Serene Hope Hospital – 6th Floor, Off-Limits Lab
The lab lights flickered unnaturally, as if the building itself knew something wasn't right.
Vashti swiped her father's ID badge across the scanner. It blinked red. Then green.
Access granted.
She glanced at Shabd beside her, who was already cracking the backup server on a hospital laptop they had "borrowed."
"Security's gonna be on us in fifteen minutes," he said under his breath. "We need this fast."
They weren't just looking for documents anymore—they were looking for Project Mind Trace, the experimental neurological procedure that destroyed her father's career.
And maybe his life.
---
Elsewhere...
A figure in a white coat walked briskly through the corridor—clipboard in one hand, a burner phone in the other.
Dr. R.
He paused as his phone buzzed.
> New Text Message
"They found the Mind Trace archive. Do you want me to shut them down?"
Dr. R typed back:
> "No. Let them dig deeper. They're about to bury themselves."
---
Back in the lab
"Got it," Shabd said, eyes flickering over the screen. "Encrypted files. Labeled with your dad's initials and...wait."
He double-clicked. A video opened.
Surveillance footage.
Old. Grainy.
Dr. Vivek Dhiman sat across from a patient. The timestamp was just three days before he vanished.
He leaned forward in the video and whispered:
> "They're experimenting on coma patients... rewiring parts of the brain. But they don't know what it'll cost."
Vashti stared at the screen, frozen. "That's… that's his voice."
Then suddenly—
BOOM.
The lab door exploded open.
A fire alarm went off. Smoke poured in.
Sabotage.
---
Shabd grabbed Vashti's hand and pulled her out.
"The files!" she yelled.
"We'll get them later. If we die, they die with us!"
They ran down the back stairwell, coughing through the smoke, alarms screeching.
Halfway down, Vashti tripped.
Shabd caught her, wrapped his arms around her, shielding her.
And for one terrifying, beautiful second—there was silence between them.
"You okay?" he asked, brushing hair from her face.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
He pressed his forehead to hers. "Good. Means you're human. But I promise you—I'll never let him touch you."
And in the smoke and chaos, he kissed her.
Desperate. Protective. Real.
---
But somewhere in the hospital...
Dr. R stood watching the flames from the other side of a security monitor, smiling.
> "One file down. Two hearts to go.