Chapter 8: Awaken the Past

The sound of heavy boots pounding through the metal corridors grew louder with each second. Kael, Seraphine, and Niko sprinted through the narrow hallway, the faint blue light from the overhead strips flickering ominously. The memory fragment, now safely stored on Kael's drive, weighed heavily in his pocket, as if the secrets it held were already working to drag them down.

"Left, now!" Kael shouted, skidding around a corner. His mind raced as fast as his legs, plotting the fastest route back to the sewer exit.

Niko covered their rear, his weapon at the ready. "I'm guessing they're not here to welcome us with open arms!"

"No time for jokes!" Kael snapped, dodging a loose pipe as they ran. "We need to get out of here, fast."

Behind them, the alarms continued to blare, and Kael could hear the security forces closing in. Vexis didn't take kindly to intruders, and they wouldn't stop until their pursuers were either dead or in chains.

Seraphine, her breath labored but determined, kept pace beside Kael. She hadn't spoken since they had recovered the memory fragment—her eyes were distant, haunted. Kael knew the revelation had hit her hard. The fragment wasn't just any memory; it was hers. And now, they were running with a piece of her stolen past.

"Are you okay?" Kael asked, his voice low as they turned another corner.

Seraphine nodded, but the look in her eyes said otherwise. "We have to keep going. We'll figure this out later."

A loud clang echoed behind them as Niko fired a shot, ricocheting off the wall just as the guards appeared at the far end of the corridor.

"Later had better come soon!" Niko shouted. "Because they're right on top of us!"

Kael knew their time was running out. He could already see the exit hatch up ahead, but the guards were closing in fast. He had to think of something—and quick.

"Here!" Kael shouted, motioning to a junction up ahead. "We split up! Niko, take Seraphine and head for the exit. I'll loop around and draw them off."

"No!" Seraphine protested, grabbing Kael's arm. "We're not splitting up. Not now."

Kael's jaw clenched. "We don't have a choice. If we stick together, they'll trap us."

Niko didn't wait for further debate. "He's right. We go now. Kael, don't die, alright?"

Before Seraphine could argue, Niko pulled her down the right-hand passage. Kael sprinted down the left, the sound of guards shouting and footsteps echoing as he ran. His heart pounded, not just from the physical strain, but from the knowledge that they had just uncovered something explosive. Something Seraphine wasn't ready to face.

He reached a maintenance room door and slammed his palm against the control panel, slipping inside. The door slid shut with a hiss, leaving him momentarily in darkness. He leaned against the cool wall, trying to catch his breath. His mind swirled with the implications of what they had stolen. If that fragment was tied to Seraphine, it meant Vexis had tampered with her in ways they couldn't yet understand.

But why? What was so valuable about Seraphine's memories that Voss would go to such lengths to bury them?

The answer, Kael knew, was in that drive.

He pulled it from his pocket, holding it up to the faint glow of a console in the room. The small device held all the power in the world—and all the danger. Whatever secrets Seraphine's memories contained, they were valuable enough to kill for. Valuable enough to risk everything.

Before he could dwell on it further, the console buzzed. He looked down, startled. An incoming message flashed across the screen, though the room was clearly off the main grid. The message bore no name, just a simple subject line:

You're not alone.

Kael frowned, glancing around the small room. Was this some kind of trap? A glitch in the system?

The message continued:

I know what you found. Bring her to me. Ferris isn't the only one after what's in her head.

Kael's stomach dropped. Whoever was sending this knew about the memory fragment—and knew about Seraphine.

The message blinked out, and the console powered down as if it had never been active. Kael's instincts screamed at him to leave, but now he was faced with a new problem. More players were involved than they had realized, and it wasn't just Voss or Ferris anymore.

He had to warn Seraphine.

Kael took off down the corridor, the urgency in his steps renewed. He navigated through the maze of tunnels, finally reaching the sewer exit. As he emerged, the stale, putrid air greeted him like an old enemy, but he pushed forward, desperate to regroup with the others.

Up ahead, he spotted Niko and Seraphine huddled in the shadows beneath a bridge, catching their breath. Niko's eyes lit up when he saw Kael.

"Thought you got yourself killed back there," Niko said with a grin, but there was concern beneath his words.

"Not yet," Kael replied, breathless. He turned to Seraphine. "We've got a problem. Someone else knows about your memories—about the fragment we stole. I got a message. We're being watched."

Seraphine's face paled, her eyes widening. "Who? Voss?"

"I don't know," Kael admitted. "It didn't come from Vexis, but whoever it is, they know you. And they want you."

Niko swore under his breath. "We can't trust anyone, then. Not Ferris, not Voss—no one."

Kael nodded. "Agreed. But we still need to figure out what's in your memories, Seraphine. Whatever it is, it's got everyone chasing us."

Seraphine swallowed hard, her voice trembling. "If they did something to me—if they erased something, altered who I was—what if I'm not the same person anymore? What if they made me... someone else?"

Kael stepped forward, his gaze steady. "That's why we're doing this. To find out the truth. No matter what they did, you're still you. And we're going to get your memories back."

Seraphine nodded, but the fear in her eyes hadn't faded. She knew that the road ahead wasn't just dangerous—it was terrifying. She was walking toward a truth that could shatter everything she thought she knew about herself.

Kael turned to Niko. "We need to lie low for a while. Figure out our next move."

Niko grinned. "I know just the place."

As they disappeared into the night, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that they were already too late—that the answers they sought were leading them into a game they couldn't control. And in the shadows of The Verge, unseen eyes were watching, waiting for the moment to strike.

Whatever Seraphine's memories held, they were about to awaken something far more dangerous than any of them had anticipated.