Chapter 116 (Part 07)
The rooftop was cold, but Alok barely felt it.
He stood at the edge, his hands resting on the railing, his eyes fixed on the distant lights of Castrone. The city stretched out below him, sprawling and indifferent. Somewhere down there, people were sleeping.
Somewhere down there, people were waking up. Somewhere down there, the government was turning citizens into weapons.
And he was the only one who knew.
The pendant pulsed against his chest, warm but silent now. Extera's voice had faded, leaving only the cold wind and the weight of his own thoughts.
He had stood here for over an hour, going over every detail in his mind the video, the logo, the chairman's smile, the rigged tournament, the locked media meeting. All of it was connected. He could feel it.
He turned to leave.
As he reached the door, something flickered in his mind. An image. A logo. A black circle inside a square. Simple. Unassuming. And yet
Alok stopped. His hand hovered over the door handle.
Something stirred in his chest. A flicker. Almost familiar.
Where have I seen this before?
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force the memory. Nothing came. Just the image. The black circle. The square. And a feeling cold, familiar, almost threatening.
He shook his head and opened the door.
The stairwell was dimly lit, the walls scarred with age and neglect. The paint was peeling, and the lightbulb on the second floor had been dead for months.
Alok descended slowly, his footsteps echoing in the narrow space, each step deliberate, measured.
That logo. It's in the video. Morvane's video. But I saw it before that. Long before.
He gripped the railing tighter. The metal was cold and rough beneath his palm.
Was it in the labyrinth? No. The labyrinth had different symbols. Wordsal symbols. Ancient patterns. Not that.
Then where?
He passed the third floor. The door to the apartment next to his was closed, as always. The neighbors kept to themselves. He didn't even know their names.
He reached the ground floor and pushed open the door. The cool morning air hit his face, carrying the scent of damp concrete and distant exhaust.
The streets were quiet, the sun still hidden behind the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pale gray and orange.
Rihan was waiting for him.
Rihan leaned against the wall of the apartment building, his arms crossed, his breath forming small clouds in the cold air. He looked tired, but alert. He had probably been waiting for over an hour.
"You're late."
Alok ignored the comment. "I need you to gather as much information as you can about the government. The B.O.R. System. Dr. Morvane. Anything."
Rihan straightened, his expression shifting from fatigue to focus. "I've been digging. There's not much. They've locked everything down. All the official statements say it's a 'mental health initiative.' Nothing about experiments or subjects."
"Then dig harder."
Rihan studied his face, his eyes narrowing. "What happened? You look different."
Alok shook his head. "I need to get to Feilw Land. But I don't have enough information to form a proper plan."
"You always have a plan."
"Not this time." Alok paused, his jaw tightening. "I changed it."
Rihan's brow furrowed. "Changed it how?"
"We're not all going to Feilw Land."
Rihan blinked, the words taking a moment to sink in. "What?"
Alok met his gaze, his voice flat and final. "We split up."
Rihan opened his mouth to argue, then stopped. He knew that look. It was the same look Alok had worn in the labyrinth cold, calculating, final. The look of someone who had already made up his mind and wasn't going to change it.
"What do you have in mind?" Rihan asked, his voice careful.
"You stay here. You dig deeper into the government. You find out who's behind the B.O.R. System, what they're planning, and who's funding it. I'll take Ravel and go to Feilw Land."
Rihan hesitated, his hands clenching at his sides. "Alok...."
"I'm not finished." Alok's voice was sharp, cutting through the morning air. "You asked me why I'm so certain the government is hiding something. You remember the Chairman at the closing ceremony?"
Rihan frowned. "What about him?"
"When he announced the winner, he looked at me. Smiled. He knew I didn't trust the results. He knew I was watching." Alok's eyes hardened, a cold fire flickering behind them. "I suspected something was wrong even before the summer festival ended. The way the committee operated, the way they handled the scores, the way they dismissed questions it was all too clean. Too controlled."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"And that moment when he looked at me like that it confirmed it. He knew who I was. He knew I was a threat. And he was letting me know he wasn't afraid."
Rihan stared at him, his face pale. "You're saying this is personal?"
"No." Alok shook his head. "I'm saying this is bigger than us. I've been thinking about this for days. I've run the numbers. By all logic, we should have won that tournament. But we didn't. They rigged it. And that means someone in the government has been watching me since before the festival even started."
Rihan was silent for a long moment. The wind picked up, carrying the distant sound of a car horn. Then he said, quietly:
"You're scared."
Alok didn't deny it.
"Good," Rihan continued. "That means you're still human."
Alok almost smiled. Almost.
"I need you to be careful," Alok said, his voice softer now. "The things that are happening here they're bigger than you think. The government isn't just corrupt. It's something else. Something darker. If they find out you're digging, they won't hesitate to silence you."
Rihan nodded slowly, his jaw tight. "I'll be careful. But Alok..."
He paused, struggling to find the words.
"Be careful too. You might be going to Feilw Land, but don't forget the real enemy is still here. Chairman Voss. Dr. Morvane. The whole system. They're not going to let you walk away."
Alok placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I know. That's why I'm leaving you behind."
He turned and walked toward the street, his footsteps steady on the cracked pavement.
Rihan watched him go, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
POV SHIFT – Jack Mosed (CNN)
The broadcast had just ended.
Jack Mosed leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled beneath his chin, staring at the screen. The video had been aired.
The responses were already flooding in angry calls, suspicious messages, demands for answers. His phone had been buzzing nonstop for the past fifteen minutes.
His secretary, Miss Guwea, entered the room, her face pale.
"Sir, the government is already releasing a statement. They're calling the video 'outdated' and 'misleading.' They're saying Dr. Morvane's research was 'preliminary' and 'abandoned.'"
Jack's lips curled into a cold, satisfied smile.
"Let them try. We've planted the seed. Now we watch it grow."
Miss Guwea hesitated, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. "And if they try to shut us down? They could revoke our license. They could ...."
"Don't worry, Guwea." Jack stood up and walked to the window. Below, the city lights flickered in the early morning darkness. He could almost feel the tension building, the unease spreading through the streets like a slow moving tide. "The media is like a double edged sword. We can cut both ways."
He turned to face her, his eyes glinting.
"We'll wait for them to come to us. And when they do, we'll demand compensation. If they want the video buried, they'll have to pay for it."
Guwea's eyes widened. "You're going to blackmail the government?"
Jack smiled thin, sharp, satisfied.
"Call it a negotiation. We'll give them a price. If they pay, the video disappears. If not..." He gestured to the screen. "...we release more."
Guwea nodded slowly, a reluctant smile spreading across her face. "Sir, that's... actually brilliant."
Jack chuckled, a low, dry sound.
"I know."
He looked back at the city, his reflection ghostly against the glass.
"Now we wait."
Below, in the streets of Castrone, phones buzzed. Screens lit up. News notifications flooded every corner of the city on buses, in cafés, in bedrooms where people were just waking up. The video was spreading faster than anyone had anticipated.
The seed had been planted.
And the roots were already growing.