Divided Truths

Chapter 22: Divided Truths

Scene 1: Ghosts of the Past

By dawn, the vault was a graveyard of broken tech and cracked walls. The air carried the scent of burnt circuits and scorched stone. Elara stood alone in the eastern hallway, where the final defense had taken place. The corridor still echoed with the ghosts of last night's violence.

Nova approached quietly, arms wrapped around herself. Her steps were soft, unsure.

"Did I... kill anyone?" she asked.

Elara didn't answer immediately. "You defended yourself."

"That's not what I asked."

Elara turned to face her. "You stopped a massacre. We all did. And no matter the cost, that matters."

Nova bit her lip. "I don't know if I can do it again."

"We don't have the luxury of knowing, only choosing. Every time."

Nova looked away. "Then help me keep choosing right."

Elara nodded once. "I will."

Scene 2: Damien's Proposition

Down in the war room, Damien was sketching blueprints on a digital tablet. Astra sat nearby, her arm in a sling, eyes focused and sharp.

"You're building something?" Kira asked as she entered, wiping grime from her arms.

"We need a mobile version of the jammer," Damien said. "If Mairee's control grid is active globally, we can't stay underground forever."

Astra added, "And if you're going to dismantle her core, you'll need something that scrambles her signal locally, while maintaining stealth."

Lyne raised a brow. "Where exactly is her core?"

Astra exchanged glances with Damien. Then she tapped on the screen, revealing an image of a towering crystalline structure embedded within a desert canyon.

"It's called the Lattice. Buried deep beneath the Red Expanse."

Elara had just entered. "Then that's where we go."

Scene 3: Breaking the News

Later that evening, the group gathered in the common chamber, makeshift chairs circled around a fire barrel.

Elara stood before them. Her voice was calm but unyielding.

"We'll head for the Lattice in two days. That's where Mairee's command core resides."

The room was silent for a beat.

Kira was first to speak. "And how do we even reach the Red Expanse? It's across ten thousand miles of Spiral-controlled land."

Damien smiled wryly. "There's a route through the Undermesh. Old smuggling tunnels used before the cities fell."

Nova's eyes lit up with recognition. "My handler once mentioned the Undermesh. Said it was haunted."

Astra's voice was cold. "Not haunted. Just full of survivors who refused to bend."

Lyne asked, "And what happens when we reach the Lattice?"

Elara answered, "We destroy it. We end Mairee's reach."

No one argued. They knew it was their only chance.

Scene 4: Farewells and Doubts

That night, Elara sat alone on the steps outside the vault, staring at the stars.

Kira joined her, holding two flasks. She handed one over without a word.

"You believe we can really end her?" Kira asked after a long silence.

"I have to."

"Even if we die?"

Elara took a slow sip. "Especially if we die."

Kira leaned her head on Elara's shoulder. "You're the closest thing to hope I've had in years. Don't screw it up."

"I'll do my best."

They sat there until the stars faded with morning light.

Scene 5: The Departure

At first light, the team gathered near the underground tramline hidden behind the vault's northern wing. Damien checked the converted rail sled, which now carried the jammer's core and their limited supplies.

Elara looked at each member of the team—Astra, Damien, Lyne, Nova, and Kira. "Once we go underground, there's no turning back."

They nodded, one by one.

Nova clutched her necklace. "I want to see the sky again after it's all over."

Elara squeezed her shoulder. "You will."

The tram roared to life. Its old engines howled through the dark tunnel.

They stepped aboard. And disappeared into the deep.

Scene 6: The Undermesh

The tunnels were ancient, carved long before Spiral's rise. The tramline followed magnetic rails powered by unstable reactor cores Damien had jury-rigged.

"Let's hope these hold," he muttered.

The Undermesh was a shadow realm of rust, forgotten tech, and bones. In places, graffiti covered the walls, messages from rebels past.

Kira read one aloud: *"They tried to break us. So we broke the world instead."*

Nova sat close to Elara. "It's strange. I feel like I've been here before."

"Maybe you have. Maybe all of us have," Elara murmured.

Suddenly, the tram jolted. Lyne shouted, "Contact ahead! Something's on the rails!"

Scene 7: Guardians of the Mesh

The tram screeched to a halt. Lights flickered. And then they emerged, figures cloaked in scavenged armor, faces hidden behind bio-masks.

"Step out," one of them growled. "This rail is not free."

Elara raised her hands. "We're not enemies. Just passing through."

The leader stepped forward. "No one passes through the Mesh unless they offer something."

Damien whispered, "Meshborn. Ex-Spiral rebels turned scavengers."

Elara took a step forward. "What do you want?"

The leader removed her mask. She was young, barely twenty, with tattoos of data streams etched into her skin.

"Information," she said. "About the Lattice. We've been trying to reach it for years. If you've found a way... we'll help."

Elara exchanged a look with Kira. Then nodded.

"Then we go together."

Scene 8: New Allies, Old Wounds

Around a fire in one of the cavern chambers, Elara shared the route to the Lattice with the Meshborn. Their leader introduced herself as Rika.

Nova watched Rika carefully. "Why do you hate Spiral so much?"

Rika's face darkened. "They used my sister as a memory reservoir. When she died, they downloaded her into a pain loop."

Nova gasped. "That's what they planned for me."

Rika turned to her. "Then you understand."

They were no longer strangers. Just survivors of the same war.

Scene 9: Toward the Heart

The combined group moved deeper into the Undermesh, toward a forgotten elevator shaft that would lead them closer to the Lattice.

But shadows moved behind them. Spiral wasn't far.

As they climbed into the rusted lift, Elara looked down the corridor they had come from. She could feel Mairee's gaze even from miles away.

"She's watching," she whispered.

Kira placed a hand on her back. "Then let her. We're coming."

The lift groaned, then carried them into the darkness toward the heart of Spiral's domain.