Echoes Of Deception

The red emergency lighting cast eerie shadows along the walls, painting the team in stark crimson hues. The sterile corridors of the ORPHANAGE facility, once silent, now pulsed with quiet menace. The air felt thick, almost oppressive, as if the building itself was alive, watching them, anticipating their every move.

Jarad gritted his teeth, his eyes scanning every corner, every potential blind spot. "Stick to the plan. Evie, Frieda—get to the server room. Leon, Toni—hold position near the exit. We need to get our hands on that data before they wipe it."

No one hesitated. Years of training had drilled discipline into them. Every step was calculated, every movement precise. But beneath the steady actions, a sense of unease lingered in the air, felt by each of them. Something about tonight didn't feel right.

Evie's fingers flew across her wristpad as she tried to reconnect with Maya. The interface flickered, then static. Seconds passed in tense silence before a faint signal emerged, distorted but present.

"—systems compromised—scrambling—"

Then silence again.

Evie's heart skipped a beat. That wasn't just interference. Maya had been locked out. Someone inside the facility had manually severed her access. The ORPHANAGE was expecting them. But how? Had they known they were coming?

Jarad's mind raced, his eyes narrowing as he motioned for the team to move faster. "We can't waste time. Keep going."

Evie's stomach twisted. She could feel the tension mounting in the pit of her gut. But she couldn't afford to show it. She had to focus. Her breath steadied as she and Frieda continued forward, reaching the server room door. Her hands moved swiftly over the security console, but her mind flashed back to the last time she was here—strapped to a table, drugged, tested. A part of her, the part that had been just a child then, wanted to scream. To run. But there was no room for that now. She was here for a purpose: to bring them down.

The door slid open with a soft hiss, and Evie stepped inside, her eyes already scanning the room. The rows of servers hummed to life, their artificial glow casting pale light on her face. Each hum was a reminder of the lab that had once been her prison. Now, it was her battlefield.

Frieda's voice broke the silence. "You good?"

Evie hesitated, her fingers hovering over the terminal. She could feel the weight of the flash drive in her pocket, its cold metal pressing against her ribs like a silent promise. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to focus. "Yeah," she said, her voice steadier than she felt.

With practiced precision, she began bypassing the security lock. The console's screen flickered, and then the system gave way. The door slid open. Evie's breath caught as she entered, her eyes darting to the file storage systems before she began downloading the data they came for. But as she navigated the network, something made her pause. Her eyes fixed on a particular log file.

A file transfer log.

She clicked it open, a sinking feeling growing in her stomach. This wasn't just a routine deletion of files. Someone had accessed these files before them. The activity was fresh, recent—much too recent for comfort.

Her pulse quickened as her eyes scanned the access logs. A name jumped out at her, a name she'd never expected to see here, in this place.

Cam.

Her breath hitched. She froze, fingers trembling as they hovered over the console. The room seemed to close in around her as the significance of what she was seeing began to set in.

Frieda's brow furrowed. "What is it?"

Evie's mind raced. For a moment, she couldn't speak. How could this be? Cam had given her the flash drive, the data that led them here. She trusted him. She had trusted him completely. But now, seeing his name in the logs... It felt like the ground beneath her was giving way.

She forced herself to breathe, her hand moving quickly to copy the remaining files to the drive. There was no time to dwell on this now. They still had a mission. They still had to get out.

"Nothing," Evie said, her voice steady despite the chaos raging in her mind. "Let's move."

Minutes later, the team regrouped in the lower corridors. Evie's expression was unreadable, her mind still caught in the web of doubt and confusion. The files were secured, but they had come at a cost. Every step they took now felt heavier than the last.

Jarad noticed the change in her. His sharp eyes never missed a thing. "Something wrong?"

Evie didn't answer at first. Her fingers tightened around the flash drive, the cold metal digging into her palm. She had trusted Cam. He had given her the files, had helped them get this far. But what if it was a trap? What if he had known? Had he left a trail intentionally? No. That didn't make sense. He couldn't have.

She shook her head, pushing the thoughts away. "No. We're fine. Let's keep going."

But the doubt gnawed at her as they pushed forward, the exit in sight. The urgency in their movements was palpable. They could hear the faint sound of boots—multiple sets—growing closer. The ORPHANAGE had known their route. They had known exactly when they would be here. The realization hit them like a slap in the face. They had been set up.

Evie's grip on the flash drive tightened. They had been betrayed. And the realization, though subtle, crashed into her chest like a tidal wave. It had to be Cam. He had left the trail. The precise data transfer, the tracks on the flash drive—it all pointed to him.

Jarad's mind was already piecing it together. He was too sharp to miss the pattern. The severed comms. The emergency lockdown. The data being moved before they even arrived. Someone inside had given them away. The thought settled like ice in his veins.

"Evie, move!" Jarad's voice snapped through her thoughts, urgent and cold.

Evie shook herself from the haze. Three minutes. The lockdown had been triggered. They needed to move. They needed to get out.

The hallway ahead opened up, revealing a maintenance door—their escape route. Frieda reached it first, pulling a small charge from her belt. "Blowing the lock," she muttered, her fingers working fast, setting the charge with precision.

The click of the detonator was followed by a hiss as the door slid open. They had their exit.

"Go, go, go!" Toni shouted, her voice full of urgency. Leon and Toni fell back, covering their retreat, weapons raised, eyes sharp.

Evie turned to follow, but a sound stopped her. A voice, faint, barely above a whisper, crackling through her earpiece.

"Evie?"

Her heart slammed in her chest. No. It couldn't be.

Maya's voice cut through the static, filled with frustration. "Evie, what are you doing? Move!"

But Evie wasn't listening. Her blood ran cold, and her breath hitched in her throat. Because she knew that voice.

It wasn't Maya.

It was Cam.

He was inside the facility.

And for the first time, Evie realized the full weight of what had happened. He had left the trail. He had made a mistake, or worse—had he done this intentionally?

Her body froze, paralyzed by the weight of the revelation. She had trusted Cam. She had believed in him. But now, all she could hear was his voice. Faint, desperate, filled with confusion. It didn't make sense.

Had he known? Had he meant to betray them?

Jarad's voice, sharp and insistent, pulled her from her thoughts. "Evie! What are you waiting for? Move!"

His hand gripped her arm, dragging her forward, his urgency clear in his voice. "No time. We need to go, now!"

Evie stumbled forward, but her mind was a whirlwind. Was Cam trying to fix his mistake? Had they caught him? Or was he part of the trap all along?

As they burst into the night, sprinting away from the facility before the lockdown sequence could trap them inside, Evie knew one thing for certain.

This wasn't over.

Not yet.