Derek woke first.
The world was too bright. Not sunlight, but something artificial — white lights humming above him, steady and cold. The air smelled like disinfectant, sharp and sterile, the kind of smell that burned the back of your throat.
He sat up slowly. His body ached. The last thing he remembered was the explosion… smoke… the monster falling… and then darkness.
Now—white walls. White floor. White ceiling. Even his clothes were white, made of some soft, unfamiliar fabric.
"Maya?" he whispered, voice dry.
A soft groan answered. She was lying on a nearby bed, her hair disheveled, her expression blank with shock. Her eyes darted around, unfocused. "Derek… what—where are we?"
He didn't know how to answer.
Leo was next to wake, blinking hard, confusion washing over his face as he touched the sterile sheets beneath him. "We… we were in the camp. What the hell is this place?"
Jordan sat up more violently, looking around like a cornered animal. "This isn't real. It can't be real."
Around them, a few other survivors stirred, dazed and trembling. Every wall was smooth and seamless, no door, no windows — just glowing panels that hummed faintly.
Then Derek noticed her.
The girl.
The same one who had saved them. She was sitting on the far side of the room, hugging her knees, eyes wide and frightened. The brave, confident fighter they'd seen before was gone — replaced by someone pale, small, and shaking.
Maya spoke first, her voice barely above a whisper. "You… You were the one who killed that thing. Do you know where we are?"
The girl's eyes darted toward her, then away again. She hesitated before answering, her voice soft, almost trembling. "You're in… the Laboratory."
The word itself seemed to drain the air from the room.
"The what?" Leo asked, his tone sharp.
"The Laboratory," she repeated quietly. "Where they… study people. Change them. Test them."
Jordan frowned. "Study people? What does that even mean? Who are they?"
She looked up slowly, and for the first time, they saw it — the fear behind her eyes wasn't just from being trapped. It was from knowing exactly where they were.
"My name is Eva," she said. "And this place… it belongs to the Architects."
No one spoke for several seconds. The hum of the lights seemed to grow louder.
Derek finally said, "Architects? What are they?"
Eva drew a shaky breath, her voice distant, as if she was remembering something she wished she could forget. "They're not what they sound like. They don't build cities or bridges… they build people. Or try to."
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.
"They take humans," Eva continued, "and combine them with other DNA — animal, infected, even synthetic. They call the results Hybrids. They say it's evolution. But it's… not. It's torture."
Maya pressed a hand to her mouth. Leo stared at the floor.
Jordan's jaw tightened. "And that thing in the camp… that was one of them?"
Eva nodded. "A failed one. They send the failed ones out to test the survivors. They watch. Record everything. The Architects… they're always watching."
Her voice broke slightly at the end, and she glanced upward, as if the walls themselves were listening.
Derek's heart sank. "So you've been here before."
"Born here," Eva whispered. "I escaped once. Thought I was free. But they never let anyone go for long."
The room felt smaller now, air heavier. Every sound — even the faint click of someone shifting their foot — seemed amplified.
Leo rubbed his temples. "How long have we been here?"
Eva looked down. "Time doesn't work the same here. There are no windows, no clocks. Sometimes… they put you to sleep for weeks. Sometimes months. You stop counting."
A silence followed that could have swallowed them whole.
Maya finally stood, pacing the room, her breath quick and uneven. "There's got to be a way out. There's always a way out."
Eva shook her head. "You don't understand. This room isn't locked from the outside. It's locked from the inside."
Derek frowned. "What do you mean?"
She looked up at him with hollow eyes. "They don't need doors. The walls respond to them. They can make you sleep, make you see things, make you forget."
Leo clenched his fists. "Then we fight. We find a way."
Eva looked at him — pity in her expression. "That's what the others said too."
Maya stopped pacing. "What others?"
Eva hesitated. "The ones who were here before you."
The lights flickered briefly, just once, but it was enough to make everyone freeze. For a moment, Derek swore he saw a shadow ripple across the wall — something moving behind the white surface, unseen.
When the lights steadied again, Eva was staring straight ahead, her voice distant. "If you hear a voice that sounds like yours… don't answer it. It's not you."
Everyone went quiet.
Jordan's voice cracked slightly. "Eva, what did they do to you?"
Her hands trembled. "They made me something between human and infected. Strong, fast… but not whole. I don't sleep much because when I do, I see the others — the ones they made before me. They whisper. They ask if it hurt. And I never know how to answer."
No one moved.
Even Maya, always the rational one, was pale now. "Why us?" she asked softly. "Why bring us here?"
Eva's eyes flicked toward her. "Because you survived longer than most. They want to know why. They'll keep watching until they find out."
Leo swore under his breath and hit the wall. "Then let them watch. I'll make sure they regret it."
But the moment his fist hit the wall, the entire surface rippled — like water disturbed by a drop. Everyone stepped back in shock.
Eva's voice was barely a whisper now. "I told you. The walls listen."
For a few seconds, no one said a word. Then the lights dimmed slightly, and a faint static sound filled the air.
It wasn't random. It was breathing.
Slow, deliberate breathing. Coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
Maya covered her ears. "What is that?"
Eva's face had gone completely pale. "They're awake now. They know you're conscious."
The static grew louder, the lights pulsing faintly in sync with the rhythm — like a heartbeat.
Derek looked around, panic rising in his chest. "Eva, what do we do?"
She met his eyes, and for the first time since waking, she didn't look afraid. She looked resigned.
"We wait," she said quietly. "They always make the first move."
The lights went out.