"YOU HAD ME AT HELLO"

Wednesday – 9:00 A.M. | Eastern Skies – Stealth Aircraft "Lark"

The air buzzed with pressure as the stealth jet zipped through cloud banks, its cloaking tech keeping them invisible to the Hollow Bridge radar.

Rick sat strapped in across from Echo, reviewing blueprints on a holographic tablet. Ava monitored their altitude. Kael sat in the back, muttering to his laptop as he reprogrammed their landing gear for an emergency release.

"Hollow Bridge Mainframe is buried 200 meters beneath the surface," Ava explained, pointing at a flashing structure on the map.

"Direct access requires bypassing the security lifts and biometric checkpoints."

"And let me guess," Rick said, tapping the screen, "that's where they've stored the Hollow Blueprint."

Kael nodded grimly.

"The original consciousness architecture they used to build every clone. Including you two."

Echo looked up.

"That file could prove who the real Rick is."

Rick shook his head.

"It's not about that anymore. It's about ending this program for good."

9:45 A.M. | Hollow Bridge Perimeter

They parachuted in.

No alarms. No lasers. Just silence.

Too silent.

Rick led the way, EVA-cloaked in black tactical armor. They moved past disabled sentry drones, melted security gates.

Kael frowned.

"This was supposed to be locked down."

Ava slowed.

"We're walking into a setup."

10:10 A.M. | Level 1 – Reception Floor

Inside, the base was… empty. Hallways gleamed. Screens flickered quietly. The sound of their boots echoed endlessly.

Then: the overhead speakers crackled.

"Welcome home, Rick."

It was Director Widow.

"Or should I say… Ricks."

Echo stiffened.

Kael's eyes widened.

"She knows we brought him."

10:22 A.M. | Level 4 – The Vault of Silence

They reached the mainframe chamber: a massive, circular hall with a floating core suspended above a pool of electrified plasma.

In the center: a sealed pod. Inside—

Another version of Rick.

Shorter hair. Pale skin. Hooked to machines. Eyes twitching beneath the lids.

"What the hell is that?" Ava gasped.

Kael checked the ID tag.

> "SUBJECT PRIME – R1.00"

"Consciousness under reconstruction – INCOMPLETE"

Echo stepped back.

"He's the true original."

Rick stared, cold.

"The first body. But maybe not the best mind."

10:31 A.M. | Data Core Breach

Kael linked into the mainframe and began uploading the Eden Terminal files to their satellite relay.

Suddenly, Widow's voice returned.

"You found the first blueprint. Good. Now look at what it became."

Lights flashed. Doors slammed.

Dozens of pods rose from the floor.

Clones — all versions of Rick — in various states of mental instability, twitching, some whispering to themselves.

One stepped forward — wearing military gear, face twisted in rage.

"I am Rick Fyer."

"No," said another, trembling, "I am."

Then a third clone screamed, running at them.

Echo stepped forward, voice cutting through the chaos:

"Stop! You were all made from the same man. But you were broken on purpose."

10:39 A.M. | Collapse Protocol Activated

Widow, now watching from a remote command seat, hit the final command.

"Initiate Clean Slate."

Explosives across the facility armed.

Rick grabbed Echo's arm.

"We have two minutes to upload that file and get out."

Kael screamed,

"It's 89% done! Hold them off!"

Rick turned to the clones.

"You want the truth? Help us finish this."

One clone paused.

Then another.

They turned on each other — chaos erupting between fractured identities.

But three stood by Rick.

Just enough.

Final Scene – Escape

At 100%, Kael pulled the drive and tossed it to Ava, who leapt into the descending escape shaft.

Rick, Echo, and Kael followed seconds later — just as fire erupted above them.

The Hollow Blueprint was destroyed.

But the world now had the truth.