“Thompson, read me last Tuesday’s notes,” the man with the syringe says to the one holding the clipboard. He lifts up a few pages and reveals a small notebook, flipping it open.
“Log one hundred and nine, compliance drift. She begged us not to send her back in, but we have no choice. Resistance weakens with each cycle. One day, she may go willingly.”
I already suspected, but now I know the journal Malachi found was about this girl. Project Viridian. The first Avid.
“I don’t want your damn header. Read me the detailed notes,” the man snaps as he jabs the syringe into her arm, then releases her straps.
“Sorry, sir.”
They both disappear out of the room, their voices fading.
I look over at Malachi, who is completely frozen, and I start to panic. This is too much for him. This is too much for me sometimes, and I’m used to it. I don’t know how this is going to affect him.
The girl slowly sits up, and I think we both stop breathingas she looks across the room. She stares directly at Malachi through the glass.
The room flickers for a second, and Malachi blinks repeatedly. My head whips from him to the girl as she slides to the foot of the bed and lets her feet hit the ground. She walks directly toward the two-way mirror we stand behind until she’s standing inches from Malachi’s face, separated only by glass.
“Kat,” he whispers.
“Yeah,” I say, but then I realize he’s not talking to me. He thinks this is real. He thinks that’s me.
She holds up her hand and presses it against the glass, her eyes softening before profound sadness settles over her features.
An alarm suddenly blares, and we all jump as the room she’s in starts flashing red. A loud, wailing siren vibrates through my mind, the sound so intense it feels like my skull might crack.
“Kat!” Malachi yells louder, hitting his hands against the mirror desperately.
“Malachi, it’s okay! It’s not real!” I tell him, but it falls on deaf ears. As the siren continues its deafening wail, the girl looks frightened, eyes wide with terror, but her hand stays pressed against the glass even as Malachi starts punching it.
“Malachi!” I scream, covering my ears from the sound. The room flickers again, and Malachi punches the glass so hard it shatters right in the center, spider-webbing outward and distorting the girl’s face as shards splinter the surface.
Then it’s gone.
The vision disappears along with the sound instantly. When he swings his arm again, it whooshes harmlessly through empty air, making no contact with anything solid.
I reach for him, touching his arm, and he flinches like he was in some kind of trance. When he turns tosee me, his eyes are wild, the golden flecks burning so bright they almost seem to glow.
“Katja,” he says as he pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my hair.
“Katja, what was that?” he finally manages, his voice shaking.
“I don’t think we want to know.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
LOG TWENTY-TWO – PERSUASIVE RESISTANCE: WHEN PRESSED ON DIFFICULT QUESTIONS, SHE DEFLECTS WITH QUESTIONS OF HER OWN. RESEARCHERS LEAVE THE SESSIONS BELIEVING THEY REVEALED TOO MUCH INSTEAD.
“Who do you think she is?”Aurora asks, her voice soft in the dim light of her bedroom. She’s lying next to me, head propped up on her hand, red hair spilling over her shoulder like liquid fire. “More importantly, why didn’t you tell me you’ve been seeing her?”
We’ve all been sleeping in various bedrooms throughout the Depths lately. It’s safer that way and easier for early-morning training sessions until we leave on the mission. After Malachi left tonight, I couldn’t sleep. My mind kept replaying that vision, the way he’d looked at that woman like she was me. So I’d padded down the hallway in my nightgown and slipped into Aurora’s room, seeking the comfort of my best friend.
“I know I should have told you,” I admit, picking at the edge of her comforter. “It’s… Everything’s been so chaotic lately, and I didn’t want to worry everyone when I barely understand what I’m seeing myself. I still don’t know what Project Viridian is or how I’m connected to that woman, if I even am.”
Aurora flops onto her back with an exaggeratedsigh, her arm thrown dramatically over her eyes. “Kat, come on. You’re definitely connected. Evil twin from another dimension is way less likely than, you know, actual family.”
I watch as Mish materializes and crosses the room, hopping up onto the bed and settling between us, a cold spot that somehow brings me warmth.
“I wish Malachi hadn’t left tonight,” I confess, absently reaching out to stroke Mish’s translucent fur. “He seemed so shaken by what he saw. The way he looked at her, Aurora… It was like he thought she was actually me. Then he rushed out of there afterward, barely saying goodbye. I’ve never seen him that rattled.”
