ghost code

No more hiding.

No more surviving.

No more playing by their rules.

If I was born for this war..

..Then I'd win it on my terms.

The screen blinked:

"Activate Override?"

Y / N

I didn't hesitate.

Y

The laptop purred like something alive, accessing files buried under decades of passwords and firewalls. Files written by Evelyn Reed, my mother.

RAVENSHADE: LEGACY PROTOCOL // INITIATING

Confirm DNA sequence…

Match confirmed.

Welcome, Nova Reed.

I hadn't just opened a backdoor.

I'd kicked down the front gates.

Inside the system, there were folders tagged:

ROW.SIGNAL

MEMBER.LIST (ALPHA)

REDROOM.FEED

ECHO.TRIALS

And finally:

"GENESIS: FINAL TRANSMISSION"

I clicked.

A video.

My mother, standing in what looked like the under-stage chamber I'd just discovered. Her hair shorter, her face drawn. A smear of blood under one eye.

She looked straight into the lens.

"If you're seeing this, it means the Manifesto failed.

It means the Row corrupted itself beyond the point of return.

And my daughter… you're the only one left who can fix it.

You were never meant to inherit their ashes.

You were meant to start something new."

A pause.

"But if you're going to survive, you must become them.

Not for power. For control.

Because only by stepping into the fire…

can you burn it down from within."

"Nova. If you do this… there's no coming back."

The video ended.

And a new message flashed on screen.

"ADMINISTRATOR MODE: ENABLED

INITIATE UNDERCOVER ENTRY?"

I swallowed hard.

And hit: YES

The next morning, the invitation came.

Slipped under my door, printed on red card stock with gold lettering:

Nova Reed,

You have been provisionally nominated

for Candidate Selection: The Last Row.

"Strength in Silence."

Room 304. Midnight. Wear black. Tell no one.

I was in.

But not as a rebel.

As them.

Midnight.

Room 304.

A door that didn't exist on the campus map.

I wore black. Hair tied back. Knife in my boot.

When I entered, seven others stood inside, hoods up, backs straight.

Only one turned to look at me.

Isla Moreau.

Alive.

Her lip was bruised, eye swollen, but her stare was clear.

When our eyes met, something passed between us.

Not words. Not trust.

But fire.

She turned away before I could speak.

A voice echoed through the chamber:

"Welcome, candidates.

Tonight begins your final test.

Your loyalty will be judged.

And your sins… will be weighed."

The floor beneath us vibrated.

The wall behind the instructor opened like a vault.

Inside?

A corridor lined with masks.

Each one is painted differently.

One by one, we were told to step forward and choose.

I did.

Mine was jet black, no mouth. Only a single mirrored eye.

As I placed it over my face, a voice whispered into my ear:

"Legacy Confirmed.

Welcome to the inner ring, Nova Reed."

And just like that,

I became the very thing I came to destroy.