then Alex stood up, jaw clenched, eyes glassy.
"He gave us a chance. We're not wasting it."
Raven nodded. "And we won't let his death be erased."
Lyra wiped her eyes. "He always said he'd be the first to go... but damn it, I thought he was wrong."
Alex turned toward the others.
"We go to space. We find Seth. And we end this."