Chapter 10: The Ghost Lab

The moonlit outskirts of Tavara felt colder than usual.

Nora's boots crunched over gravel as she moved toward the derelict structure half-swallowed by the earth. From the outside, it looked like an abandoned research outpost — rusted signage, cracked cement, windows blacked out by time.

But her instincts — and the encrypted coordinates she decrypted from a corrupted Ashbringer file — told a different story.

This place had once been alive.

And it had never been on any government record.

The door groaned as she pushed it open. Inside, stale air mixed with faint chemical traces. Her flashlight revealed walls lined with shattered monitors and overturned desks. Symbols etched into the concrete floor — scientific, cryptic, and one distinctly non-medical — whispered of rituals not rooted in science.

She moved cautiously, her senses on full alert.

Ashbringer. The name had surfaced too many times in her recent digs.

A shadow organization believed to have deep roots in black market biotechnology, covert warfare enhancements, and — if the whispers were true — human experimentation in off-grid labs across Europe and Canada. Their recent link to Virellis Corp could not be a coincidence.

Nora approached what looked like a sealed chamber. The panel beside it was scorched, but her fingers moved with expert grace. In under a minute, she bypassed the corrupted firmware and opened the vault door.

What she saw chilled her to the core.

Cryo-pods.

Dozens of them.

Some still humming, barely powered by backup generators. Inside, not patients — test subjects. Some were still breathing. Others weren't.

On one pod, the label read: Subject 019 – Enhanced Neural Combat Integration / Origin: Ontario Facility.

Another: Subject 034 – Cultivation Sensory Rewiring. Failed.

Nora took photos. She had enough to sink Ashbringer's name through global tribunals — but she knew better. This much truth would get her killed before dawn.

Suddenly, her comm buzzed — encrypted line. She answered.

"Report," Damien's voice came through.

"I found it," she whispered. "It's worse than I imagined."

"Get out now. You're not alone."

That's when she heard it — soft footsteps from the corridor.

She cut the comm, rolled behind a steel table, and drew her hidden blade. She counted two, maybe three operatives. Light footsteps. Light breathing. Trained.

Her body stilled — then sprang.

In seconds, the first attacker was disarmed. The second came at her with an electro-blade, but Nora twisted mid-air, flipping him onto his back before driving a tranquilizer into his neck.

The third hesitated — a mistake.

Her boot struck his jaw before he could raise his weapon.

Silence returned to the lab.

But Nora knew — Ashbringer would be coming.

She uploaded the intel to her cloud drive and vanished into the dark, leaving behind no trace of her visit. Her face returned to calm. Composed.

But inside, the storm raged.

This was no longer about business.

This was war.