Chapter 4 - THE ROOM BELOWEthan opened the hatch.
Cold air rose from the darkness.
He could hear the children more clearly now.
Seven voices.
Small.
Terrified.
Emmie grabbed his wrist.
“Don't go down.”
“I have to.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“If they see you…”
“Let them.”
Emmie shook her head.
“They won't stop.”
Ethan descended.
At the bottom was a concrete corridor.
Seven doors.
Seven narrow windows.
Six were dark.
One was open.
At the end of the corridor sat a monitoring station.
Screens covered the wall.
Heart rates.
Blood oxygen.
Temperatures.
Names.
Ethan moved closer.
He saw Emmie's name.
EMMIE VALE — SUBJECT 07
Status:
ACTIVE
Then he saw the other six.
Subject 01.
Subject 02.
Subject 03.
Subject 04.
Subject 05.
Subject 06.
Five showed red.
One showed green.
Then Ethan noticed another column.
TRANSFER
Every subject had a time.
Except Emmie.
Her field read:
MANUAL OVERRIDE
He stared.
A voice came from behind him.
“You weren't supposed to get this far.”
Ethan spun.
A man stood in the doorway.
Black coat.
The stranger from the window.
He carried no weapon.
He didn't need one.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“Call me Dr. Mercer.”
“You're a doctor?”
“I used to be.”
Ethan stepped in front of Emmie.
“What is this place?”
“A screening facility.”
“For children?”
“For medical compatibility.”
“You chain them outside?”
“When necessary.”
Ethan's anger rose.
Mercer looked at Emmie.
“She has an unusual physiology.”
“She has a name.”
“So do all of them.”
“Where are the other children?”
Mercer glanced at the screens.
“Two were transferred.”
“Transferred where?”
“Somewhere useful.”
Ethan wanted to hit him.
Instead he asked:
“What is inside Emmie?”
Mercer smiled.
“That's the wrong question.”
He pointed at the countdown.
The numbers were still falling.
00:03:58
“The right question is why the countdown exists.”
Ethan stared.
Mercer continued.
“Emmie isn't the target.”
“Then who is?”
Mercer's expression changed.
“You.”
Silence.
Ethan felt the room tilt.
“What?”
“The moment you entered the property, the system registered you.”
Mercer tapped a screen.
A camera feed appeared.
Ethan saw himself arriving at the porch.
At the bottom of the screen:
EXTERNAL SUBJECT DETECTED
Mercer said, “There are people who have spent months searching for someone with your profile.”
“What profile?”
Mercer did not answer.
Instead he turned toward Emmie.
“Ask him about the night he lost his brother.”
Ethan stopped.
Emmie looked at him.
“You never told me about your brother.”
Ethan's face tightened.
“How do you know about him?”
Mercer smiled.
“Because we knew you would come.”
The lights went red.
A mechanical lock slammed shut above them.
Ethan rushed to the door.
It wouldn't open.
Mercer stepped backward.
“The countdown isn't for Emmie.”
The clock showed:
00:02:47
“It is for the building.”
Ethan turned.
“What happens at zero?”
Mercer pressed a button.
Every screen went black.
Then one sentence appeared across them all.
PURGE SEQUENCE ARMED.
May you like
Mercer smiled.
“And now you finally understand why everyone is in such a hurry.”
