Despite the late hour, a glow pulsed from the corridor beside the staff offices was a faint flicker, rhythmic like breathing. Adrian noticed it first on his way back from the South Wing, where he'd gone to retrieve his confiscated wristwatch. The school was under semi-lockdown since the Project Providence document dropped, and students were discouraged from wandering alone. But Adrian had never really been a fan of rules.
His steps slowed as he reached the corridor. No lights were supposed to be on at this time. The glow was coming from the old conference room a place supposedly disused since the pandemic year. He approached, carefully.
The door creaked open without resistance. Inside was not what he expected.
Stacks of documents lay organized on a long oval table, with several folders still open. A whiteboard at the far end carried diagrams that made his chest tighte. They were symbols from the document, graphs mapping student behaviors, and tags like "Subject 47A - Potential Collapse" and "Contingency for Leadership Defiance".
Someone had been working here.
The glow came from an old slide projector, cycling through a carousel of photos, all of them Queen's Crest students. Some images dated back years. One clicked into focus just as Adrian stepped closer. It was a photo of Amara, taken weeks ago.
He stared.
She looked calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that made you question the silence. The caption below read: "Observation period extended. Displaying atypical traits."
Adrian backed away.
Suddenly, a loud metallic clang echoed from behind. He spun around, the door had shut.
He rushed back, twisted the knob.
Locked.
"Of course," he whispered.
A soft thud came from behind a curtain at the back of the room.
His breath caught.
Another thud.
Then a wheeze.
Then silence.
---
Meanwhile, Amara was in the library, not reading but waiting. Ralene had sent her a cryptic message that someone new wanted to speak. Someone high up.
But thirty minutes had passed. No one came.
Instead, a girl from Year 9 slipped into the library, looked around nervously, and approached Amara's table.
"You're Amara, right?"
Amara raised an eyebrow.
"Who's asking?"
"They told me to give you this."
The girl passed a flash drive, then bolted.
Amara stared after her.
---
Back in the locked conference room, Adrian grabbed a metal ruler from the desk and pried at the window latch. It opened just wide enough to let in air, not escape. He was debating his next move when the projector clicked again.
The new photo made him freeze.
It was his mother.
Younger, wearing a Queen's Crest blazer. Next to her stood Headmistress Nwachukwu. Behind them, though barely visible was a banner: "Project Providence: Phase One."
He didn't hear the curtain rustle until it was too late.
A shadow moved.
A sharp pain struck the back of his neck.
Darkness.
---
Amara sat in her dorm now, staring at the decrypted files from the flash drive.
This was a new layer of rot.
Project Providence had levels; A through E. Most students tagged E were left untouched. Levels C and D were nudged toward mental breaks. Level B included controlled manipulation. Level A?
Level A meant "Potential Weaponization."
She found Adrian's profile.
Level A.
She found her own.
No level assigned. Just a note:
"Subject still unknown. Watch carefully. Likely variable."
Her hands trembled.
---
In the basement, beneath the amphitheater, Adrian woke to dripping pipes and a dull ache in his spine. He was strapped to a chair. His mouth dry.
Then a voice:
"You're not supposed to be here."
Another followed:
"But since you are, let's talk."
The lights flared on.
Standing before him was a woman in a black suit.
Not a teacher.
Not staff.
She had a lanyard with a government seal.
"Adrian Maduako," she said. "You just became a national liability."
He didn't flinch.
"Then I'm doing something right."
---
End of Chapter Twenty-Three.