Ascension: Shadow Protocol

Chapter 25: A Father's Secret

"The dead speak through the echoes we refuse to hear."

The safehouse was silent, save for the low hum of energy circulating through the hidden generator. Faint candlelight flickered across the reinforced walls—an old shelter carved into the underground ruins of an abandoned metro station. Dust lingered in the air, but there was something sacred about the silence… like a memory that refused to fade.

Ryo sat on a rusted bench, his shadow coiled loosely at his feet, rising and falling with his breath. The events of the day—Aya's betrayal, the Red Horizon's destruction, the Executors—were still spinning in his head like shards of a shattered mirror.

But it was Kael's words that had pierced deepest.

"I knew your father."

Ryo turned slowly, facing the older man, who was leaning against a steel column, arms crossed, eyes like carved stone.

"You fought beside him?"

Kael didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled a worn data chip from his coat and held it out.

"No. I fought against him."

The silence that followed was razor-sharp.

Ryo didn't move. Didn't breathe. His heart skipped like a glitching beat.

"What…?"

Kael sighed. "Not in the way you're thinking. It's complicated."

Ryo snatched the chip from his hand.

"Explain."

Kael dropped into a nearby chair. The creak of old metal echoed around them.

"Your father, Daiki Kazen, wasn't just a scientist. That's what the records say, but it's a lie—one built by the Council to cover up what he really was."

Ryo's fingers curled tightly around the chip.

"What was he?"

Kael looked directly at him. "The first successful wielder of the Shadow Protocol."

The world tilted.

"You're lying."

"I wish I was."

Ryo's thoughts splintered. Memories resurfaced—faint glimpses of a man working late into the night, of whispered warnings, encrypted files, sudden disappearances. He'd always thought his father was just a victim of a failed experiment… collateral damage from the system's creation.

But this—this changed everything.

[Alert: Shadow Core Resonance Detected][Source: Data Chip Identified – "KAZEN ZERO"]

Ryo plugged it into the makeshift terminal Kael had set up.

A holographic projection flickered to life.

And there he was.

Daiki Kazen.

Younger than Ryo remembered. Clean-shaven. Intense eyes. Lab coat draped over combat gear.

"If you're seeing this, it means the Protocol has been activated again. That means you, Ryo."

Ryo stepped closer, barely breathing.

"I knew this day would come. The Protocol isn't just a weapon—it's a curse. It doesn't grant power. It tests it. It judges. Those who can't control it… are consumed."

Kael turned away, jaw clenched.

"The Council didn't create it. They found it—deep in the ruins beneath the Fallen Spire. They couldn't activate it… but I could. And when they saw that, they made me their pawn."

Ryo's throat tightened.

"I escaped. But not before stealing the root core of the system—the key to unlocking its true purpose. That's what they want now. And if they know you have it… they'll come for you. Harder. Faster."

Daiki leaned forward.

"You have to be better than me, Ryo. Stronger. Smarter. The Shadow Protocol will try to consume you, but if you master it—really master it—you'll have the power to rewrite everything."

The message flickered.

"Find the Spire. Uncover the original code. And trust no one who wears the Council's mark."

The feed cut.

Silence fell.

Ryo stared at the empty space where his father's image had vanished.

The room felt colder now.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" he whispered.

Kael lit a fresh cigar. "Because if you knew the truth too soon, they feared you'd make the same mistake he did."

"And what mistake was that?"

Kael exhaled slowly. Smoke curled in the air like a phantom.

"He believed he could change the world... alone."

Elsewhere — High Council Archives

In a vault beneath the Genesis Tower, masked figures watched the same hologram projection on a fractured feed.

"So the son knows," one of them growled.

The Matron Councilor turned, her silver mask catching the dim light.

"Let him chase shadows. The real game has already begun."

Another leaned in.

"Shall we deploy the next unit?"

The Matron's voice was like ice. "No. Let the Spire draw him. The deeper he goes, the closer he gets to the truth…"

She smiled behind her mask.

"…and to his undoing."

Back in the safehouse

Ryo stood by the exit shaft, staring into the darkness.

The Spire. The original code. His father's legacy.

It was no longer just about survival.

It was about answers.

It was about war.

[New Objective: Locate the Fallen Spire][Quest Rank: S+][Warning: High Lethality. Proceed with Caution.]

Kael stepped up beside him, tightening the straps on his weapon harness.

"You sure you're ready for this?"

Ryo's eyes gleamed in the shadows.

"I wasn't before."

He looked back toward the flickering console.

"But I am now."

End of Chapter 25