> "What's buried beneath this school isn't just history… it's intention."
— Kachi Okoye
---
🔓 The Door That Shouldn't Be There
Jayden's hand hovered above the lock.
It wasn't old. Not rusted. Not even dusty like the rest of the basement.
This door had been touched recently.
He pulled out a hairpin — a trick he'd picked up from YouTube boredom and too many crime shows — and started working the lock. His hands trembled, not just from fear, but from the unshakable certainty that whatever was behind this door… wasn't meant to be seen.
Click.
The door creaked open.
Behind it? A clean, white room. Fluorescent lights. A desk. A screen saver blinking on a dusty monitor.
No cobwebs. No files. Just a folder on the desk, labeled:
PROJECT HALO-07
---
📂 Project HALO
The folder was thick, but one name was printed on the inside cover.
> SUBJECT: SHARON OKOYE
STATUS: POTENTIAL TRIGGER CANDIDATE
NOTES: "Resilient. Adaptive. Fractured but functional."
Jayden's mouth went dry.
He flipped the page.
> "Candidate 07 exhibits all required traits for behavioral modification and emotional weaponization. Surveillance recommended until Phase Two authorization."
Weaponization?
Jayden stumbled back, bile rising.
This wasn't just a record.
It was a blueprint.
Someone, somewhere, had built a system to turn people into tools. Students. Children. Sharon.
---
🚫 The Intercept
He didn't hear the second person enter until it was too late.
"Shouldn't be snooping in places you don't understand," came a cold voice behind him.
Jayden turned — fast — only to find himself staring into the eyes of Mr. Awolowo.
His math teacher.
Only... not.
Mr. Awolowo didn't look surprised. Or even angry.
He looked… resigned.
"I was hoping we'd reach this chapter later," he sighed. "But some of you are faster than expected."
Jayden stepped back. "Who are you?"
Awolowo tilted his head. "I used to ask myself that too. Then I accepted that I was whoever they needed me to be."
The lights flickered.
Then went out.
---
🧬 Elsewhere: Sharon's Blood
At the nurse's office, Sharon sat under the flickering fan, watching as a tiny vial filled with her blood.
"This is just routine," the nurse said. "Screening before term ends."
But when Sharon looked closely at the form beside her name, she saw a box checked that read:
> Gene Sequence Archive: HALO CANDIDATE
She blinked.
"What's this for?"
The nurse paused too long. Then smiled.
"Science fair," she said.
But Sharon knew lies. And that was a lie wrapped in peppermint and denial.
She clenched her fists. Something was off.
Again.
---
🧓🏾 The Brother's Warning
Kachi stood by the edge of the assembly field as Sharon approached, holding her backpack like a shield.
"You okay?" she asked.
"No," he said plainly. "But I need you to hear something."
He handed her an envelope — old, torn, but still sealed. She opened it to find a photo of her father. Not in uniform. Not in a family pose.
In a lab coat. At Bellbourne.
With the words:
> PROTOTYPE PHASE: OKOYE
YEAR: 2008
Sharon's blood ran cold. "What is this?"
"Proof," Kachi said. "That our family was never just part of the system — we were part of its origin."
---
🔚 End of Chapter Thirty-One
> Files are opening.
Memories are returning.
And a school built to hide pain is beginning to unravel.
---
🔜 Coming Up in Chapter Thirty-Two: The Archive
– Sharon and Reina break into the forbidden east wing after curfew.
– A student previously declared "expelled" is discovered alive — and hiding.
– A new theory emerges: What if Project HALO wasn't about creating soldiers... but replacements?