The room fell silent as the Core's data began streaming across the terminal screen. For a moment, Mara couldn't move, couldn't speak. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the seemingly endless lines of encrypted text and schematics that flickered before her eyes. This was it—the culmination of everything. The truth she had fought for, bled for. The truth her brother had died for.
Cassian's face was illuminated by the pale glow of the terminal as he worked furiously to decrypt the files. His jaw was set, his eyes focused, but there was a tension in his movements—an unease that mirrored the knot in Mara's gut.
"Come on, come on," he muttered, his fingers flying across the keys.
Mara barely heard him. Her mind was racing, spinning with questions and half-formed fears. What if they found nothing? What if all of this—Elias's disappearance, their infiltration of the Syndicate's core network—had been for nothing? But no, she couldn't believe that. There was something here. There had to be.
A soft beep interrupted her thoughts, and Cassian leaned back slightly, letting out a breath. "Got it. Decryption's complete."
Mara felt her pulse quicken. She stepped closer, her eyes scanning the screen as the raw data began to take shape. Names. Locations. Transactions. All neatly categorized in the Syndicate's secure database. But one folder stood out, highlighted in a dull red glow: Project FR4CTURE.
Cassian's fingers hovered over the keys, his brow furrowing. "Project FR4CTURE? What the hell is that?"
Mara's throat tightened. Elias had mentioned that name once, in a hushed conversation late at night. It had been before he disappeared, before everything fell apart. She had dismissed it at the time, just another one of his cryptic hints that he was digging too deep into Syndicate territory. But now, seeing it here in the heart of the Core's database, Mara's blood ran cold.
"Open it," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Cassian hesitated for only a moment before nodding and pressing a series of keys. The screen flickered again, and the contents of the folder began to load. Mara's breath hitched as the images and documents appeared—blueprints of machinery she couldn't recognize, medical files, and lists of names. So many names. Dozens, no, hundreds of them.
Cassian's eyes narrowed as he scrolled through the data. "These are… experiments. Medical procedures. Genetic modifications."
Mara felt her stomach churn. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Cassian said slowly, his voice heavy, "the Syndicate isn't just controlling the city's resources. They're running some kind of underground operation. These people—they've been experimented on. Modified. Enhanced."
Mara's mind reeled. "Modified? For what?"
Cassian's eyes flicked to her, his expression grim. "For whatever the Syndicate wants."
He clicked on one of the files, and a series of images flashed on the screen—photos of people, ordinary citizens, strapped to gurneys, their bodies riddled with wires and tubes. Their eyes were vacant, their faces pale. It looked like something out of a nightmare.
Mara took a step back, her chest tightening. "No… no, this can't be real. Elias never mentioned anything like this."
Cassian's voice was low, almost a whisper. "Maybe he didn't know. Or maybe this is why they made him disappear."
The weight of his words settled over her like a shroud. If Elias had stumbled onto something this massive, something this dangerous, it made sense that the Syndicate would go to any lengths to silence him. But this—this was beyond anything Mara had imagined. The Syndicate wasn't just a criminal empire. They were manipulating the very fabric of the city, experimenting on its people, treating them like lab rats.
She felt a surge of nausea and fear. "This is… it's too big. How can we even stop something like this?"
Cassian's gaze hardened. "We expose it. We get this data out there, to the right people. The Syndicate might control a lot, but if this goes public—if people find out what they're doing—they won't be able to hide."
Mara's heart pounded. His words made sense. But the idea of putting herself in the crosshairs of an organization as powerful as the Syndicate terrified her. If they were willing to do this to innocent people, what would they do to her and Cassian if they got caught?
"Cassian, what if—"
Her voice broke off as the terminal beeped again, and suddenly, a new file flashed across the screen. A video file, its title displayed in bold letters: Subject: ELIAS VANCE.
Mara's blood ran cold. She stared at the screen, her mind unable to process what she was seeing. Elias's name. Her brother. There was a file on him.
Cassian's expression shifted, his usual bravado cracking. He glanced at Mara, then back at the terminal. "Do you… want to watch it?"
Mara couldn't speak. She nodded, her throat too tight to form words.
Cassian clicked the file, and the screen flickered again before the video began to play. The image was grainy, like a surveillance feed from a hidden camera. But there was no mistaking the figure on the screen. It was Elias. He was seated in a cold, sterile room, his hands cuffed to the arms of a metal chair. His head was down, his hair disheveled, his clothes torn and dirty.
Mara's heart shattered. "Elias…"
The sound crackled to life, and a voice—cold and clinical—filled the room.
"Subject 327, Elias Vance. Resistance to modification remains high. Mental faculties intact. Physical endurance tested. Further attempts at genetic alteration required."
Mara's breath caught in her throat. Genetic alteration. They had experimented on him. Her brother—the person she had spent years searching for—had been one of their test subjects. Just like the others.
"No…" she whispered, her hand gripping the edge of the terminal. "No, no, no…"
On the screen, Elias stirred, raising his head. His face was gaunt, his eyes hollow, but there was something in them—a flicker of defiance, a spark of the brother she had known.
"Stop this," Elias said, his voice weak but steady. "You can't… keep doing this. People will find out."
The voice on the recording responded, calm and detached. "There is no escape, Subject 327. Your resistance is futile."
Mara's vision blurred with tears. She couldn't watch this. She couldn't see her brother like this, broken and defeated, a shell of the person he once was.
But she couldn't look away.
The video ended abruptly, the screen going dark. Mara stood frozen, her body trembling, her mind a whirlwind of pain and fury. Elias had been alive. They had him, tortured him, experimented on him. And now… now she didn't even know if he was still alive.
Cassian's voice was soft, almost hesitant. "Mara, I… I'm sorry."
She couldn't respond. Her entire world had shattered in front of her, and all she could feel was the raw, aching emptiness of loss.
But beneath the pain, something else began to stir. A fire. A cold, burning rage.
The Syndicate had taken her brother. They had destroyed him, broken him. And now they were doing the same to countless others. Innocent people, just like Elias.
Mara clenched her fists, her jaw tight. She couldn't bring Elias back. But she could make sure the Syndicate paid for what they had done. She could make sure they never hurt anyone like this again.
Cassian watched her, his expression unreadable. "What do we do now?"
Mara met his gaze, her eyes burning with fury. "We take them down. All of them."