> "Truth is not silent. It waits. It gathers. And then it breaks everything you thought you knew."
— Archive Fragment, Found in Room 5B
---
🎯 Sharon Begins the Hunt
Sharon stood under the flickering light outside Room 107, Kelechi's words echoing louder with each step she took through the east hallway.
> "They're watching you. Because they're scared of you."
She didn't feel powerful.
Not when her palms were still shaking.
But power wasn't about feeling safe. It was about choosing to move anyway.
Bianca had slipped a note under her locker last time. But today… there was a folder waiting. Unmarked. Slim.
Inside?
A list of names — students. Some marked with red circles. Some crossed out.
She scanned it quickly and found one she recognized: Mara Ekene.
At the bottom of the page, scribbled in faded blue:
> "Re-Eliora initiated by Class '21. See Vault Entry: 'Mirror Archive.'"
Sharon folded the paper and shoved it into her blazer.
She needed answers.
And she knew where to go.
---
🖥 Jayden and the Coordinates
The coordinates Jolomi had left led Jayden to an abandoned observatory tower at the school's edge — a relic from before most students were even born.
Climbing the spiral staircase, he passed faded banners and dust-coated surveillance monitors.
At the top, behind a dislodged panel, he found what Jolomi meant him to see:
Footage.
Clips dated years back. Secret recordings. Trials.
> Students strapped into chairs. Questions asked in gentle voices. Answers extracted like secrets from the dark.
Jayden swallowed the bile in his throat.
One file was labeled "Bianca O. - Trial 002"
He hesitated. Clicked play.
> "Do you consent to memory calibration?"
A young Bianca, barely fourteen, blinked. "No."
> A pause.
Then a voice from offscreen: "Proceed anyway."
Jayden gripped the edge of the desk.
They weren't just hiding the truth.
They were rewriting it.
---
🔍 Zuri Cracks the Mirror Archive
Back in the library, Zuri worked fast.
She had found the entrance to the "Mirror Archive" through an outdated terminal buried beneath the librarian's desk.
Password protected. Of course.
But she'd cracked harder locks during coding club.
The screen flickered, then loaded.
Files with strange names lined the screen:
Echo.eli24.exe
Silencer.root.bnk
MemoryPull_Final.mp3
Zuri clicked the last.
> Eliora's voice, calm but distant:
"This is my final testimony. If you're hearing this… it means I didn't get out."
> Static.
> "They told us the program was voluntary. That we were chosen because we were bright. Gifted. But they didn't ask us. They took from us. They changed us."
Zuri froze.
She copied everything.
A part of her didn't want to keep listening — but the rest of her knew…
They had to share this.
---
🎲 Reina Plans the Broadcast
Reina didn't wait for permission anymore.
In the media room — the one students only used during clubs — she pulled out the school-wide broadcast controller.
It was wired into every classroom speaker, every hallway announcement system, every emergency screen.
She inserted the flash drive Zuri gave her.
Countdown: 00:15
She pressed record.
> "To every student listening — this is Reina. I'm not speaking for drama or for attention. I'm speaking because a girl named Eliora was erased. Not expelled. Not suspended. Erased. And if we don't speak now, they'll do it again."
> "Her story is on this audio. Listen. Remember. Ask why."
> "Because if they silence one of us — they can silence all of us."
Click.
She hit broadcast.
---
💥 The School Reacts
The message hit every speaker at once.
The first to hear it were the Form 3 students in Chemistry. Then the entire art department. Then the dormitories.
By the time it reached the staff offices, it was too late.
Students whispered.
Then they began to speak out loud.
In classrooms.
In hallways.
One by one, stories spilled — rumors, suspicions, things they'd noticed but never voiced. And the name Eliora stopped being a ghost.
It became a spark.
---
👀 Bianca's Warning
Sharon found Bianca outside the chapel — eyes fixed on the courtyard where dozens of students had gathered, murmuring.
"You leaked it," Bianca said softly.
"No," Sharon replied. "We all did."
Bianca turned, eyes glinting.
"You just set something in motion you can't control."
"I don't want control," Sharon replied. "I want truth."
Bianca didn't respond. She reached into her sleeve and handed Sharon a photo — an old one.
A girl, bound at the wrist by a white band, standing next to Eliora.
"I never meant to hurt her," Bianca said.
"But you didn't stop them."
Bianca nodded once.
Then she disappeared into the crowd.
---
📌 End of Chapter Twenty-Five
> A name is no longer a whisper. A truth becomes a weapon. And silence? It's no longer safe.
---
🔜 Coming in Chapter Twenty-Six: Fallout
The administration fights back.
Bianca is summoned to the board — but not to be punished.
Jayden makes a dangerous alliance.
And Sharon uncovers what the red circles on the list really mean.