Tuesday – 3:43 P.M. | Ava's Dorm– Underground Safe Drive
Rick sat on the floor, unwrapping gauze from his bruised knuckles. Ava was at her terminal, pulling fragments of code from the Hollow Bridge data chip Kieron had whispered about in his sleep.
Each fragment led deeper into a network of hidden directories, each one buried beneath campus servers and encrypted beyond commercial grade.
Suddenly—
Ava's eyes widened.
"No way..."
"What is it?"
She turned the screen toward Rick. A familiar face stared back from a staff badge.
Dr. Calvin Cordova. Biotech Systems Director. Classified Level 9 Clearance.
Ava's voice cracked.
"That's my father."
Flashback: Ava, Age 10 – A Locked Office Door
She remembered the arguments. The late hours. The locked door in their basement. Her father would come home silent, his hands trembling, eyes too wide.
He called her "his reason." His little light.
But now she saw it clearly — her name was on the test subject roster. She hadn't just been part of the system...
Her father put her there.
4:20 P.M. | Meanwhile– Rick's Internal Breakdown
Rick stepped outside alone. Sat on the stairwell behind the building. A gust of wind knocked over a trash bin, but he didn't move.
The last few days had rewired his world:
A secret organization using students like lab rats.
A girl he might be falling for — whose past was rewritten like a bad code line.
A villain who knew about his mother's death and promised to reopen that wound.
He took out the photo he always carried — a faded picture of his mom holding his little hand in front of a sunflower field.
"You told me to become a better man. What do I do now, Mom? Fight a ghost?"
Then… his phone buzzed.
Unknown Number. One message.
> "Let's test how strong you've become. – W"
4:30 P.M. | Ava's Terminal l – Trigger Response Program
Back inside, Ava realized something.
"The Hollow Bridge files have embedded 'Trigger Conditions' — code routines that activate latent behavior in subjects."
She scrolled quickly.
"Rick's ID number… has a linked protocol. They've already started it."
Her eyes darted to the window.
"Rick's outside."
4:33 P.M. | External Emergency Exit – Basement Alley
Rick looked up.
Widow stood across from him.
Calm. No weapon.
"No tricks?"
"No need," she said. "You're already in the simulation."
Rick blinked — and suddenly, the world around him shifted.
A flash.
The alley turned into the front yard of his old house.
Rain poured.
He was 8 years old again.
His mom knelt in front of him, bleeding.
"No... No, this isn't real!"
He turned — Widow was gone.
In her place, a figure cloaked in smoke. His worst fear.
His own reflection, cold and violent, walking toward him.
4:35 P.M. | Ava hacks the Loop
Inside the safe drive, Ava typed like her hands were on fire.
She hacked into the simulation protocol running through Rick's neuro-signal profile.
"They hijacked his hippocampus memory channel. Running a fear-based combat loop."
She bypassed the security wall and jammed in a false shutdown signal.
The loop began to crumble.
4:37 P.M. | Rick vs Himself
Rick fought his phantom — the darker, unfeeling version of him. The one that didn't care. The one that believed people were weights he had to carry.
They brawled. In the rain. On the steps of his childhood home.
Then the ghost Rick whispered:
"You'll never save her. Just like you didn't save Mom."
Rick dropped to his knees.
But Ava's voice echoed faintly, like a tether:
"Rick. This isn't real. You're stronger than this. You're not alone anymore."
He looked up — stared the phantom down.
"No. I am not you. I fight because I failed. And I won't fail again."
He punched the ghost across the jaw.
Light exploded—
4:38 P.M. | Back to Reality
Rick collapsed onto the alley ground, gasping for breath.
Ava knelt over him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah..." he rasped. "I just… met the ugliest version of me."
Ava touched his cheek gently.
"I think the real you just kicked his ass."
Final Scene – Hollow Bridge HQ | Dark Viewing Room
Widow turned away from the monitor.
"He resisted trigger collapse. The anomaly survived."
The man in the suit behind her spoke.
"So we initiate Phase Three."
Widow smiled.
"Release Subject 5."