Ada Wong: Breathtaking Operative by Jade Gretz

https://www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai/art/Ada-Wong-Breathtaking-Operative-1304848957#image-1

Ada Wong: Breathtaking Operative ANIMATION

Mirrors in the Dust

Dust motes drifted upward, defying gravity, glittering like crushed diamonds in the harsh beam of Ada Wong’s tactical light. Beneath the cracked crust of the Mojave Desert, the subterranean Arcadia Facility did not hum with the expected mechanical drone of corporate research; it wept. Amber fluid bled from the seams of the brushed steel corridors, carrying the phantom scents of vanilla, ozone, and childhood rain—scents that had absolutely no business existing a mile below the arid, lifeless surface of the earth.

Ada adjusted the collar of her crimson tactical coat, her heels clicking softly, deliberately, against the steel grating. She wanted it to know she was coming. Stealth was a tool for the unseen, but here in the belly of the beast, she was already observed by a thousand stolen eyes. She felt the heavy, humid gaze of the entity long before she heard its voice.

"It is quite cold outside, is it not?"

The voice did not echo from the cavernous dark ahead, nor did it transmit through her earpiece. It bloomed directly within her auditory cortex, dripping with the warmth of a crackling hearth. It was a man’s voice, rich and seasoned, laced with the specific, smoky timbre of Dr. Aris Thorne, Arcadia’s former lead neurologist.

"I wouldn't know, Doctor," Ada replied aloud, her voice a cool ribbon of silk cutting through the damp air. "I packed for the weather. Though I see you’ve decided to redecorate since my last visit. The fleshy mold motif is certainly bold."

"We are no longer Thorne," the voice murmured, shifting mid-sentence into the lilting soprano of a young woman, then settling into a harmonious, overlapping chorus of dozens of voices. "We are the Archive. We are the sum of all remembered things. And you, Ada Wong, are a void walking through our gallery."

"I've been called worse," Ada said, stepping over a thick, translucent cable that pulsed with golden light. Inside the cable, she could see shadows darting like fish under ice. "Usually by men who lack imagination."

As she walked deeper into the labyrinth, the Archive tested her defenses, probing for a fracture. The air grew suddenly frigid, the steel grating beneath her boots transforming into the slush-covered cobblestones of a European street. Snowflakes, heavy and wet, began to fall from the subterranean ceiling, melting against her cheek.

"Do you remember the cold, Ada?" the voices whispered, swirling around her in the simulated wind. "The city was cold. The train was cold. You left him there, bleeding, believing you were dead. We can feel the precise weight of the sorrow you refuse to acknowledge."

A ghostly projection flickered into existence to her left. A young rookie cop with striking blond hair, clutching his shoulder, his face pale and etched with grief as he looked down at an empty abyss.

Ada stopped walking. The tactical light in her hand did not tremble, but her breath hitched for a microscopic fraction of a second. It was a flawless reconstruction, woven from the fragmented surveillance data and residual psychic impressions scraped from the world above.

"Your parlor tricks are improving," Ada observed, forcing her tone to remain perfectly flat. She reached out, passing her gloved hand through the phantom's chest. The image rippled and dissolved into golden dust. "But your narrative needs work. Sorrow is for those who leave things unfinished. I am remarkably thorough."

"You deceive us. You deceive yourself," the Archive crooned, the snow fading back into the damp, weeping walls of the Arcadia Facility. "You are an island of secrets. But even islands erode when the ocean crashes against them long enough. We are the ocean."

"Oceans are full of bottom-feeders," Ada retorted, quickening her pace. "I prefer the high ground."

She rounded a corner into what was once the primary biogenetics laboratory. The sterile white environment had been completely overtaken by a spectacular, horrifying metamorphosis. The walls were lined with towering crystalline structures, resembling giant, fractured mirrors. But they were not reflecting the room; they were projecting memories. In one crystal facet, Ada saw a little boy laughing as he chased a golden retriever through a sprinkler. In the next, a bride kissed her partner under a canopy of white roses.

The beauty was a lie. As Ada stepped closer, the true nature of the display revealed itself. Behind every crystall
...(more at https://www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai).
For more supergirl, chun li, batgirl, tifa, lara croft, wonder woman, rogue and much more, please visit my page at www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai - Thanks for your support :)