Joseph Langford - September 2120
The room is silent, as if everyone is holding their breath, waiting for me to speak. My eyes sweep over the security monitors stacked against the wall, each displaying a different angle of the GeneX headquarters. One screen catches my attention immediately, it shows the aftermath of the summit.
The hall, once alive with conversation and clinking glasses, now lies empty. Wine glasses still stand on the tables, abandoned, while cleaners move silently through the space. But that is not what I care about.
My focus is on a single screen, one of the emergency staircase. Three figures are running down the steps, desperate and hurried. Their faces are blurred, but I recognise two of them instantly, Test Subject 012 and Kai.
Normally, my heart remains steady, unshaken by chaos. But as I watch, my pulse quickens. The camera shifts, catching another figure, Mr Finn Lennoy, pursuing them. The footage stutters, jumps, skipping moments, as if someone had deliberately paused the recording. Only a few cameras capture the chase in its entirety.
The images of the intruders running stop abruptly. Finn vanishes from the same cameras shortly after, only to reappear later, climbing back up the staircase, heading toward Noah's lab.
I pause, rewind, and freeze the frame on Kai. Every detail matters. I can feel the familiar edge of irritation prick at my composure, the thrill of calculation sharpening my mind.
Dr William appears beside me. "How is it possible for him to break in without anyone knowing?" he murmurs, more to himself than to me.
"That is exactly what I want to know," I reply, my voice cold, measured.
I turn to the security officers standing at attention, hands behind their backs. Their faces betray their unease, I can see it in their eyes.
"How did you miss three intruders infiltrating our headquarters?" My tone is sharp, deliberate, demanding. The silence stretches, heavy, until one officer finally steps forward. His name tag reads Officer Price.
"Sir, we ensured that all eyes remained on the cameras at all times. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary… until they seemed to appear out of thin air," he says, voice barely steady.
I remain silent, my mind already dissecting every possibility, every flaw in their vigilance. Someone has crossed a line. And I will find out exactly how.
I turn back to the screens, letting my eyes trace every movement frozen on the monitor. My lips press into a thin line. Everything about this breach reeks of chaos, but chaos can be calculated. It must be.
Then a thought gnaws at the edges of my mind, cold and insistent... What if they met?
Noah, he believes Kai is dead. I told him so myself. It was necessary. Convenient. Control is built on certainty, and certainty requires obedience. But if Noah were to encounter Kai alive, then control could unravel in a single moment.
I feel a tightness in my chest I have rarely allowed myself to acknowledge. This is not fear. Not exactly. It is a problem. A variable I did not account for. One that must be eliminated.
The footage on the screen is fragmented, stuttering, skipping seconds like fragments of a broken mirror. I imagine Kai, running through these halls, stumbling into Noah.
What would Noah do?
I allow myself a brief pause, letting the tension settle into a precise edge.
Turning from the monitors, I sweep the room again. The officers flinch under my gaze. They think they are nervous. They have no idea. My concern is not for them or even for Kai. My concern is for Noah. He must remain aligned. He must remain useful to me.
If Kai and Noah meet… all of this, everything I've built, could collapse.
And that cannot happen.
"Where are Noah and Officer Finn now?" I ask, my voice flat and deliberate.
One of the officers steps forward. "They left during the summit, sir."
My mind immediately calculates the implications. If they left so suddenly… could Noah have gone after Kai? I cannot allow that. I need to find him before he does anything… reckless.
"I want a full report. An investigation into this incident, from every angle," I command, turning toward the door.
Dr William follows closely, his presence a quiet echo behind me.
"Where are you going, sir?" he asks, concern threading his voice.
"I need to find Noah," I say, not slowing my pace, not pausing to offer him comfort.
My thoughts run faster than my steps. "009 and 016 reported that Christopher Oswald went missing. Yet he turned up at the summit as if nothing had happened," I say, testing him, noting his reaction.
He hesitates. "Yes… they both said he had been taken. You don't think… he was taken by Kai and is working with him, do you?"
I shake my head slowly. "I am unsure. It seems out of character. But he disappeared soon after arriving at the party. That much is certain."
By the time I reach the car park, I unlock my vehicle and step inside. Dr William remains by the car, watching. I wind the window down and give him a single instruction: "Go back to the facility. Find out everything you can from them."
With that, I close the window and drive off. My priority is Noah. Since he left the party hours ago, he could be anywhere. Every minute that passes increases the risk of him encountering Kai.
I arrive at his house. Darkness swallows the building. I glance at my watch... 2:10 a.m.
I think back to the summit. It was only later that I was warned of intruders. My attention then was on maintaining connections with the board and investors so I dimissed the guards to deal with in themselves. But when I watched the footage, I know I waited too long. A miscalculation. A mistake.
I open the car door and stride toward the house. Time is irrelevant. I must ensure Noah is here. I must confirm he has not interacted with Kai in any way.
I press the buzzer on the gate repeatedly, but there is only silence. The more I press, the tighter the coil of worry in my chest grows.
Finally, the front door opens. Finn stands there, wearing loose joggers and a t-shirt, yawning as if I have disturbed his sleep. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees me.
"Dr Langford? What are you doing here so late?"
"I must speak to Noah at once," I command, my tone leaving no room for argument.
Finn glances briefly behind him, then back at me. "It's late, and Noah is asleep. It would be best to wait until morning."
I weigh his words, assessing the situation. Even with Finn here, I cannot leave until I confirm Noah's presence.
"This cannot wait," I say more sharply, my voice slicing through the stillness of the night.
Finn turns again, but this time another figure steps into the doorway beside him.
"Father?" Noah's voice is groggy, irritation mixing with sleepiness. His white hair is tousled, and he rubs at his eyes.
Without a word, he reaches past Finn and presses the button on the gate. It buzzes open and I push it immediately, walking toward them with deliberate calm.
"Why are you here?" Noah asks, his irritation obvious. "If this is about the Nullifier, it can wait until tomorrow."
I study him carefully, scanning for uncertainty. Any hesitation, any flicker in his composure could reveal whether he has encountered Kai.
But he remains collected. Calm. Apart from the annoyance of being woken in the middle of the night, he gives nothing away.
I step closer, closing the distance between us. My gaze narrows on Noah, scanning his posture, his eyes, every imperceptible twitch. Calmness can be feigned. Calmness can lie.
"Where did you go after your presentation?" I ask, my tone casual, almost conversational, though each word is carefully measured.
Noah blinks, rubs his eyes again. "I just headed home. The party wasn't doing anything useful, so I left "
I allow a pause, letting the weight of my scrutiny settle over him. "And nothing else? No… unexpected encounters?"
His jaw tightens slightly, a faint hesitation that almost goes unnoticed, but I notice. My mind notes it, files it away. I do not speak. Silence can be more telling than words.
"Well… it appears someone breached my lab," Noah says, his tone firmer now. "By the time Finn pursued them, they were already gone."
I lean just enough to make my presence imposing without aggression. "And did you see who this intruder was?."
He swallows, straightens, and meets my gaze. It's calm and controlled. Yet the shadow beneath his eyes, the faint tension in his fingers suggests he is calculating as well. Calculating what, I wonder.
"No," he says at last, voice steady. "They were too quick."
"Stay here tonight," I command, voice soft but unyielding. "Do not leave unless you're going to straight to GeneX. Do not speak to anyone. Not until we have finished our investigation"
Noah nods once, obedient but still irritated, a human flaw I note and store.
Finn shifts slightly, his jaw tight, glancing between us. I allow myself the smallest acknowledgment of him.
I turn back toward the car, already calculating my next move. I need to verify every angle of the summit, every camera, every guard. I need to know exactly where Kai is, what he has done, and, most importantly, ensure he remains away from Noah.
Because if they do meet… even briefly… the consequences could be catastrophic. I cannot let that happen.
And I will not.
I'll have my team remain stationed at the front on Noah house and monitor every movement, until I'm certain Kai is out of the equation.