Sometimes, the things we don't say speak louder than any confession."
The day after the announcement, the university issued a lockdown on the central data servers. All IT access was suspended, ID scans monitored, and security doubled near the faculty rooms.
And yet, somehow… the fear only grew.
Inside the student lounge, Aluna sat curled into a corner seat, legs folded under her, a sketchpad resting on her lap. The pencil moved, but her mind wasn't on the lines. Her thoughts were still stuck in the gaps between everything that wasn't said the night before.
Said's voice. His expression.
The way Aska looked when she stormed past him.
And then Ara.
Ara, who now looked at all of them like she was counting their sins.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Like a bomb waiting to go off.
"Aluna."
She looked up.
Aska stood there, out of breath. He had run — something he almost never did.
"We need to talk. Privately."
She closed her sketchpad and followed him without a word.
---
They found a quiet spot on the rooftop, overlooking the city skyline blurred by fog.
Aska held up the USB. "I found this in my locker."
Aluna's eyes widened. "The file?"
He nodded. "The exact one that got leaked. With the timestamps intact."
Her voice dropped. "You think someone's framing you now too?"
"I don't know. But it was in my locker. And I haven't touched it since the day Said showed it to me."
Aluna's hands curled into fists. "That means someone's watching us. Closely enough to plant things and time them."
Aska stared at her. "You've been quiet. Too quiet. Why?"
Aluna hesitated.
Then she said something she hadn't told anyone.
"I had a dream," she whispered. "The night before the file leaked. I saw it — the email being typed. The subject line. The file name. And then… enter."
Aska frowned. "A dream?"
She nodded. "But it felt real. Like déjà vu."
Aska didn't laugh. Didn't mock. Because deep down, he had been having the same kind of dreams too.
Someone was pulling strings.
And maybe they were all puppets.
---
Later that night, Ara sat in her dorm room, headphones in, watching the blurred footage again. Over and over.
There was something she missed.
Something in the background.
She zoomed in.
There — a reflection.
In the glass of a cabinet door near the IT room entrance. Barely visible, but there.
Another figure.
Someone watching the person break in.
Ara's breath caught.
"There were two of them…"
And neither looked like Said.
She grabbed her phone and messaged Aska.
"Call me. I found something."
Before she could hit send, her screen froze.
And then — black.
Her phone shut off.
Completely.
Ara stared at the dead screen, chills running down her spine.
Then her dorm lights flickered.
Twice.
And went out.
---
Meanwhile, in a quiet corner of campus, Said sat at the edge of the outdoor amphitheater, hoodie up, head low. His laptop glowed softly as his fingers typed code at inhuman speed.
He wasn't hacking for fun anymore.
He was digging for survival.
Log entries. Data logs. Keycard scans.
Then—something.
A username he recognized.
AAskar27 — Aska's student login.
Used at 2:42 AM.
Accessed Exam Archives.
The same file.
But Aska had sworn—
Said closed the laptop.
And slowly raised his head to the sky.
Either someone was impersonating Aska…
Or someone was lying.
"The most dangerous lie is the one you almost believe yourself."
---