East Cambridge. Underground Vault — Sublevel 4.
The vault door groaned as it opened, its seals releasing with a mechanical sigh. Inside, blue overhead lights buzzed faintly. The air smelled of sterilizers and stale electricity—too clean, too quiet.
Sevryx didn't follow Lira. He watched her.
She walked ahead without hesitation, her back turned to him. Too comfortable for someone who's "helping." Too familiar with this place.
He adjusted the voltage flow in his fingers, current crackling faintly beneath his gloves. Just enough to keep him sharp. Just enough to remind himself: Don't trust her. Don't trust anyone.
---
"Still quiet back there, Asset?" Lira asked, her tone half-joking, half-testing.
Sevryx said nothing.
He'd been in facilities like this before—hell, maybe even this one. But nothing felt familiar. Just a hum under his skin. His HUD blinked once. Then again. Static—followed by a single word burned into the screen:
> TRUST IS A TACTIC. NOT A CHOICE.
He almost smiled.
---
They stopped at a door marked:
> SUBJECT RETENTION — CLASS BLACK
"This is where they kept you," Lira said.
"I don't remember asking."
She glanced at him over her shoulder. "You wanted answers. I'm giving them."
"And yet you knew exactly where to go. Exactly what doors to open. You don't flinch when you see what they did here."
Her jaw clenched. "Because I was part of it once."
That didn't make him feel better. If anything, it made his palms spark.
"Then maybe I should be asking what's really in this room," he muttered.
The door slid open. The room was padded and small. A cot. Restraints. No cameras. No witnesses.
No escape.
He stepped inside slowly.
His HUD spiked. White noise. A sharp tone.
Then:
White tiles. Blood. Screams. That same child's voice. Reaching. Calling—
Lira's voice cut through the fog. "Sevryx?"
He turned sharply, eyes glowing red with current. His fingers crackled. "Back away."
She did, carefully. Hands raised. "Look, I get it. You don't trust me. But if I wanted you dead, I'd have let them keep you plugged in."
"Maybe you want something worse," he growled. "Maybe you're just the bait."
---
Elsewhere — Beacon Hill. Black Gambit Ops Center
Dr. Voss didn't blink as the monitor streamed Sevryx's vital data.
"He's remembering faster than expected," her aide said quietly.
Voss tapped in a command.
> OBSERVER PROTOCOL: OFFLINE
TRACKING STATUS: LOST
INITIATE: IRIS-7
A reinforced hatch opened behind her.
A figure emerged. Pale. Silent. Perfectly still.
Unlike Sevryx, this one didn't tremble. Didn't question. Didn't remember.
Voss turned, eyes cold.
"Asset Nocturne is losing containment. Deploy Iris-7. And Lira?"
"She won't last long."
---
Back in the Vault
Sevryx stood in the padded room, current dancing across his skin, muscles coiled. Lira stood by the door, a hand close to something under her coat.
Neither moved.
Something had shifted.
The air felt sharp. Final.
"You brought me here for a reason," he said. "Say it."
Lira's eyes narrowed. "You want the truth? Then be ready to bleed for it."
---
To Be Continued...