15

"This is Ken Voss. And I'm awake now."

The message echoed through every hallway at Bright High Academy.

Classrooms fell silent. Keyboards stopped clicking. Even the ever-present hum of artificial calm—the programmed ambiance that played between periods—shut off.

For a moment, the school that prided itself on order was filled with uncertainty.

In Classroom A-3, a girl with perfect posture slowly removed her earpiece. She looked around at her classmates. No one spoke.

"Was that... real?" someone whispered.

Another student laughed nervously. "A prank, probably."

But the girl—Rina—wasn't so sure. She stared at the intercom panel on the wall like it might bite.

The name Ken Voss sounded familiar.

Not from the registry.

From before.

A dream. A feeling. A forgotten laugh on the playground. She didn't know what it meant, but it made her feel something that had been missing for a long time.

Something like truth.

Back in the forest, Ken stepped away from the terminal.

The silence that followed was heavier than the recording itself. For a moment, nobody moved.

Then Luca broke it.

"You just made yourself public enemy number one."

Ken nodded. "Good."

Dawn sat up straighter against the tunnel wall. His skin still looked pale, but his eyes had a spark now—one that had been absent since they found him in Room R.

"I heard it," he said. "In my head. Like it connected something."

"Your memories?" Misty asked.

Dawn hesitated. "Fragments. Voices. People I used to know. But mostly... fear. Fear of you, Ken."

Ken turned, caught off guard. "Of me?"

"Not you," Dawn clarified. "What you represented. They called you an anchor, but I don't think that was all. I think they were afraid you could do something else."

Ken raised a brow. "Like what?"

"Wake us all up."

Misty folded her arms, eyes sharp. "Then let's keep doing it."

Luca nodded. "The Academy's going to respond fast. We just rattled the hive."

"Let them come," Ken said, voice steel. "We're not running anymore."

By dusk, they'd moved to a second hideout—an old greenhouse long since overtaken by vines and silence. The glass panels were cracked, but it was still intact enough to serve as shelter. Luca had found the location weeks ago but hadn't dared use it until now.

Ken paced as Misty connected the hard drive from Room R to an old portable display device. She had repurposed parts from their salvaged tech to create a functional screen. It flickered, loaded, then lit up with a burst of stored data.

Rows of redacted files. Names. ID numbers. Audio recordings.

At the top was a directory labeled:

EXPERIMENTAL FILES – UNAUTHORIZED

Misty tapped it open.

The first file was labeled simply:

[KEN.V — ORIGIN]

Ken's stomach dropped.

"Play it," he said.

The screen turned black.

Then a voice—female, sharp, professional.

"Subject 017 has developed faster than anticipated. Resistance to memory suppression remains high. Emotional empathy is inconsistent. However, his effect on other subjects—particularly 004 and 001—is substantial."

"Recommendation: Subject 017 to be isolated. Emotional exposure deemed contagious."

"Code classification: Instigator."

The screen went dark.

Everyone sat in stunned silence.

"Instigator?" Luca said.

Misty looked at Ken. "They think your emotions can infect other people?"

Ken didn't answer right away. His mind was reeling.

It made sense now—the fear, the surveillance, the way Berlin always kept him on a leash but never too close. Not out of concern.

Out of containment.

"I'm not the cure," Ken said. "I'm the match."

He clenched his fists.

"And I'm done being quiet."

Suddenly, a high-pitched frequency screeched from the portable device. Everyone winced.

Luca scrambled to shut it down, but the sound was coming from the network. A response.

The screen glitched.

A single message appeared:

WE SEE YOU.

STOP NOW OR BE ERASED.

The screen went black.

Then the drone overhead buzzed to life.

Ken and the others sprinted out of the greenhouse as a laser scanner beamed across the soil, tracking them.

A voice boomed from the speaker:

"This is Administrator Vale. You have violated the sanctity of Bright High Academy. You are not students. You are anomalies."

A blast hit the side of the greenhouse. Glass shattered in a roar of flame and light.

The group dove into the underbrush, rolling across mud and roots. Misty pulled Dawn behind her, shielding him from the debris.

Ken turned, grabbed a rock, and hurled it at the drone's center.

It cracked the lens but didn't bring it down.

"Over there!" Luca shouted, pointing to a drainage pipe.

They ran.

Ken didn't hesitate.

They crawled inside, the drone's hum fading behind them.

Ken's hands were scraped, his knees raw, but he didn't stop until the world around him dimmed and cooled again.

Misty panted beside him. "They're escalating."

"They're desperate," Ken corrected. "That message wasn't just for us. It was a warning to the other students."

Dawn's voice was quiet, but firm. "Then we need to give them something bigger than a warning."

Ken turned to him.

"What do you have in mind?"

Dawn looked at the screen in Misty's bag.

"I think I remember where they keep the student files."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "You mean all the files?"

Dawn nodded.

"Names. Photos. The truth about everyone."

Misty's eyes widened. "You're saying... we could show everyone what was taken from them?"

Luca grinned. "Now that's a rebellion."

Ken exhaled.

It was dangerous.

Reckless.

Possibly impossible.

But for the first time in his life, he wasn't afraid of any of that.

He smiled.

"Then that's what we do."