The office was deserted by the time Ethan returned to his desk. The low hum of the ventilation system was the only sound that accompanied the dim glow of the overhead lights. The city outside sprawled in endless patterns of light and shadow, but inside Luminex, it felt like the world had fallen away, leaving only silence and secrets.
Ethan slid into his chair, the edges of the "Project Obsidian" file burning in his jacket pocket. His fingers tapped idly on the desk as he allowed himself a moment of stillness, his mind running through the events of the past few hours. Anna's presence in the archives had been a complication, one that suggested Victoria was more alert than he had anticipated.
"She's closing in," Ethan murmured to himself, leaning back and gazing up at the ceiling. He couldn't afford any more mistakes. The seal had to be broken, and his time was running out.
Victoria sat in her office, the remnants of the security footage still playing in her mind. Ethan's precision, the way he moved through the archives—it was almost too careful. He had slipped the folder into his pocket like it was second nature, like he had done this before.
She stood and walked to the window, the glass cool beneath her fingertips as she stared out at the city. Her phone buzzed on the desk behind her, and she turned to pick it up. It was a message from Anna.
"I saw him in the archives. He was looking at something in one of the classified sections. Should I dig deeper?"
Victoria's lips curved into a faint smile. Anna's loyalty was something she valued, but she knew better than to rush into a confrontation. Ethan was smart, and confronting him now might make him even more cautious.
"No," she replied. "Leave him be for now. But keep watching."
As she set the phone down, Victoria's mind turned over the fragments of information she had gathered. Ethan's interest in classified files, the six-month gap in his history, the strange, almost ritualistic way he operated. It was as though he was following a script, one only he could see.
Victoria wasn't one to be left out of the story. She would find the missing pieces, no matter how deeply they were buried.
Back at his apartment, Ethan sat at the small kitchen table, the "Project Obsidian" file spread out before him. The fluorescent light buzzed faintly above, casting a harsh glow over the pages. He had read the file twice now, but the deeper he delved, the more questions it raised.
One phrase stood out, bold and underlined: "Containment protocols for anomalies related to Subject Delta."
Delta. The word meant nothing to him on the surface, but the context was clear enough. Whatever Victoria Lane and her company were hiding, it wasn't just technology or data—it was something alive.
Ethan's phone buzzed, the harsh vibration breaking the stillness of the room. He picked it up and read the message on the screen.
"You're being watched. Do not let her see the cracks."
His grip tightened on the phone, his jaw clenching. The sender was unknown, but the message was unmistakably from his handler. They were right—Victoria's eyes were everywhere, and the smallest misstep could unravel everything.
He set the phone down and leaned back, his gaze drifting to the shadows that filled the corners of the room. The seal wasn't just a key—it was a weapon. And if Victoria discovered its significance before he could act, everything would fall apart.