The light overhead flickered faintly when juliette turned on the multiple switches at once, casting long shadows across the worn desk.
Kaven's hand hovered over the folder.
Lara sat still, eyes locked on the label stamped across the top sheet:
SUBJECT ECHO — ACTIVE.
She swallowed, fingers tightening on the edge of the table. Then her gaze dropped to the red line stamped below.
STATUS: UNSTABLE.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Kaven finally looked up at Juliette. "Where did this come from?"
Juliette's expression didn't shift. She remained near the door, arms crossed.
"A vault that wasn't meant to stay shut," she said.
Kaven's eyes narrowed. "And how exactly did you get it?"
Juliette didn't flinch. "There are still doors in the system. Some hidden. Some just… ignored. I knew where to look."
Kaven wasn't satisfied. "You said you worked with Catherine Hale. But that doesn't explain how you got this. Not now. Not with the system this heavily guarded."
Juliette's gaze flicked toward Lara. "Catherine didn't keep everything on the record. She didn't trust many people. But she trusted me with some things… like what Echo really was becoming."
Lara's voice was soft. "You already told us she tried to shut it down."
Juliette nodded. "And she failed."
Kaven flipped through the folder again, pages filled with test logs, neural metrics, timestamps, redacted names.
"This isn't just about memory loops," he muttered. "It's targeting deeper patterns. Core identity mapping. It's like they were… forcing stability."
"Exactly," Juliette replied. "But you can't force something human to act like a program forever. Catherine warned them. Once Echo starts to destabilize, the subject begins to break apart — not just mentally. Physically. Erased from systems, from memory. Like they were never there."
Lara's stomach twisted. "Is that what happened to my parents?"
Juliette was quiet. "I don't know exactly. But whatever happened… it wasn't natural. They didn't just disappear. They were removed."
Kaven sat back. "So why come to us now?"
Juliette paused. "Because Lara's been flagged 'unstable.' And once that happens, the system doesn't just observe. It reacts. You don't have much time."
She turned to leave, but Kaven's voice stopped her.
"One more thing."
She glanced back.
"Who else knows you have this?"
Juliette's smile was tired. "No one who's still looking."
And with that, she slipped out the door, leaving the folder — and the truth — in their hands.
Lara stared at the word UNSTABLE, a pulse of cold dread settling in her chest.
---
End of Chapter 18