Coach Kasekende stood in the center of the security control room, arms crossed, jaw tense.
The storm had knocked out two perimeter cams. Three students had escaped the premises—four, counting Dora. And one of his own men had suffered a concussion.
Failure wasn't a word tolerated by SableTech.
Behind him, a wall of screens showed various parts of the school: empty dorm hallways, the gym, classrooms, even heat maps of biometric activity in the faculty lounge.
"We tracked them past Sector 3 before the trail went cold," said Ms. Nalule, the project liaison from SableTech. "You underestimated them."
"I trained them," Kasekende growled. "Of course I did."
She raised an eyebrow. "Then why did they get out?"
He turned away from the monitors. "Because Emma left breadcrumbs. And Jace followed them."
Nalule tapped a few keys. A new screen popped up—student profiles marked "COMPROMISED." Jace, Lena, Jovic, Dora… all flagged in red.
She clicked again.
A file opened labeled PHASE TWO: Emotional Conflict Activation.
"They're not just subjects anymore," she said. "They're test cases. This… betrayal between Jace and Lena? It's better than we predicted."
Coach didn't respond.
He knew what came next.
"Deploy the Retriever."
A chill passed through the room. Even the guards flinched.
Kasekende narrowed his eyes. "They're still kids."
Nalule looked at him, unimpressed. "They're data. And we don't lose data."
Somewhere below them, in the sublevels students never knew existed, a cell door opened. A man stepped out.
Not a teacher.
Not a student.
A shadow built to hunt.
Would you like Chapter Ten to follow the group as the Retriever begins tracking them — or show Lena discovering part of the school's dark past through an old ally?