[Control Room of E.D.E.N]
Last Night - Jace's POV
The halls of the research facility were quiet at night. The walls were pale gray, sterile, and cold, like every other part of the facility. Jace walked slowly, the echo of his footsteps swallowed by the silence. He wasn't supposed to be here this late, but he couldn't sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Lena's face — smiling, alive — trapped somewhere inside that dome.
He had joined this project believing he was helping build a future where humans can thrive if there was an apocalypse, a controlled ecosystem that could one day save the world. But since Lena had been taken, every word from Dr. Kessler felt like a lie.
Jace moved slowly, his shoes barely making a sound on the polished floor, as the luminescent lights flickered above. Most of the staff had gone home hours ago. Some slept in dormitories on the West Wing but that was rare. He was heading to Dr. Kessler's office to drop off his report on Day 4 when suddenly, his hand froze on the doorknob.
He pressing himself against the wall. A voice came from one of the research rooms — Kessler's voice, calm and steady.
Then another voice answered through the open communication channel, quieter. Sam (Subject B-5).
His breath caught as he listens.
"Don't let emotion compromise your cover," Dr. Kessler warned, "Remember, we're observing behavior under pressure, not altering it... You volunteered for this, remember? You knew what the job required."
Jace's blood ran cold.
Sam wasn't just part of the experiment. He was in on it.
For a long moment, Jace just stood there. His chest ached as he backed away from the door quietly, heart pounding so hard in shock.
He heard the line end, and he ran back to his desk before Dr.Kessler saw him.
He didn't want to believe it. But what he heard was clear.
That night, Jace waited.
Most of the night crew had gone home, leaving only two other scientists in the East Wing. He checked the cameras and saw his boss' car driving out of the underground parking lot. He then hacked into Dr.Kessler's surveillance system and disabled his office cameras for 30 minutes. He told the others he was going to the restroom and swiftly walked down the hall towards Dr.Kessler's office again.
He had to know the truth.
He once overheard his boss telling another head scientist his password for his lock, and luckily, it was correct.
"Project1" He typed it in slowly, hands trembling.
The lock clicked open.
The room smelled faintly of coffee. The metal door locked automatically behind him. Papers were neatly stacked on the desk, and the monitors were glowing a faint blue light.
On the far wall, a filing cabinet blinked with a green light. "ARCHIVE ACCESS — LEVEL 4."
Jace sat down at the main desk and began typing. He found the password on a small paper in one of the drawers. The screen opened with a list of directories — dates, project names, and endless columns of zipped folders.
He saw the first folder : "PROJECT: E.D.E.N. — ENVIRONMENTAL DOME EXPERIMENT NETWORK"
He unzipped it, and a list opened:
Dome 1 - Active
Dome 2 - Terminated
Dome 3 - Standby
Dome 4 - Active
His stomach dropped. There were more domes.
Each file was packed with data logs — temperature patterns, behavioral studies, phase plans, etc. But what caught his attention were the human files listed underneath. He clicked on Dome 1:
[SUBJECT FILES – DOME ONE]GROUP A - Subjects A-1 through A-6 (2 Survivors)GROUP B - Subjects B-1 through B-5 (5 survivors)
He opened Group B's file and saw all the test subjects listed:
SUBJECT B-1 : MAYA PHILLIPS
SUBJECT B-2 : RORY KEANE
SUBJECT B-3: LENA WARD
SUBJECT B-4: ETHAN CROSS
He clicked Lena's file.
A photo loaded — one he had taken of her 2 years ago, before he ever applied for this job. Her smile broke him. She looked so happy. Beneath her image were medical records, psychological assessments, blood samples.
He scrolled further. And he froze in shock. Below her blood sample data he saw the word Pregnant highlighted and a box ticked for ultrasound. He immediately broke down in tears, his fingers trembling against the keyboard.
"Why her dammit! Why?!" He shouted, throwing the papers off the desk in frustration. His breath hitched as he sobbed on his knees against the cold floor.
Not only was his girlfriend caught up in all this mess. She was also pregnant and this secret was kept hidden from him all this time by his boss.
He wiped his tears and picked up the papers before returning to the computer. He wanted to light the device on fire but he needed as much information as he can in order to save her.
Another thing caught his eye. On the bottom of the screen, a small text flickered.
ARCHIVE VERSION 1.0 — Internal Data Only
He hesitated, then minimized the window and opened another folder: Live Network Data.
The list was similar, but when he clicked on Lena's file again, it was different.
The psychological data had been rewritten. The observations were shorter, and edited.
They were two separate versions. One for the scientists, and one for the official reports. He realized he and the other scientists had the 2.0 version instead.
Dr.Kessler was hiding this information from everyone else, and tweaking details.
What more is this damn man hiding? He thought in frustration.
Then a sound broke the silence. Footsteps. He turned off the monitor instantly and ducked behind the desk just as the door handle turned. The door slide open slowly.
"Who's there?" Kessler's voice spoke low and sharp.
Jace held his breath. He could see the man's shoes — polished and steady — walking across the floor slowly.
For a moment, Jace thought he'd be caught.
But after a few seconds, Kessler sighed and took up a folder from a cabinet.
"Can't believe I left this," he muttering to himself before turning to leave. The door clicked shut.
When the room was quiet again, Jace stood up and quickly downloaded the 1.O version onto his thumb drive. His heart hammered so loud in his chest.
He shuts down the computer and turned off the lights. He slipped out into the corridor, the USB clenched tight in his hand.
Tomorrow, they'd trigger Phase 3.
And if he didn't act soon, Lena — and the rest of them — might never see another sunrise again.