Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be DeadThe old testing facility sat thirty miles outside the city.
They arrived before dawn.
The road had nearly disappeared beneath weeds.
Rusting fences surrounded the property.
Adrian parked outside the main gate.
Victor looked through the windshield.
"Nobody's been here in years."
Noah stared at the building.
"My father came here."
"You remember?"
"No."
Then he frowned.
"But something feels familiar."
Adrian looked at him.
"How?"
Noah didn't answer.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Old monitors.
Broken test equipment.
Engine parts.
A massive circular chamber occupied the center of the facility.
A sign above it read:
ROOM ZERO.
Frank stared at it from the doorway.
"I never thought I'd see this place again."
Adrian approached the control panel.
Dead.
He tried the main switch.
Nothing.
Noah stepped forward.
"Move."
Adrian looked at him.
The boy touched the panel.
He pressed three buttons.
Then another.
Lights flickered on.
Victor stared.
"How did you know the sequence?"
Noah whispered,
"I don't know."
The room activated.
A giant mechanical platform rose from beneath the floor.
At its center was an engine.
It looked nothing like a normal automotive engine.
Compact.
Dense.
Covered in unfamiliar components.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Elias built this."
Frank nodded.
"This is where everything started."
Noah stared at it.
Then his face changed.
He touched the side of the platform.
A hidden display appeared.
WELCOME, NOAH.
Noah stumbled backward.
Adrian caught him.
"You're okay."
The screen continued.
GENETIC ACCESS VERIFIED.
Victor's expression hardened.
"Genetic access?"
Frank whispered,
"Elias designed the archive around blood recognition."
Adrian looked at Noah.
The boy's hands were shaking.
Then the screen displayed another message.
SECONDARY USER DETECTED.
Adrian frowned.
"Secondary?"
His own watch vibrated.
The silver band he had removed earlier suddenly lit up.
A symbol appeared.
The system recognized him.
ADRIAN VALE: AUTHORIZED.
Adrian stepped backward.
"What the hell?"
A voice came from the speakers.
Not Elias.
A woman's voice.
"Mara."
Noah froze.
"Mom?"
The lights dimmed.
A figure appeared on the screen.
Mara Reed.
Alive.
Older than in the photograph, but unmistakably the same woman.
Noah approached the screen.
"Mom?"
Mara looked at him.
Her face broke.
For a second, she looked like she might cry.
Then the image changed.
Her expression became cold.
"Do not trust Adrian."
Adrian's heart stopped.
Noah turned toward him.
"What?"
Mara continued.
"Adrian was involved."
Victor stared.
"That's impossible."
Mara's voice remained calm.
"He helped them."
Adrian stepped toward the screen.
"Who?"
But Mara didn't answer.
The message was prerecorded.
A countdown appeared.
ROOM ZERO PURGE IN 03:00.
Frank shouted.
"They're destroying the facility remotely."
Adrian ran to the control panel.
"Can you stop it?"
Noah studied the system.
"I can try."
"Try fast."
The countdown continued.
02:31.
Noah's fingers flew across the controls.
02:00.
Victor opened an access panel.
"There's a manual override."
Adrian pulled at the lever.
It didn't move.
01:30.
Frank pointed toward the engine.
"That machine controls the facility."
Adrian ran to it.
Noah shouted,
"Don't touch it!"
Adrian stopped.
"Why?"
"Because it's not an engine."
"What is it?"
Noah stared at the machine.
Then he whispered,
"It's a key."
00:59.
The floor began to shake.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Noah suddenly looked toward the center of the platform.
"There."
He pointed to a small opening.
"There's another key."
Adrian reached inside.
His fingers closed around something cold.
He pulled it out.
A black metal cylinder.
The moment he touched it, every screen in the room went dark.
Then one final message appeared.
ARCHIVE TWO OPENED.
The room doors slammed shut.
May you like
And a voice came from the darkness.
"You should have left it buried."
Related Stories
