Episode 18: Glitch in the Heart
The silence of the base was shattered by a scream.
Tunde bolted out of his quarters, hair wild and mismatched socks flapping on the polished floor. He found Martins already sprinting toward the tech lab.
Inside, Zahara was on her knees, clutching her head, the monitors flickering wildly behind her.
Martins dropped beside her. "Zahara—hey! Look at me. Breathe."
"I—I can't—" she gasped. "It's like my brain's trying to open a file I didn't download…"
Tunde ran a scanner over her. "She's glitching. Neural echoes are flooding her system. Someone's triggering suppressed data—remotely."
Martins helped Zahara onto the table. She was shaking, flashes of images dancing behind her eyes—lab rooms, surgical tables, people in black suits... and one face.
A man with silver eyes.
The Architect.
Zahara whispered, "He said… I was built for something called The Pulse. I don't know what it is, but it's—big."
Sophia entered with Lukas, both grim.
Lukas spoke first. "If the Pulse is what I think it is… it's not just a weapon. It's a system override. Designed to knock out every defense grid on the planet."
"Wait—" Tunde blinked. "So, she's not just part of the system—she is the key?"
Sophia nodded. "Which means the Architect doesn't need access codes. He needs her."
Zahara looked up at Martins, panicked. "I'm not safe to be around. I could destroy everything."
"No," Martins said firmly. "You're not a bomb. You're a person."
"And if I go off?"
"Then we stop it before that ever happens."
---
Later that day… training room
Zahara stood in the center of the room, wearing a neural-stabilizer headset as she sparred with a holographic opponent. Tunde watched from the booth, munching popcorn.
"You know, for a potential destroyer of the world, she's got great form."
Martins entered, eyes on the display. Zahara was fast — too fast — as if her body was remembering techniques her mind hadn't learned.
She took down the opponent with a brutal spin-kick.
"That's… mildly terrifying," Martins muttered.
Zahara turned to him, pulling off the headset.
"You came to see if I was still myself?" she asked.
"No. I came to remind you that even if you weren't, I'd still be the idiot standing between you and the rest of the world."
She smirked. "That's kind of sweet. In a reckless, bodyguardy way."
He stepped closer. "You scare me."
"I scare me."
They both laughed softly, the tension easing for just a second.
Then Zahara leaned in and whispered, "If I say I'm glad you're here… does that make me sappy?"
"Yeah," Martins said. "But I like it."
They nearly kissed—until a loud crack echoed through the base.
An alarm blared.
Tunde's voice came over comms. "Guys… we've got a breach. Unauthorized signal inside the perimeter. And you're not gonna like who it is."
---
In the surveillance room…
The camera feed showed a shadowy figure in a white cloak walking calmly through the facility — doors opening for him like they recognized his DNA.
The Architect.
Zahara's eyes widened.
Martins stepped in front of her. "You're not facing him alone."
Zahara shook her head. "No. We are."