Ava run and run. She didn't stop.
'I have to reach there.' She thought.
...
𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄:
Leaves snapped beneath Rohit's feet.
His legs were numb, arms weak, but he was getting somewhere. Barely.
Somehow, he'd managed to get out of the underground cell. The door had not been closed — a test, perhaps. Or they had underestinated him. But someone had assisted. He recalled the static on the intercom. The instant when the lights went out.
He'd grabbed it and fled.
Now, he was well into forest cover, somewhere close to coordinates he recalled Vikram fixating on years earlier. Coordinates Ava had quietly mumbled in her sleep.
He had no idea if she was alive — or he was.
But the truth was within reach. He could sense it.
As he approached the edge of trees, a change moved through shadows in front of him. He froze.
A flicker.
Movement.
Then a voice — thin but genuine.
"Stop right there."
Rohit raised his hands slowly. "I'm not armed."
A figure stepped out from behind a rusted truck. Slim. Pale. Hair braided to one side. A flashlight shone in his face.
Then the girl stepped closer — her hand trembling as she lowered the beam.
"…Rohit?"
He blinked.
He knew that voice.
"…Anaya?"
She nodded slowly.
Ava's sister.
Alive.
Very much alive.
He took a step forward, stunned. "You're real."
Anaya's lip trembled. "And you're late."
She snagged his arm before he could respond. "There isn't time. They're following every device within ten miles. You weren't meant to find this location yet."
He gazed at her. "You know what's located here?"
Anaya's expression turned cold. "I was raised in it."
....
𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐕𝐀:
The woods grew denser as Ava climbed the mossy path. Her phone battery had died, her shoes filled with mud. Far away, she heard the howl of a wolf, or something much less so.
Then she saw it.
A concrete dome buried beneath the ground , vines choking it, all but invisible to the naked eye. Exactly as indicated on the map. She knelt, sweeping away dirt to expose a rusted keypad.
"Please," she breathed, punching in the number in Vikram's handwriting.
The keypad flashed.
Then… clicked.
The door sighed open.
She slipped inside.
At once, cold air met her, bearing the scent of iron and dust. The tunnel before her was dimly lit by ancient emergency lights. The walls were covered in pipes, conduits, broken nameplates.
Each step rang out.
Ava continued down the corridor. A door groaned open to her side , the screech of hydraulics malfunctioning. She turned, drawing her knife.
No one emerged.
She continued on.
Another hallway. Then a locked lab. Then — a central hub.
A huge octagonal chamber lined with old servers, broken screens, and an operating table in the center. All marked "ECHOES."
She walked forward.
There were documents on the desk , weathered but readable. She picked one up.
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟭: 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 , 𝗩𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
Her name was written below in black ink.
Ava.
A spool of pictures battered her mind.
Syringes. Lights. Shrieks. Vikram's voice.
"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱."
She dropped the document, panting.
Then, behind her ,footsteps.
She turned, breath held.
A figure stood in the entrance.
Tall.
Dark clothes. Wounded.
"Rohit," she whispered.
He stepped forward slowly, face pale and bleeding. "I found you."
She ran to him, catching him before he fell.
"I thought...."
"I'm okay," he rasped. "But Ava, his place, it's not just about you. They've been experimenting on others. Kids. Dozens."
Her throat tightened. "What?"
Anaya entered behind him, slower, cautious. Her eyes met Ava's.
Silence cracked the air.
Then,
"You're alive," Ava breathed.
Anaya gave her a tight nod. "Barely."
The three stood in the circle of faded light. For a moment, everything was still.
Until a monitor behind them flickered to life.
A man's face appeared.
Blurry. Static-shrouded. Masked.
But his voice was crystal clear.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Ava froze.
The voice again.
"This was never about finding truth. It was about keeping it hidden."
She stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"Doesn't matter. What matters is that you're too late."
Static warped the screen. Then a new image emerged — a series of cylinders in a hidden chamber, all containing sleeping figures. Children.
Subjects.
The feed zoomed out.
𝗔 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱: 𝟰 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲.
Ava's heart dropped.
"They're going to kill them," Rohit said.
The man's voice came back. "You can try to prevent it. But every step you take… leads you to the truth. And once you have it, you'll regret it."
The screen went to black.
Then a robotic voice thundered out across the room.
"𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟰𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀. 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹: 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲."
Ava glanced at Rohit.
At Anaya.
No more escaping.
"We save them," she said.
Then took off down the next corridor.
Both nodded and began to run.
"First we have to find a control panel."
"There it is."
"It wants a password." Rohit said.
"What could it be?"
"Let me see."
Ava thought for some seconds and typed something.
BEEP , BEEP
And then silence. No movement.
"I don't think so...."
Door opening~
.........