Vanguard Academy Internal Security Log (Redacted)
Date: 17 October | Time: 03:42 AM GMT+1
Incident Level: CODE SCARLET – Unauthorized Access Attempt
Location: East Wing, Sub-Level 3 – Vanguard AI Core Vault
At approximately 03:42 AM, the Vanguard perimeter alarm system triggered an automated lockdown due to a breach in the sub-level biometric vault.
Unknown individual attempted to access the Circle archives. The attempt failed. However, internal firewalls were bypassed at a 67% success rate before termination protocol kicked in. The intruder vanished from surveillance logs just prior to extraction response.
Flagged Footage: Distorted humanoid figure. No facial recognition match. Code name tagged: Specter.
Security Protocol Update:
All faculty-level access codes rotated.
AI Core placed under permanent surveillance.
Ava Monroe and Iris Dax flagged for possible connection.
By morning, the whole academy felt wrong.
There were eyes everywhere. Faculty on edge. Hushed conversations. Jonas had stopped pretending to be normal, he watched us too openly now.
And Melanie? She smiled more than usual.
Which meant someone was playing a very dangerous game.
"You think it was the Circle?" Iris asked.
"No," I said. "Too loud."
"Then who?"
I stared out the clock tower window, the courtyard bathed in mist. "Someone inside Vanguard. Someone worse."
Vanguard Medical Wing – Restricted Lab
Deep below the academy, behind several layers of encryption, a man lay sedated in a sealed chamber. His chest bore a deep scar. His wrists restrained.
A technician typed on a glass screen: Subject 017 – Karl Voss.
He was alive.
And he was waking up.
Jonas Vale's Hidden Comm Unit
The voice returned.
"You're losing control."
"I'm adapting," Jonas replied. "They're smarter than you told me."
"Kill them."
"I need more time."
"You have four days."
Genevieve's Flashback (10 Years Ago)
A tiny Ayla, blood-soaked, trembling in Genevieve's arms. The old estate in flames. Eight names etched into Genevieve's mind. One vow whispered in the child's ear:
"They took everything. So we take everything back."
Ayla didn't cry. She nodded.
Even then, she was already someone else.