Rudra's training kicked in. When you can't trust your senses, trust your logic.
He took three deep breaths. Centered himself. Then spoke calmly into the darkness.
"It's not real, Anvi. Whatever you're seeing. It's induced. Drugs, maybe. Or subliminal audio. He's playing with our perception."
"She looked so real," Anvi whispered, voice shaking. "I could smell her perfume. The same one she wore..."
"I know. But Meera's gone. And you can't help her by falling apart now."
Harsh. But necessary.
Anvi's breathing steadied. "You're right. You're right. I need to focus."
The lights came back on. Dim. Flickering.
The room had changed again. Smaller now. The walls covered in mirrors.
Dozens of reflections. Rudra and Anvi repeated infinitely in every direction.
"Disorientation," Rudra muttered. "Classic psychological warfare."
He examined the mirrors carefully. Most were standard glass. But one—in the far corner—was different. The reflection was off. Delayed by a fraction of a second.
"Two-way mirror," Rudra said. "He's watching from the other side."
He walked up to it, staring directly at his own reflection. Knowing Malhotra was there.
"You want to know what makes me different?" Rudra said to the mirror. "It's not that I don't feel fear. I do. But I've learned something you never will."
He pressed his palm against the glass.
"Fear is just data. And I'm very good at analyzing data."
Then he punched the mirror.
Hard.
The glass cracked. Spiderwebbed. But didn't shatter.
Reinforced.
But the crack was enough. Through it, Rudra could see the control room beyond. Banks of screens. Equipment. And a figure moving in the shadows.
Not Malhotra.
Someone else.
"There's someone else in there," Rudra said to Anvi. "Malhotra's not alone."
Before Anvi could respond, a new voice came through the speakers. Female. Young. Distorted.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Not Malhotra's voice.
The lights went out again.
And when they came back on, the door was open.
Beyond it was a corridor. Long. Dark. The walls lined with photographs.
Students. Dozens of them. All from different years.
All with red X's marked across their faces.
"The hall of failures," the female voice said. "Everyone who didn't make it through Phase Four."
Rudra and Anvi stepped into the corridor, Sneha still unconscious between them.
As they walked, Rudra examined the photos. Different faces. Different years. But the same pattern.
Fear. Broken. Terminated.
Then he saw one that made his blood freeze.
Meera Rao.
Anvi stopped. Stared at the photo. Her sister's face. Young. Scared. Alive.
Below it, in clinical handwriting: "Subject M-17. Day 12. Psychological collapse. Unsuitable."
Anvi's fist clenched. But she didn't cry. Didn't scream.
She just kept walking.
Stronger than before.
At the end of the corridor was another door. And beside it, a terminal. Screen glowing.
Text scrolling:
PHASE 4 ASSESSMENT COMPLETE. SUBJECT R-23 (RUDRA): RESILIENCE RATING 9.2/10 SUBJECT A-19 (ANVI): RESILIENCE RATING 8.8/10 SUBJECT B-14 (BHAIRAV): LOCATION - SUBLEVEL 2, ISOLATION CHAMBER 3 SUBJECT S-31 (SNEHA): SEDATION CONTINUING
PROCEED TO PHASE 5? Y/N
Rudra stared at the screen. They were being scored. Evaluated. Like lab rats.
"Don't touch it," Anvi warned.
But Rudra wasn't planning to. Instead, he pulled out his phone, taking photos of the screen. More evidence.
Then he noticed something else. In the corner of the terminal screen, a small icon. Flashing.
A chat window.
Someone was trying to communicate.
Rudra clicked it.
Text appeared:
UNKNOWN: You're running out of time.
Rudra typed back: Who are you?
UNKNOWN: Someone who survived Phase 4. Three years ago.
Rudra's heart raced. Meera?
UNKNOWN: No. Someone else. Meera didn't make it. But I did. And I've been trapped here ever since.
RUDRA: Where are you?
UNKNOWN: Everywhere. I'm in the system. I hacked my way in after they "terminated" me. Now I watch. I wait. I help when I can.
RUDRA: Can you get us out?
UNKNOWN: Maybe. But first, you need to get Bhairav. Sublevel 2. Chamber 3. He's not safe.
RUDRA: Why? What's happening to him?
UNKNOWN: Phase 5 isn't psychological anymore. It's neural. They're going to rewire his brain. Condition him. Turn him into what they want.
RUDRA: How do we stop it?
UNKNOWN: You don't. You get him out before they finish. You have 15 minutes.
The chat window closed.
Rudra turned to Anvi. "We need to move. Now."
"What about Sneha?"
Rudra looked around. Beside the terminal was a medical station. Empty stretcher. Monitoring equipment.
He laid Sneha down carefully, checking her vitals. Stable. Still sedated, but breathing normally.
"She's safer here than with us," Rudra said. "We come back for her."
Anvi hesitated, then nodded.
They moved through the door.
Into Sublevel 2.
Sublevel 2
The descent was steep. Metal stairs. No railings. Just darkness and the sound of their footsteps echoing.
At the bottom was a corridor. Colder. More industrial. Pipes running along the ceiling. Steam hissing from vents.
"Chamber 3," Anvi said, reading the signs. "This way."
They ran.
Past locked doors. Past observation windows showing empty rooms.
Then they found it.
Isolation Chamber 3.
Through the window, they could see Bhairav.
Strapped to a chair. Head locked in place. Electrodes attached to his temples.
Eyes open. Staring. Unblinking.
A machine beside him pulsed. Rhythmic. Hypnotic.
"No," Anvi breathed.
Rudra tried the door. Locked. Electronic.
He pulled out his phone. No signal down here. No way to contact their mystery hacker.
"We need to break in," Rudra said.
"How?" Anvi asked. "It's reinforced steel."
Rudra looked around. Pipes. Steam. Pressure valves.
An idea formed.
"Stand back," he said.
He found the nearest pressure valve, marked "EMERGENCY RELEASE." It was locked behind a glass panel labeled "BREAK IN CASE OF FIRE."
Rudra smashed the glass with his elbow.
Pulled the valve.
Steam erupted. Hot. Loud. Filling the corridor with scalding mist.
And somewhere, an alarm began to wail.
"What did you do?" Anvi shouted over the noise.
"Created a distraction!" Rudra yelled back.
The alarm triggered automatic systems. Emergency protocols. And one of those protocols was unlocking doors for evacuation.
The lock on Chamber 3 clicked open.
Rudra and Anvi rushed in.
Bhairav was still strapped in. Eyes vacant. The machine still pulsing.
"Bhairav!" Anvi shook him. "Bhairav, can you hear me?"
No response.
Rudra examined the machine. Neural stimulation device. Feeding patterns directly into Bhairav's brain.
He found the power cable. Ripped it out.
The machine went silent.
Bhairav blinked. Once. Twice.
Then gasped. Like surfacing from deep water.
"W-what... where...?"
"We've got you," Rudra said, unbuckling the restraints. "Can you walk?"
Bhairav nodded weakly.
They pulled him up. He swayed but stayed standing.
"We need to go," Anvi urged. "Now. Before—"
The door slammed shut.
Locks engaged.
And through the speakers, Malhotra's voice. Angry now. Not calm anymore.
"You're making this very difficult."
"Good," Rudra shot back.
"I was trying to do this cleanly. Scientifically. But you keep resisting. Keep breaking my protocols."
"Because what you're doing is wrong."
"Wrong?" Malhotra laughed bitterly. "I'm creating the next evolution of human consciousness. Minds that can't be broken. Can't be manipulated. Can't be controlled by fear."
"By torturing teenagers?"
"By TRAINING them!" Malhotra's voice rose. Unhinged. "You think the world is kind? You think life is fair? I'm preparing them for reality!"
"You're destroying them," Anvi said coldly.
"I'm saving them. From weakness. From emotion. From the pathetic limitations of human psychology."
Rudra looked at the camera in the corner. "You're insane."
"No. I'm necessary. And you're about to understand why."
The chamber began to fill with gas. Colorless. Odorless.
"Sweet dreams," Malhotra said.
Rudra held his breath. Pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose.
"Don't breathe!" he shouted.
But it was too late for Bhairav. Still weak. Still disoriented. He gasped.
And collapsed.
Anvi grabbed him. "BHAIRAV!"
Rudra felt the edges of consciousness fading. They had seconds.
He scanned the room. Ventilation grate. High on the wall.
He grabbed the chair Bhairav had been strapped to. Threw it.
The grate shattered.
Fresh air rushed in.
Not enough. But something.
Rudra pulled Anvi and Bhairav toward the grate. Lifted them. "Climb!"
Anvi went first. Dragging Bhairav after her. Into the ventilation shaft.
Rudra followed. Barely.
His vision was tunneling. Blackness creeping in.
But he pulled himself into the shaft. Away from the gas.
And collapsed.
The last thing he heard before losing consciousness was the mystery voice. Crackling through a speaker in the vent.
"I've got you. Follow my instructions. And you might just survive this."