Chapter 15 - Fractured Threads

The safehouse was silent, save for the steady hum of the outdated ventilation system. The team sat in their usual positions, the weight of the last encounter pressing down on them like an invisible force. No one had spoken in minutes.

Elise's fingers hovered over the console, her mind replaying the events of the Archive. She had felt the ground beneath her feet, smelled the synthetic air, even tasted the static that filled the unreal city. But now? Now it was as if none of it had ever existed—except for the hours lost on their watches.

Aaron broke the silence first. "We need to start connecting dots. This—whatever it was—wasn't just an illusion. It was a message."

"A warning," Mark corrected. He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his short-cropped hair. "But from who? Or what?"

Nadia glanced at Elise. "You've been quiet. What's going through your head?"

Elise hesitated before speaking. "The Archive wasn't just some simulated memory. It felt more like… a reconstruction of something real. Maybe even a past event. And that woman—she didn't act like an enemy. If anything, she was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Mark asked.

Elise shook her head. "Of us, maybe? Or of what we might uncover?"

Aaron leaned forward, resting his elbows on the steel table. "And what about that last message?" He turned the screen towards them, pointing at the words still glowing on the console.

NOW YOU KNOW WHY.

"Why what?" Nadia murmured. "Why Prometheus has been watching us? Why we were brought into this?"

"Or why we can't trust what we see anymore," Elise added. "Which brings up another question—was this about Prometheus? Or something bigger?"

The thought sent a chill through the room. For months, they had assumed Prometheus was the primary force at play, whether as an ally or a manipulator. But now, there was a growing possibility that Prometheus wasn't at the top of the food chain.

Mark folded his arms. "There's something else. We've been assuming that the rival organization we're up against—whoever they are—has been trying to outmaneuver Prometheus. But what if they're not the only ones? What if there's a third party in play?"

A heavy silence followed.

Aaron drummed his fingers against the table. "Then that means we've been looking at this wrong the whole time. We've been playing this like a two-sided war. Prometheus versus them. But if a third entity is involved, then the balance of power is completely different."

Elise's expression darkened. "Which would explain a lot of things. The signal. The UFO sightings. Even the fact that Prometheus isn't as omniscient as we thought."

Nadia's brow furrowed. "So, we need to figure out what this third party wants."

Mark nodded. "And whether or not they're an enemy."

The next few hours were spent digging. The team combed through every bit of intel they had gathered so far—records from Prometheus, intercepted transmissions, classified files that Elise had managed to decrypt over the last few weeks. Each piece of information that once seemed disconnected now took on a new shape.

Aaron finally broke through a secured log buried deep in Prometheus' archives. The document, timestamped three years prior, referenced something called Project Echelon.

"The name sounds ominous enough," Nadia said, peering over Aaron's shoulder. "What is it?"

Aaron scanned the document. "It's heavily redacted, but from what I can gather, it wasn't Prometheus' project. It was a countermeasure against something—or someone."

Elise sat up straighter. "Against who?"

Aaron scrolled down, stopping at the only unredacted section of the document.

'Echelon exists as a contingency. Should the anomaly persist beyond containment, execute Phase Three. The presence of an extraneous force has been confirmed.'

The team exchanged glances.

"Elise," Mark said slowly, "tell me that doesn't sound exactly like what we just went through."

She swallowed hard. "It does."

Aaron clenched his jaw. "That means Prometheus knew something else was out there. And they've been planning for it."

"But the question is," Nadia interjected, "is that force an ally or another threat?"

No one had an answer.

Elise turned back to the console. The eerie words still blinked on the screen.

NOW YOU KNOW WHY.

She stared at them, willing them to make sense. If they knew why, then why did everything feel more uncertain than ever?

Then something strange happened.

The words on the console glitched—just for a fraction of a second. And when they reappeared, the message had changed.

DON'T LET THEM ERASE IT.

Elise's breath hitched. "Guys—"

Aaron looked up. "What?"

She pointed at the screen, and one by one, they all fell silent as they read the new words.

Nadia whispered, "Erase what?"

As if in response, the console flickered again.

Then the power cut out entirely.

In the pitch blackness of the safehouse, Elise barely had time to register the soft hum of something activating outside.

A presence.

Watching.

Waiting.