Elara's POV - Present Day, After the Choice
"I'll help you."
The words taste like poison in my mouth, but I say them anyway. Because on every screen in this nightmare room, Mira is crying, strapped to a chair with a glowing device around her head that could erase her from existence.
Kade lowers his gun. "Smart choice."
"Where is she?" I demand. "Where's my real sister?"
The shape-shifter—the thing that pretended to be Mira for who knows how long—just smiles. "Safe. For now. As long as you cooperate."
"I want to see her. Prove she's alive."
"You'll see her when we're ready." The shape-shifter touches her tablet and all the screens go black. Mira's face disappears. "For now, you have a job to do."
"What job?"
Kade steps forward. "Break into Chronos Corporation. Tonight. Access the underground facility. Steal the master file on temporal extraction. And don't get caught."
I stare at him. "You're joking. You just said I broke in here. Security will be everywhere—"
"That wasn't you," Kade interrupts. "That was our operative in a temporal disguise. As far as Chronos security knows, their building is clean and locked down tight. You'll be the first actual intruder tonight."
"But you just showed me footage of 'me' killing Victor—"
"That footage doesn't exist yet," the shape-shifter says. "Won't exist until tomorrow morning, when we plant it. But by then, you'll have already committed a real crime by breaking in. Which means when the fake footage surfaces, you'll have no alibi. You'll look guilty no matter what you say."
My head spins. "You're framing me."
"We're motivating you," Kade corrects. "You help us, we clear your name. You refuse, we release the footage and you go to prison for Victor's murder. Simple."
"There's nothing simple about this!"
"Elara." The shape-shifter's voice goes cold. "Your sister has maybe six hours before the device on her head activates automatically. After that, she'll be erased. Every memory of her. Every photo. Every trace that she existed. Even you won't remember having a sister. Is that what you want?"
No. God, no.
"Fine," I say through clenched teeth. "Tell me exactly what you need."
Twenty minutes later, I'm standing outside Chronos Corporation with a modified ID badge, a stolen security uniform, and a earpiece connected to Kade.
"Testing," his voice crackles in my ear. "Can you hear me?"
"Unfortunately."
"Good. Walk to the east entrance. Security changes shifts in three minutes. That's your window."
I move through the shadows, my heart trying to hammer out of my chest. The Chronos building looms above me—fifty stories of black glass and steel. My former prison. My former home.
Three years since they kicked me out. Three years since Victor, Marcus, and Sienna destroyed my life.
Except now I know it was all fake. All planned. A test to see if I'd break.
Well, congratulations. I broke.
"East entrance, thirty seconds," Kade says in my ear.
I reach the door just as one guard leaves and before the next arrives. I swipe the modified badge.
Please work. Please work. Please—
Green light. The lock clicks.
I'm in.
The lobby is dark and empty. Motion sensors track my movement but the uniform should keep me invisible to the AI security system. Should. If Kade's hacking actually worked.
"Head to the elevators," Kade instructs. "Take the middle one. It's the only one with access to the sub-levels."
I move fast, keeping my head down. My reflection stares back at me from the polished floors—a stranger in a guard uniform, sneaking into the building that ruined her.
The elevator dings. I step inside.
"Press B7," Kade says. "That's the research level."
My finger hovers over the button. B7. That's where my old lab was. Where I spent three years of my life inventing something beautiful that became a weapon.
I press it.
The elevator descends. My stomach drops with it.
"Listen carefully," Kade says. "The underground facility has three security checkpoints. First is retinal scan. Use the drops I gave you—they'll fake Victor's eye signature for exactly ninety seconds."
I pull out the small bottle. My hands shake as I squeeze two drops into each eye. They burn like acid.
"Second checkpoint is voice recognition. I'll play Victor's voice through your earpiece. Just move your lips and the system will sync with the audio."
"And the third checkpoint?"
Kade's pause is too long. "Blood verification. You'll need to use Victor's actual blood."
"How am I supposed to get Victor's blood?"
"It's already there. In the biometric scanner. The system stores a sample from every authorized user. You just need to trick the machine into thinking it's testing fresh blood instead of stored blood."
"And how do I do that?"
"Cut yourself. Mix your blood with the stored sample. The machine will register the fresh cells and approve the access."
I close my eyes. "You want me to cut myself open."
"Just a small cut on your palm. You're a scientist, Elara. I'm sure you can handle a little blood."
The elevator dings. B7.
The doors open to a dark hallway that smells like antiseptic and old memories.
This is it. The research level. My old life.
I step out. The elevator doors close behind me with a sound like a coffin sealing.
"Walk straight," Kade instructs. "Left at the end. Your old lab is on the right but don't go there. Security will be monitoring it."
Too late. My feet are already moving toward my lab. I can't help it.
The door has a new nameplate: DR. MARCUS REEVES, SENIOR DIRECTOR.
Marcus got my lab. My position. My life.
Through the window, I see my equations still on the whiteboard. My designs pinned to the walls. Even my coffee mug on the desk—the one Mira gave me that says "WORLD'S OKAYEST SCIENTIST."
They didn't just take my work. They took my identity and wore it like a costume.
"Elara, focus," Kade snaps in my ear. "You're wasting time."
I force myself to keep walking. Left turn. Down another corridor.
Then I hear it.
Footsteps. Behind me.
"Security guard," Kade hisses. "Thirty feet back and closing. Don't run. Act natural."
Act natural. Right. I'm just a guard doing rounds at midnight in a restricted research facility. Totally normal.
The footsteps get closer.
"Turn right at the next intersection," Kade says urgently. "There's a storage closet. Hide."
I turn right. Find the closet. Reach for the handle—
Locked.
"It's locked," I whisper.
"What? It shouldn't be—"
The footsteps are right behind me now.
I spin around, trying to look casual. A security guard rounds the corner—older guy, bored expression, holding a tablet.
He looks up. Sees me.
His expression changes. "Hey. I don't recognize you. What's your ID number?"
My mind goes blank.
"ID number," he repeats, more suspicious now. His hand moves to his radio.
I do the only thing I can think of. I smile.
"Sorry, I'm new. First week. Still getting lost in these hallways." I laugh nervously. "Can you point me to the break room? I'm supposed to meet my supervisor but I took a wrong turn and—"
"First week?" He steps closer, studying my face. "We haven't had new hires in months. Let me see your badge."
My hand moves to my pocket where the modified badge is hidden.
But before I can grab it, a voice echoes down the hallway: "Jenkins! Get to the lobby now! We have a situation!"
The guard—Jenkins—grabs his radio. "What kind of situation?"
"Possible intruder on the main floor. All units respond!"
Jenkins looks at me. Looks at his radio. Then makes his decision.
"Don't move," he tells me. "I'll be right back to verify your credentials."
He runs back the way he came.
The second he's gone, I collapse against the wall, shaking.
"That was close," Kade says. "Too close. We need to move faster."
"What situation on the main floor? Did someone else break in?"
"I created a distraction. Security cameras show a figure on the ground level. It'll keep them busy for maybe five minutes. Use that time."
I push off the wall and run. Down the corridor. Past laboratories with dark windows. Past doors marked RESTRICTED ACCESS.
Finally, I find it.
A door marked AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY - SUB-LEVEL ACCESS.
This is the entrance to the underground facility. The place where Victor keeps the harvesting tanks and the Chronos Engine.
"First checkpoint," Kade reminds me. "Retinal scan. You have ninety seconds from when the drops activated. That was four minutes ago, so you have—"
"I know math," I snap, pressing my face to the scanner.
Red light sweeps across my eyes. The burning drops do their job.
AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED: DR. VICTOR KANE
The door unlocks. I pull it open and slip through.
I'm in a stairwell now. Metal stairs leading down into darkness. Emergency lights cast everything in a red glow.
"Second checkpoint is at the bottom of the stairs," Kade says. "Voice recognition. I'll count to three, then play Victor's voice file. You just mouth the words. Ready?"
I start down the stairs. Each step echoes like a gunshot.
"One."
My legs feel like jelly.
"Two."
What am I doing? This is insane. I'm breaking into the most secure facility in the city to steal files for people who are blackmailing me with my sister's life.
"Three."
I reach the bottom. A speaker crackles to life: "State your name and clearance level."
Kade's recording plays through my earpiece—Victor's voice saying: "Dr. Victor Kane. Clearance Level Alpha."
I mouth the words, syncing my lips to the audio.
Silence.
Then: AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED.
A heavy door slides open with a hiss of hydraulics.
"Last checkpoint," Kade says. "Blood verification. This is the tricky part."
I step through into a small room. In the center is a biometric scanner with a needle apparatus.
"Place your hand on the reader," Kade instructs. "The machine will extract Victor's stored blood sample. You need to cut your palm, squeeze your blood onto the sensor, and mix it with Victor's sample before the machine analyzes it. You'll have about three seconds."
Three seconds. To cut myself and mix blood samples.
"I can't do this," I whisper.
"Mira has five hours left," Kade says coldly. "You can do this, or she dies. Choose."
I hate him. I hate all of them.
But I love my sister more.
I pull out the small knife Kade gave me. Place my left hand on the scanner. The machine whirs to life, extracting Victor's stored blood into a small compartment.
I take a deep breath.
Then I slice my palm open.
Pain explodes through my hand. Blood wells up, hot and slippery. I squeeze my fist over the scanner, letting my blood drip onto Victor's sample.
The machine beeps. Analyzing.
Please work. Please—
AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED: DR. VICTOR KANE.
The final door opens.
I'm in.
I wrap my bleeding hand in my shirt and stumble forward into a massive room that shouldn't exist.
The underground facility.
It's huge. Cathedral-sized. And filled with horrors.
Tanks. Dozens of them. Each one containing a person floating in glowing blue liquid. Young people. Old people. Children. All hooked up to machines that pulse with stolen time.
In the center of it all, my Chronos Engine glows like a mechanical heart, pumping death through tubes and wires.
"Oh God," I whisper.
"Upload everything," Kade orders. "Plug in the drive. Copy all the files. We need evidence of—"
He stops.
"What?" I ask. "Kade, what's wrong?"
His voice changes. Urgent. Panicked. "Get out. Right now. Get out!"
"What? Why—"
"It's a trap. The whole thing is a trap. They knew you were coming. GET OUT!"
The lights slam on. Blinding white. Alarms scream.
And standing on the catwalk above me, smiling down like a predator who's caught his prey, is someone who should be dead.
Dr. Victor Kane.
Alive. Healthy. Very much not murdered.
"Hello, Elara," he says. "Welcome home. We've been waiting for you."
Behind him, Marcus and Sienna step into view. Both armed. Both smiling.
The doors slam shut. All of them. Every exit.
I'm trapped.
"Did you really think it would be this easy?" Victor asks. "Did you really think we wouldn't know the moment you stepped into our building?"
"You're dead," I say stupidly. "Kade said—"
"Kade lied," Victor says. "Or rather, whoever's been talking to you through that earpiece lied. We've been listening to your transmissions since you entered the building. Every word. Every instruction."
He holds up a small device. My earpiece crackles with static.
Then a different voice comes through. Not Kade. Someone else. Deeper. Older.
And terrifyingly familiar.
"Hello, daughter," my dead mother's voice says through the earpiece. "Surprised?"
The world tilts.
No.
No, that's impossible.
My mother is dead. Dead for ten years. I watched her funeral. I buried her.
"Mom?" I whisper.
"Not quite," the voice says. "But close enough. Did you really think your mother died in the mines, Elara? Did you really think any of this was an accident?"
Victor laughs. "Your mother didn't die, Elara. She transcended. And now—finally—you're going to join her in ways you can't even imagine."
The tanks around me start glowing brighter. The Chronos Engine's hum rises to a scream.
And I realize with absolute horror what they're planning to do.
They're going to put me in one of the tanks.
They're going to harvest my time. My knowledge. My entire existence.
"No," I back away. "No, no, no—"
"It's too late," Victor says. "You're already dying, Elara. Those eye drops Kade gave you? They weren't just for the retinal scan. They were poison. Slow-acting. Fatal. You have about thirty minutes before your heart stops."
I touch my eyes. They're still burning.
Oh God.
"But we can save you," Victor continues. "Put you in a tank. Preserve you. Extract everything you know. You'll live forever, Elara. Isn't that what you wanted? To never die like your mother?"
"My mother is DEAD!"
"Your mother," the voice in my earpiece says, "is more alive than you've ever been. And soon, you'll understand exactly what that means."
Marcus and Sienna start descending the stairs toward me. They're carrying something. Restraints. Tubes. Equipment to hook me into the tanks.
I run.
But there's nowhere to go. Every door is locked. Every exit sealed.
I'm trapped in this room with my inventions turned into torture devices, with my sister's captors closing in, and with poison burning through my bloodstream.
And somewhere—somehow—my dead mother is watching.
"Thirty minutes, Elara," Victor calls. "Then you're ours. Forever."
The Chronos Engine pulses. Waiting. Hungry.
And I realize that breaking into Chronos wasn't my choice.
It was always the plan.
I'm not the infiltrator.
I'm the sacrifice.