The Zero Protocol Flashback: The Beginning Of The End

Flashback: The Beginning of the End

A dark, sterile lab. The faint hum of machinery fills the air.

In 2105, humanity’s ambition knew no bounds. The Grid rose as a monument to progress… and humanity’s greatest sin. It was in this era of calculated chaos that Nyra Asher’s story began—not in a warm home, but within the cold embrace of science and ambition.

A tiny newborn, lifeless on a metal slab. A man in his late 30s, Dr. Aron Asher, stands frozen in front of her, grief carved into his face.

Nyra wasn’t born into love. She was built in desperation.

Elena Asher

*Crying* Aron… please. Let her go. She’s gone.

Aron Asher

*gritting his teeth* No. I can save her. I will save her.

Aron couldn’t accept fate’s cruelty. Armed with forbidden technology and the support of Marianna Roche—the mastermind behind The Grid—he brought Nyra back. But it wasn’t life he gave her. It was something else entirely.

Aron implants a glowing neural core into the infant’s skull, his hands trembling. Marianna observes from a distance, an unreadable expression on her face.

Marianna Roche

Marianna Roche

She isn’t your daughter, Dr. Asher. She’s a masterpiece. *coldly*

She sound almost hysterical.

And so, Project Genesis began. A human heart encased in mechanical precision. Nyra Asher became the first of her kind—a child resurrected with the mind of a machine.

Scene shifts to a warm living room. Kale, Nyra’s older brother, builds a tower out of blocks as a younger Sania giggles beside him. Aron and Elena argue in the kitchen.

Saina (N’s Lil sis)

Why do Mom and Dad always fight now? (Whispering to kale)

Kale ( N’s Brother )

Maybe coz she’s still sick? *he shrugs*

But Nyra wasn’t sick. Not in the way they thought. Aron’s obsession with his creation tore his family apart. What once was love unraveled into secrets and silence

Cut to Nyra, now a toddler, sitting alone in a sterile room. Her bright eyes flicker as if processing something too vast for her age. Next to her, a small robot with glowing blue eyes chirps softly.

Little Nyra

“Mico, are you my friend?” *patting the robot*

Mico Gen 3

Yes Nyra..

Mico Gen 3

Always..

Nyra grew in isolation, her only companion a small droid her father built. She laughed, cried, and dreamed, just like any other child. But under her fragile humanity lay something terrifyingly unique—a mechanical mind capable of wonders and horrors.

The Asher family sits together for dinner. Outside, shadows move unnaturally fast.

Until the night The Grid came for her.

A loud crash of glass. Men in black suits burst into the house, their faces expressionless, their movements too smooth to be human.

Elena Asher

“Aron! Do something!” *she screams*

Aron Asher

Kale grab Saina!

Aron Asher

Nyra.. come with me..

Aron Asher

Hide here ok? * he says pushing her into the closet*

Aron Asher

*Pats her* it’s ok..

Aron Asher

*He closes the door shut*

Little Nyra

Daddy… don’t leave… *she says with a trembling voice*

Nyra’s father shoves her into a closet. Through the slats, she sees the chaos unfold. The men drag her mother, screaming, as her father tries to fight them off.

They were machines wrapped in human skin. Their faces mimicked life, but their eyes betrayed the truth. Empty. Soulless.

The closet door is wrenched open. Nyra lets out a terrified scream as cold hands grab her.

In a sterile facility. Nyra, now seven, sits behind bars, her knees pulled to her chest. Needles pierce her skin, wires connected to her temples.

Her new home was a cage. Her life, a series of endless experiments. They whispered about her as though she couldn’t hear.

Scientist 1

She’s not human. That’s the point.. *smirking*

Scientist 2

Her neural interface is decades ahead of its time. Imagine what she’ll become…

Scientist 3

But.. she still a kid

Scientist 3

She doesn’t know it yet

Scientist 1

She’ll adapt..

Scientist 1

And she doesn’t need to know either..

Little Nyra

*know wht?*

Scientist 2

And it’s not time to feel empathetic towards smthg that’s not human…

Scientist 2

Get to ur work

Scientist 2

Our only job is to let this masterpiece reach its full potential .. *her eyes glints.. with excitement *

They spoke of potential, of power. But Nyra felt none of it. All she knew was pain and a growing sense that she was no longer herself.

Nyra, older now, her eyes burning with defiance

Flash of a memory. Nyra, still small, clutches the bars of her cage as tears stream down her face.

Nyra Asher

*clutches her chest, as a single tear glides down her cheek.. hitting the cold earth*

The machines that had broken her would not be her masters. She escaped, leaving chaos in her wake.

Nyra (whispering): “And one day, I’ll make them pay.”

Nyra Asher

I’m not theirs. Not anymore!

running through a dark alley, rain pouring down. Her face is bruised, her hands trembling. In the distance, machines search for her, their red eyes scanning the shadows.

But freedom came at a cost. They hunted her. Relentlessly.

She looks up, her expression hardening into resolve.

Nyra Asher

But they made a mistake. They thought they’d created a weapon they could control.

Nyra Asher

But No

Nyra Asher

They created Me

Nyra Asher

Nyra disappears into the shadows, her voice the last sound heard.

Nyra Asher

One day… I’ll make them pay.. for it all..