"Run."
Adrian didn't raise his voice.But the urgency in his tone was enough.Ava didn't hesitate.
She grabbed his hand.For a split second, both of them froze.Neither expected that.But there was no time to react.Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor.Not one person.Several.
Adrian pulled her toward a side exit inside the server room."Who are they?" Ava whispered.
"People who shouldn't know you're alive."
Alive?The word hit her hard.They rushed down a narrow staircase.Emergency lights flickered red.Ava's mind was spinning.
"My name isn't Elena," she said breathlessly.
Adrian didn't slow down."You're not just Elena.""What does that mean?!"
They reached a locked metal door.
Adrian pressed his palm against a hidden scanner.Click.Door open.Inside was a smaller control room.Screens everywhere.Faces.
Profiles.Identity files.Each one labeled:Mirror Candidate.Ava stepped closer.Her photo was there.So was her sister's. Her stomach dropped."What is this?"Adrian finally looked at her fully."Project Mirror is a classified identity reconstruction program."She stared at him."You're speaking like this is normal."
"In my world, it is."He moved to the central screen and typed quickly.Images changed.
Data scrolled."Your sister wasn't suicidal," Adrian said quietly."She was recruited."
"For what?""To replace someone powerful."
Silence.Ava felt cold."You're saying she was given a new identity?""Yes.""And me?"Adrian's jaw tightened."You were the backup."Her vision blurred."No. That's not possible.""Your past was edited. Documents replaced. Photos altered. Even facial recognition modified."She stepped back slowly. "Why?""Because you have the same genetic markers as someone very important."
Her heartbeat thundered."Who?"Adrian didn't answer.Instead, one of the screens turned black.Then red letters appeared:
ACCESS BREACH DETECTED.Footsteps above them.Closer."They're tracking us," Adrian muttered.Suddenly the lights shut off.
Darkness swallowed the room.Ava's breathing became uneven.A hand found hers again.Firm.Warm."Stay behind me," Adrian said. Gunshots echoed upstairs.Glass shattered."They're not here to talk," he added.
"Adrian," Ava whispered."Yes?""If you're lying to me…"He turned toward her in the darkness.
Even without light, she could feel how close he was."I'm not your enemy," he said quietly.
"Then what are you?" A pause."Someone who's been trying to shut Project Mirror down for two years."Another explosion upstairs.
Dust fell from the ceiling.Ava's pulse pounded."So my sister—""Is either dead," Adrian said carefully,"or living as someone else."The words sliced through her.Before she could respond—The metal door behind them began to melt.Someone was cutting through it.Adrian's grip tightened.
"There's one way out," he said."Where?"
He looked at her intensely."Trust me."
For reasons she didn't understand—She did.
The wall behind the main screen slid open.A hidden passage.As they stepped inside—
Ava glanced back at the monitors.
One final message flashed across the largest screen:
Subject Elena Voss — Activated.Her breath stopped.Activated?The passage door slammed shut behind them.And somewhere deep inside the building—
An alarm began to scream.