POV: Sharon Okoye
Reina's body hit the floor with a soft thud, but the sound detonated inside Sharon like a grenade.
"No, no, no," she whispered, stumbling forward. "Reina—"
Her friend's eyes were rolled back, her limbs stiff. The voice still echoed in Sharon's ears:
> "Subject 09: compromised. Contingency protocol activated."
It hadn't been Reina speaking.
It had been the program.
Sharon knelt beside her, checking for a pulse. It was there — faint, rapid. She was breathing. But her body was frozen, as if someone had flipped a switch.
Or a kill code.
---
🧬 Emergency in the Infirmary
They rushed Reina to the school infirmary. The nurse's face paled at the sight of her, but Sharon noticed the woman didn't ask questions. She simply locked the doors, drew the curtains, and made a single phone call.
Ten minutes later, he arrived.
Not Damian.
Not even one of the usual faculty.
A man in a black suit, gray at the temples, moved with a precision that screamed military. No badge. No greeting. Just a quick glance at Reina's chart—then a nod.
"She's in a dormant state. Temporarily."
Sharon stood up, body tense. "Dormant? Like a machine?"
The man looked at her for the first time. Cold eyes. "Like a firewall that's been tripped. There are layers protecting the protocol."
"She's a person, not a—"
"You're too involved," he cut her off. "That wasn't part of the design."
"Design?" Her voice cracked. "You're talking about one of my best friends."
The man didn't flinch. "Which is exactly why this is spiraling."
Sharon's throat tightened. "What do you mean?"
"She wasn't the only one compromised."
---
🧬 Backdoor Code
After the man left, Reina was stabilized—but still unconscious. Sedated? Frozen? Sharon couldn't tell. All she knew was that something inside her had snapped.
She found herself back in the underground corridor. Past the shelf. Past the soft red lights. Alone.
Until she wasn't.
Damian was waiting in the circular room. Lit only by flickering monitors and a humming mainframe in the center.
He didn't speak at first. Just motioned her forward.
She stepped closer. "What is this place?"
"The core," he replied. "The Circle's true project. This… is where the student data really goes."
The monitors lit up—profiles. Faces. Graphs. Brain scans. Chemical charts.
Sharon stared, stunned. "They've been testing things on us."
Damian nodded. "Behavioral conditioning. Pharmacological resilience. Memory manipulation. You've heard whispers—this is the proof."
"And Reina?"
"Reina was one of the earliest successes. Until the anomaly triggered."
Sharon turned sharply. "You mean me."
A long silence.
"Yes," Damian said. "You were never supposed to bond with her."
---
🧬 Endgame Variables
A low beep interrupted them. One of the screens blinked red.
> Subject 21: Unauthorized sequence detected.
Sharon's file appeared on screen.
Everything—her voice patterns, her emotional spikes, even the moment she found Reina on the floor.
She stepped back. "You've been watching me."
"Not me," Damian said quietly. "The system. Once you found that ID badge… it started."
"What do they want from me?"
"You're not just a variable anymore," he said. "You're the glitch in their code."
---
🧬 Teaser for Chapter Thirty-Five: The Deleted
> A file wiped clean.
A student who never enrolled.
A memory implanted in others… but not real.
> In the next chapter, Sharon uncovers the truth behind one missing student whose presence has been erased—and why that student might still be alive.