Three days passed.
Victor was in jail. His money was frozen. His guards were gone. His building was empty.
But the city did not stay empty for long.
Aria sat in Victor's office. It was her office now. The police said she could use it while they sorted out who owned what. She did not plan to give it back.
Elena walked in. She wore a real suit now. Not a hospital gown. Her hair was clean. Her eyes were sharp.
"The news wants to talk to you," Elena said. "All of them. Every channel. Every paper. They want to know who you are. What you did. Why you broke into Victor's building."
Aria shook her head. "Not yet. Tell them I am busy."
"You are sitting in a chair."
"I am thinking." Aria stood up. "Victor said something before he left. About others. I need to know what he meant."
Elena's face changed. "You think there are more? More people like Victor?"
"I think Victor was not working alone. I think someone was above him. Someone older. Someone stronger." Aria walked to the window. "He was not afraid of jail. He was afraid of them. Of what they would do to him for losing."
She turned to Elena. "We need to find out who they are. Before they find us."
The Secret Files
Aria called a meeting.
Everyone came. Vivienne. Lucas. Elena. David. Kai. The nine returned souls. They filled Victor's big office. It felt strange. This room had been a prison. Now it was a war room.
Kai stood at the front. He had his tablet. His compass. His strange eyes.
"I found something," he said. "In Victor's files. A hidden folder. Password protected. Took me two days to break."
He pulled up a document on the big screen.
PROJECT ETERNITY
Below the title was a list. Not names. Companies. Ten companies. All over the world. All connected to Victor. All owned by something bigger.
"What are these?" Aria asked.
"Shell companies," Kai said. "Victor used them to hide money. To move people. To fund his research. But he did not own them. Someone else did."
He zoomed in on the first company. A name appeared.
THE CONSORTIUM
"What is the Consortium?" Vivienne asked.
Kai looked at her. His face was pale. "I do not know. But I found this." He pulled up another file. A video.
The video showed a room. Dark. A long table. Ten chairs. Nine were empty. One was filled.
A man sat at the head of the table. Old. White hair. Eyes that were black and cold. He was looking at Victor. Victor was on his knees.
"You failed," the old man said. His voice was soft. Quiet. Like a snake.
"Give me another chance," Victor said. His voice was shaking. Victor was afraid. Aria had never seen him afraid.
"I gave you everything. Money. Power. Time. And you let a girl take it all away." The old man stood up. "You are no longer useful."
He raised his hand. The video ended.
Aria stared at the blank screen. "Who is he?"
"I do not know," Kai said. "But Victor was afraid of him. More afraid than he was of us. More afraid than he was of jail."
Lucas stepped forward. His face was white. "I have seen him before. At a party. Years ago. Victor introduced him as an investor. But there was something wrong. Something about his eyes."
"What do you mean?" Aria asked.
Lucas looked at her. "They were dead. Like he had already died. Like he had already come back."
The room went very quiet.
Aria looked at Kai. "You said there were others. People who came back before us."
"Yes."
"How many?"
Kai pulled up the list again. The fifteen names. "Fifteen that I know of. But Victor's files go back thirty years. There could be more. Many more."
Aria sat down. Her mind was racing. Victor was not the enemy. He was just a soldier. A tool. Someone else was pulling the strings. Someone who had been doing this for a very long time.
"We need to find him," she said. "The old man. We need to know who he is. What he wants. Why he is hunting us."
Vivienne stepped forward. "There is something else. In the files. A location. A building. Not in this city. In the mountains. Victor went there once a year. Every year. For thirty years."
She pulled up a map. A remote place. No roads. No towns. Just a building in the middle of nowhere.
"What is there?" Aria asked.
"I do not know. But Victor called it 'The Nursery.'"
The Visitor
That night, Aria could not sleep.
She sat in Victor's office. The city was dark below her. The stars were bright above.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown: "Congratulations on your victory. But the game is not over. Meet me. Alone. Tomorrow. I will tell you who the old man is. I will tell you what he wants. Come alone. Or do not come at all."
An address followed. A coffee shop. The same one where she met Lucas.
Aria stared at the message. Her heart was pounding.
She wanted to tell the others. But the message said alone. If she brought help, the person would not show. And she needed to know the truth.
She typed back: "Tomorrow. 8 AM."
The answer came fast: "Good. Bring your compass. You will need it."
Aria put down her phone. She looked at the sky. Somewhere out there, an old man was watching. Planning. Waiting.
And tomorrow, she would find out why.