CHAPTER 14 The Shot in the Dark
The gunshot echoed through every speaker.
Then...
Silence.
Every monitor in the archive went black.
The only sound left was the low hum of emergency power struggling to stay alive.
Ethan's heart stopped.
"Amelia..."
No answer.
Daniel immediately switched to his tactical radio.
"Control, report!"
Only static answered.
Whoever fired that shot had also crippled the facility's communications.
Arthur was already moving.
"We don't have time."
He grabbed an old paper map from one of the archive drawers and spread it across a metal table.
"This level was built before the digital security system."
Samuel leaned over it.
"Paper blueprints?"
Arthur nodded.
"Victor digitized everything."
"But he forgot..."
"...I never trusted computers."
He traced a narrow corridor with his finger.
"His control room is here."
Then another line.
"And Amelia's isolation ward..."
"...is here."
Daniel frowned.
"They're connected."
Arthur nodded.
"By one hallway."
Lily suddenly spoke.
"Not anymore."
Everyone looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"The hallway changed."
Eleanor's eyes widened.
"You remember the renovations?"
Lily nodded.
"They built another room."
Samuel whispered,
"Observation Chamber."
Arthur slowly closed his eyes.
"So he finished it..."
Daniel checked his watch.
"If we're going..."
"...we go now."
He turned to his team.
"Alpha Team with me."
"Bravo stays with the children."
One of the guards interrupted.
"Sir."
"The children are gone."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
The security feed from the observation room was empty.
The platform had disappeared.
So had Subject Eight.
Victor's control room...
Red emergency lights flashed across the walls.
Technicians ran between smoking consoles.
One security officer lay unconscious on the floor.
Victor calmly stepped over him.
"Status."
A frightened engineer answered.
"We've lost internal surveillance."
"Level Four is offline."
Victor remained strangely calm.
"And Amelia?"
"We..."
The engineer hesitated.
"We don't know."
Victor looked toward the dark hallway outside his control room.
Then quietly smiled.
"So."
"She remembered the code."
Elsewhere...
Amelia ran barefoot through the underground corridors.
Her breathing was uneven.
Blood trickled down one arm where an IV needle had been torn free.
Yet her eyes were clear.
Focused.
Determined.
Seven years of confusion had finally broken.
She remembered Ethan.
She remembered Lily.
She remembered the fire.
And most importantly...
She remembered Room Zero.
Back in the archive...
Eleanor suddenly froze.
"Room Zero."
Samuel looked at her.
"What?"
She grabbed Arthur by the shoulders.
"Tell me he destroyed it."
Arthur didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His silence was enough.
Eleanor's face turned white.
"No..."
"If Amelia remembers..."
"...she's not running away."
"She's running there."
Ethan frowned.
"What is Room Zero?"
Neither Arthur nor Eleanor answered immediately.
Finally...
Arthur spoke.
"It was the first laboratory."
"The place where Project Eden began."
Samuel looked confused.
"So?"
Arthur's voice became almost inaudible.
"Everything Victor ever created..."
"...started in Room Zero."
Daniel looked around.
"Then that's where we're going."
Arthur shook his head violently.
"No."
"You don't understand."
"There are things down there..."
"...that were never supposed to survive."
Silence.
Before anyone could ask another question...
The ancient archive intercom crackled.
Not Victor.
Not a technician.
Subject Eight.
Her voice trembled.
"Daddy?"
Ethan immediately grabbed the microphone.
"I'm here."
"I found Mommy."
His heart pounded.
"Is she alright?"
A pause.
Then the little girl whispered,
"She says..."
"...don't come to Room Zero."
Ethan frowned.
"Why?"
Another pause.
Longer this time.
When Subject Eight spoke again...
Her voice sounded different.
Fearful.
"They're waking him up."
The room went completely still.
Samuel looked at Eleanor.
"Who?"
She slowly backed away from the table.
"No..."
"It can't be."
Arthur whispered,
"We buried that project."
Eleanor shook her head.
"Apparently..."
"...Victor didn't."
The emergency lights suddenly flickered.
One by one, every old monitor inside the archive came back to life.
Not with security footage.
With an ancient video recording.
The timestamp read:
Twenty-Eight Years Earlier.
A young Victor stood inside a laboratory.
Beside him were Eleanor...
Richard Hayes...
Arthur...
And a man none of them had expected to see.
Young Ethan's father.
Holding a newborn baby.
Victor smiled into the camera.
"Today..."
"...Subject Zero takes his first breath."
The camera slowly turned.
Toward a crib.
Inside...
A baby slept peacefully.
The image was grainy.
The face barely visible.
Then the infant opened his eyes.
Bright green.
Exactly like Lily's.
Arthur whispered in horror,
"My God..."
Samuel leaned closer to the screen.
"What is it?"
Arthur's hands began shaking.
"That baby..."
"...isn't dead."
The video abruptly ended.
A new message appeared on every screen.
ROOM ZERO OPENED
Then, beneath it...
One line.
May you like
SUBJECT ZERO HAS AWAKENED.
END OF CHAPTER 14
