Monday – 7:47 A.M. | Carter University– Computer Sciences Building
The card with the black triangle sat between them on the desk. Ava had scanned it. No microchip. No trace.
Rick stared at it like it might blink.
"The Hollow Bridge Initiative. That's their name." Ava tapped her laptop. "Private project. Multiple shell companies. No online presence… but I found a storage node with an old server name registered to them."
She spun the laptop toward Rick.
"Location?"
"Just outside town. Warehouse C — Old biotech zone. Abandoned after the grant money ran dry."
Rick stood. "Let's go."
10:15 A.M. | Abandoned Warehouse – Outer Carter Zone
The place looked like it hadn't seen daylight in years.
Peeling walls. Rusted doors. A twisted security camera hanging dead.
Rick tried the front entrance.
Locked.
Ava held up a crowbar.
"Allow me."
The door groaned open.
Inside was dust and silence.
Until—
Click.
A red sensor flashed in the corner.
Rick ducked. "Motion sensor."
Ava didn't flinch.
"Let them watch. We're not hiding anymore."
Interior – Level B3 | Underground Corridor
They found the elevator shaft busted, so they took the stairs — 3 floors down, into darkness.
Ava's flashlight caught glimpses of whiteboards, shattered glass, lab coats on the ground. Old experimental stations.
Then a sign:
> HOLLOW BRIDGE | Neural Testing Bay | Sector 3
They stepped inside.
Dozens of metal chairs lined the walls — like dentist chairs, but with neuro-scanners bolted above them. Some had restraints.
Ava whispered, "What were they doing here…"
Rick stepped toward one of the consoles. Wiped away the dust.
It flickered. Still working.
A login screen pulsed faintly. Ava cracked her knuckles and got to work.
11:23 A.M. | Lab Terminal – Access Granted
Dozens of folders. Each one named:
SUBJECT 3 – K. MARROW
SUBJECT 6 – L. VERA
SUBJECT 12 – A. CORDOVA
SUBJECT 7 – R. FYER
Rick froze.
"Ava… that's you."
Ava stared, her face pale.
"No… no, I was never a subject. I applied for an internship here when I was 15. But I never got in."
Rick clicked open her file.
The screen lit up with timestamps, brain scans, behavioral models. Her emotions logged. Her reactions graphed.
"They never rejected you," Rick said quietly. "They accepted you... without telling you."
12:01 P.M. | Emergency Power Room
Ava paced, gripping her head.
"All these years — every blackout, every déjà vu — it wasn't just stress. They were pushing me. Testing thresholds."
Rick placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You're not broken, Ava. You're resilient. You've been fighting without even knowing it."
She met his eyes. Her voice shook.
"So have you."
They stood in silence.
Then a faint mechanical hum began.
Lights flickered on.
And a voice echoed through the speaker system:
> "Welcome back, Subjects."
Final Scene– Surveillance Room (Unknown Location)
Six individuals in black coats watched monitors from an upper deck, somewhere else entirely.
The man from the gym stood in the center.
A younger agent approached him.
"They've accessed the testing wing."
The man didn't smile. Just nodded.
"Phase Two begins."
The monitors zoomed in on Rick and Ava, standing under red emergency lights.
"Let's see what they really are."