Eight Days Before the EventThe morning after Alfred's discovery, Jacob arrived at Alfred's room, finding his friend already deep in thought, staring at his laptop. The hard drive, now their lifeline to the truth, was plugged in, and the screen displayed a jumble of files and encrypted data."Jacob, I've found something," Alfred said as soon as Jacob walked in."What is it?" Jacob asked, his voice filled with a mix of curiosity and concern."Remember how we thought my dad was working with a team on Project Void? Well, I've been digging through these files, and it turns out he was working on it alone.""Alone?" Jacob repeated, his brow furrowing in confusion. "But why would he be working on something like this by himself? Isn't that unusual for a project of this scale?"Alfred nodded, his face grim. "It's more than unusual—it's suspicious. There's no mention of any other scientists, no collaborators, no team at all. Just my dad. The files even show that he was the one who requested the project remain off the books, classified under a special directive. He didn't want anyone to know about it."Jacob's heart raced as the implications of this information sank in. "Why would he do that? Was he trying to keep it a secret from the company?""It looks that way," Alfred replied, his voice tense. "And there's more. I found some personal notes buried in the data, written in a code that I almost missed. They talk about a breakthrough he made... something about quantum mechanics and energy manipulation, but the details are vague.""Energy manipulation? That sounds... dangerous," Jacob said, his voice barely above a whisper.Alfred nodded again. "It is. And there's one entry that's really troubling. It's dated just a few days before the explosion. He writes about 'unforeseen risks' and 'unpredictable consequences.' It's almost like he was starting to realize that whatever he was working on was getting out of control."Jacob felt a chill run down his spine. "So, the explosion... it wasn't an accident, was it?"Alfred looked up from the screen, his eyes filled with a mix of sorrow and determination. "I don't think so. It sounds like he was trying to stop it, but... he couldn't."A heavy silence hung between them as they both absorbed the gravity of the situation. Jacob could see the weight of this discovery bearing down on Alfred, and it made him feel even more determined to help his friend uncover the truth."What do we do now?" Jacob asked after a long pause."There's only one thing we can do," Alfred said, his voice firm. "We need to find out exactly what my dad was working on and why he kept it a secret. If this project was dangerous enough to cost him his life, then we need to understand it"Jacob nodded, his resolve matching Alfred's. "Alright. Where do we start?"Alfred hesitated for a moment before reaching into his desk drawer. He pulled out a small, dusty notebook and handed it to Jacob. "This was my dad's journal. I found it hidden in a box of his old things last night, right after we discovered the hard drive. I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but I think it might have the answers we need."Jacob took the journal, feeling its weight in his hands. The cover was worn, and the pages were yellowed with age, but it was clear that this was something his father had kept close.As he opened the journal, the first few pages were filled with notes and diagrams that were incomprehensible to him—equations and symbols that might as well have been written in a foreign language. But as he flipped through the pages, he found something more personal: entries that spoke of long nights in the lab, of breakthroughs and setbacks, and of the growing fear that his work might be spiraling out of control.But then, something caught Jacob's eye. A page near the back of the journal had a series of words scribbled hastily, as if in a rush:"No one can know. If I can't stop it... the consequences will be catastrophic."Jacob's blood ran cold as he read the words. He looked up at Alfred, who was watching him intently."What does it mean?" Jacob asked, his voice barely a whisper."I don't know," Alfred replied, his voice trembling slightly. "But I think we're about to find out."As they stared at the journal, a sense of dread settled over them. They were on the brink of discovering something that had been buried for years—something that could change everything they thought they knew about Alfred's father, and about the mysterious Project Void.