Shadows of Deception

The Countdown Begins

The facility's air was stale, laced with the scent of chemicals and something metallic—blood, perhaps. Ethan, Sarah, and Izzy moved in silence, shadows slipping through the sterile corridors. The security cameras were now under Izzy’s control, but they wouldn’t stay blind forever.

“We’ve got ten, maybe fifteen minutes before they realize the system’s been tampered with,” Izzy whispered, typing furiously on her tablet. “We need to reach Kane before they lock this place down.”

Ethan nodded. “Then let’s not waste time.”

Sarah scanned the branching hallways ahead. “Two paths. Which one leads to Kane?”

Izzy frowned at the map on her screen. “Both.”

Ethan sighed. “Of course.”

Sarah tightened her grip on her gun. “We split up. Ethan, take Izzy and head left. I’ll go right and cut off any escape routes.”

Ethan hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Be careful.”

Sarah smirked. “Always.”

And then she was gone.

---

Through the Maze

Ethan and Izzy crept down the left corridor, passing dimly lit rooms lined with eerie glass chambers. Each one held a person, unconscious, electrodes attached to their skulls. Some twitched. Others murmured words that made no sense.

Izzy swallowed hard. “This is worse than I thought.”

Ethan didn’t reply. His eyes were locked on one chamber in particular. A young man, no older than twenty, was restrained inside. His face was slack, but his eyes… they were wide open. Staring. As if trapped in a nightmare he couldn’t escape.

Izzy checked the console beside the chamber. “They’re running live neural experiments. Inducing memories, rewriting personalities.”

Ethan’s fists clenched. “They’re playing god.”

Izzy’s fingers danced over the keys. “I can shut it down—at least for these subjects.”

“Do it,” Ethan said.

An alarm blared.

Izzy paled. “That wasn’t me.”

Ethan cursed. “They know we’re here.”

---

Sarah’s Fight

On the other side of the facility, Sarah had just taken down her fourth guard when the alarm erupted.

“Damn it.”

She pressed against the wall as more guards poured in, rifles raised.

“You should’ve stayed out of this, Agent Thompson.”

A voice. Cold, familiar.

She turned—and came face to face with Dr. Miles Carter, Kane’s right-hand man.

Sarah leveled her gun at him. “You’re under arrest.”

Carter chuckled. “I don’t think so.”

Before she could react, he pressed a button on his wrist device.

Pain. White-hot, searing through her skull.

She dropped to her knees, clutching her head.

Carter crouched beside her, smiling. “Neural disruption tech. Fascinating, isn’t it? Just a taste of what’s to come.”

Sarah gritted her teeth, fighting through the agony.

She just needed an opening…

---

Kane’s Revelation

Ethan and Izzy burst into the main lab, guns raised.

Victor Kane stood at the center, calm, almost amused. Guards flanked him, weapons at the ready.

“You’re persistent,” Kane mused.

Ethan’s trigger finger twitched. “Not a compliment you want to give me.”

Kane chuckled. “You think you’re here to stop me. But you’re too late.”

Izzy’s eyes flicked to the monitors. Brainwave patterns. Data streaming. And then she saw it—a satellite uplink.

“Oh no,” she breathed.

Ethan glanced at her. “What?”

Izzy’s voice was barely a whisper. “He’s not just experimenting anymore. He’s activating something.”

Kane smiled.

“Welcome to the next "