Chapter 6 - The Laboratory of Lies-6-
The air tasted like sterile metal and ozone. My head pounded with a rhythm that felt like a jackhammer against my skull. I blinked, my eyelids heavy, fighting the fog that clung to my consciousness like cobwebs. I was tied to a chair—the kind of cold, uncomfortable steel chair they used in interrogation rooms.
The room was vast, white, and brightly lit. It looked less like a room and more like a testing ground.
"She's awake," a voice said.
I looked up. Halloway was standing there, but she wasn't the housekeeper anymore. She was wearing a lab coat, her hands gloved, her face a neutral mask of clinical interest.
"Where is Lily?" I rasped, my voice sounding like a rusted gate.
"She’s in the other room, undergoing the process," Halloway said, walking over to a tray of instruments. "The Syndicate needs a baseline for the new bio-transmission network, and your little girl is the perfect candidate. She’s young, she’s healthy, and she’s already been traumatized enough to respond to the stimuli."
"She’s a child!" I screamed, pulling against the restraints. "You're monsters!"
"We’re scientists, Claire," Halloway said, as if she were explaining the weather. "The Syndicate provides the resources. We provide the breakthrough. Do you know what happens when we successfully map the neural pathways of a child under extreme stress? We can recreate that stress response in anyone, anywhere. We can build a bio-tracking grid that doesn't need satellites. We just need the baseline."
I realized then the depth of the nightmare. This wasn't about money or smuggling or a lost family. This was a human experiment—a systemic, calculated effort to turn human emotion into a tactical advantage.
"You won't get away with this," I said, my voice filled with a desperate, burning rage. "Gabriel will find you. He’ll tear this place down brick by brick."
Halloway laughed. "Gabriel? Gabriel is currently occupied with a little problem of his own. We’ve sent him on a wild goose chase across the city, tracking his ex-wife’s digital signature. He’s probably halfway to New Jersey by now."
She leaned in close, her eyes devoid of empathy. "The real question is: what are we going to do with you? You’ve proven to be remarkably capable. You’re a teacher, aren't you? A specialist in early childhood education. That’s exactly what the next phase of the project requires—someone who can manage the baseline while it’s in the conditioning phase."
"I'm not helping you," I said, looking her in the eye.
"You don't have to," she said, picking up a small, hand-held device. "The conditioning will take care of that."
She held the device to my temple, and I felt a sharp, electric jolt—a searing pain that burned through my thoughts, wiping away the memory of the room, the library, and the penthouse.
But as the world began to fade, I fought it. I focused on the only thing that mattered—the memory of Lily’s face, the feeling of the book in my hands, the sound of her voice.
I wouldn't let them take me.
I wouldn't let them have the baseline.
As the darkness took hold, I managed to reach the small, hidden pocket in my sleeve—the one where I had tucked the encrypted card Gabriel had given me.
May you like
I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was the only thing they hadn't searched.
And as I drifted into the void, I squeezed the card, a silent, desperate prayer that it would be enough to bring the house of cards down.
