The drive to Sector 7 wasn't long… but to Adam, it seemed endless.
The car glided silently through the streets, the white lights reflecting off the windshield like cold pulses. No one inside spoke; even the communication devices were silent… and that alone was enough to heighten the tension.
Layla sat beside him, looking at her tablet, but her eyes weren't reading.
"I still don't understand," she said finally.
Adam didn't turn around. "Neither do I."
"How can this be? The system monitors everything… even fleeting thoughts."
Adam gripped the steering wheel slightly, his knuckles turning white. "Not everything… apparently."
The car stopped in front of a featureless, gray building. It was a carbon copy of every other building in the city.
But tonight, something was different.
A security cordon surrounded the entrance. Men in riot gear stood almost motionless, their faces impassive, as if afraid to show any expression… lest it be misinterpreted.
Adam descended slowly.
The air felt heavier here.
At the entrance, an officer stopped him. "The place is secure, sir."
"Any update?"
The officer hesitated for a second, then said, "No recorded intent… for anyone."
Layla looked at Adam.
This was no longer a possibility…
It was a fact.
They entered the apartment.
A faint scent… not blood, but something more peculiar. As if the place had suddenly lost its life, without a struggle.
The body lay in the middle of the room.
A man in his forties, lying on the floor, his eyes open, as if he had been trying to comprehend something before his death.
Adam approached slowly, kneeling beside him.
No visible wounds.
No blood.
Just… a pause.
Layla said,
"Preliminary reports say: sudden cardiac arrest."
Adam didn't look up from the body.
"And the cause?"
She was silent.
Then she said,
"There isn't one."
He reached for the man's wrist, as if expecting to feel a pulse… even though he knew there wouldn't be one.
But what caught his attention wasn't the body…
It was the silence.
This wasn't an ordinary crime scene.
No commotion.
No resistance.
Not even a trace of fear.
It was as if the man… hadn't realized he was going to die.
Adam stood up slowly and looked around.
"Where were the cameras?"
One of the technicians replied,
"All the angles are covered."
"I want the recording."
A few minutes later, the video was playing in front of them.
The man appeared, sitting in his chair, reading something on his device.
Normal.
Calm.
Then…
Suddenly.
He stopped.
He raised his head slightly, as if he sensed something.
He stared into the void before him.
And at that moment…
He froze.
Then he fell.
"Rewind the footage," Layla said.
The technician rewinded it.
This time, Adam focused more intently.
"Stand right here."
The video stopped the moment the man looked up.
Adam moved closer to the screen.
"Zoom in."
Finer details appeared.
The man's face… wasn't frightened.
He was surprised.
As if he'd seen something unexpected.
"Was anyone in front of him?" Layla whispered.
"No one went in or out," the technician replied.
"So… there was something… that the cameras don't see," Adam said slowly.
Silence fell.
"I want his mental records."
Adam said firmly.
The technician started working quickly, then suddenly stopped.
"Sir… there's a problem."
Adam moved closer. "What is it?"
The man swallowed hard.
"There are no records… for the last two minutes before he died."
Layla felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
Adam replied in a low voice, "It means… his mind was… blank."
"That's impossible!" Layla said.
"Even in sleep, there's mental activity."
Adam replied, "That's right."
Then he looked at the body again.
"Unless… he wasn't thinking at all."
A dark thought began to form in his mind.
Something he'd heard before…
But hadn't believed.
Until now.
"Was anyone else near him at that moment?"
The technician checked the data.
"Yes… the neighbors… someone in the apartment across the street."
"Bring him here."
A few minutes later, the man sat down in front of them.
He was nervous, fidgeting with his hands.
"I didn't do anything… I swear!"
He said it before he was even asked.
Adam sat down calmly in front of him.
"We didn't say you did."
Then he added,
"We just want to know… what were you doing an hour ago?"
The man:
"I was… asleep."
Layla looked at the screen.
Then at Adam.
Adam said,
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I was asleep the whole time!"
Adam gestured to the technician.
The man's recordings appeared on the screen.
Then he said coldly,
"The strange thing is… you weren't asleep."
The man froze.
"You were awake… thinking."
He paused.
Then Adam continued,
"And then suddenly… you stopped."
The man began to breathe rapidly.
"I… don't remember."
Adam moved closer.
"That's the problem."
"What don't you remember?"
The man put his hands to his head.
"There was… something…"
"What?"
"I don't know… It's like… like everything just vanished for a moment."
Adam looked at Layla.
Then he said just one sentence:
"It's not a malfunction."
He left the room, his steps quickening.
Layla followed him:
"Where to?"
He said without pausing:
"To the archives."
"Why?"
He stopped abruptly.
He looked at her with eyes she had never seen before.
Eyes filled with fear… and a hidden confession.
He said:
"Because I think… I've seen this before…"