The storm outside had become the city's heartbeat — steady, relentless, merciless.
Thunder rolled over Jaipur like a distant drum of war, while inside Central Jaipur High, shadows stretched long under the dim emergency lights.
Lucy crouched behind a row of dented blue lockers, her breath fogging faintly in the cold air. Drops of rain slid through a broken window nearby, landing on her gloved hands. She could taste metal — the metallic tension of danger.
> "Siya… he's closer," Lucy whispered, her voice steady but low, like a taut wire ready to snap.
Through the static-filled earpiece, Siya's voice broke through, calm but trembling.
> "I see him. Nick's moving with precision. This isn't random, Lu. Every step… it's like he knows this building better than we do."
Lucy's heartbeat quickened, her senses heightening. Nick wasn't improvising anymore — this was calculated warfare. The kind Sid used to warn her about: "When the hunter starts to play, he's already chosen the prey."
She swallowed.
> "Then he's already chosen me," she murmured.
---
In the security room two floors below, Siya's fingers flew over the keyboard, lines of code reflecting in her glasses. Dozens of feeds blinked and flickered, each showing fragments of chaos — students being herded to safe rooms, agents moving through foggy corridors, motion sensors struggling to keep up.
Then something strange caught her eye — a double ping on the main comm frequency.
Two signals.
Same encryption key.
Opposite directions.
> "Lucy… something's wrong," Siya said sharply. "Nick's signals — they're crossed. Two feeds, one command source. It's like he's duplicating himself."
Lucy froze mid-step. Her mind raced through possibilities.
> "He's using cloned channels," she muttered. "It's a distraction. He's overextending his team. Siya, patch me the raw signal — I can trace the interference pattern."
> "On it!"
---
Meanwhile, in the drenched shadows outside the main gate, Nick Verma crouched under a canopy, water dripping from his leather jacket. His earpiece hissed faintly.
> "Alpha, east corridor secured. Beta, classroom sector clear."
Nick's brows furrowed. Two reports. Same timestamp.
> "Wait," he said slowly, realizing it too late. "The signals—"
Then a sharp crack of feedback pierced his ear. The line went dead.
He exhaled through his nose, a faint smile curving on his lips.
> "She caught it," he murmured. "Finally playing the game."
---
Lucy's monitors flared alive. Siya had managed to reroute the crossed signals, flipping the field advantage in seconds. On the map, red dots — Nick's men — blinked erratically, lost in their own disrupted channels.
> "He's not perfect," Lucy whispered, a rare smile ghosting her lips. "Siya… he's overreaching. Start closing exits C through H. We'll trap the strays."
> "Done. But Lucy—he's still inside."
Lucy's gaze hardened. "Then I'll find him."
---
She moved like a shadow through the rain-soaked halls, her boots splashing quietly across the flooded tiles. Lightning flashed through the glass panels above, illuminating torn posters, scattered books, a school bag left behind in the chaos. Every detail screamed memory — the kind of peace this place once held before it became a battlefield.
Then — a sound.
Faint footsteps, deliberate, measured.
She followed.
---
In the main hall, Nick's reflection shimmered across the flooded marble floor. He moved slowly, his coat brushing the edges of the puddles. His eyes scanned the ceiling — the old vents, the hidden cameras — and he smirked.
> "Clever girl," he said softly. "You've learned."
Then he stopped. A quiet beep from his watch. The feed had inverted — she was now watching him.
> "Well played, Raven," he whispered, using her old Agency codename. "But I hope you remember who taught you to break signals."
---
Lucy's voice came through the intercom, low and steady.
> "Game's changed, Nick. You're not in control anymore."
His smile faltered for the first time.
Then, across the corridor, one of his men shouted — "We're surrounded!"
Nick's jaw tightened. "Pull back. Phase two — abort."
As they vanished into the storm, Lucy exhaled shakily. Her victory felt hollow — the kind that only delayed the inevitable.
> "This isn't over," she whispered, gripping the railing tightly. "It's just beginning."
---
High above, lightning carved the sky open, illuminating Nick's silhouette as he disappeared into the rain.
And as the monitors flickered behind her, Lucy saw one final message blinking in the static:
HELIX – ONLINE.
The signal war had only just begun.
---