The safe house was in Rohini Sector 7. A nondescript apartment building. Unremarkable. Perfect for hiding in plain sight.
The team assembled two blocks away at 11 PM. All dressed in dark clothing. Faces obscured. Looking like urban explorers or late-night joggers.
Nothing suspicious. Just careful.
Rudra gathered them in a tight circle.
"Rules of survival," he said quietly. "Maya taught me these. Now I'm teaching you."
Everyone leaned in.
"Rule One: Never engage unless necessary. We're here to gather intel, not start a war."
Nods all around.
"Rule Two: Always have an exit. Karan's mapped three escape routes. Memorize them."
Priya held up her phone, showing the routes.
"Rule Three: If anyone gets caught, the mission continues. No heroic rescues. We can't afford to lose everyone for one person."
That one was harder. Bhairav looked uncomfortable. But he nodded.
"Rule Four: Trust your training. Trust your team. Trust yourself."
"And Rule Five?" Anvi asked.
"Survive. Whatever it takes."
They synchronized watches. Checked equipment. Made final preparations.
Maya took point. She knew the building. The layout. The security measures.
"Two guards. Rotating shifts. One in the lobby. One patrolling floors. They change every four hours."
"When's the next rotation?" Arjun asked.
"Eleven forty-five. Fifteen minutes."
"Perfect," Rudra said. "That's when we move."
They waited in the shadows. Patient. Professional.
At exactly 11:45, they saw the shift change. Guards greeting each other. Exchanging brief words.
Distracted.
"Now," Maya whispered.
They moved as one. Smooth. Silent.
Zara went first—she was the infiltration specialist. Dressed as a food delivery person, she walked straight into the lobby.
The new guard looked up. "Delivery?"
"Apartment 408," Zara said, holding up a bag. "Ordered an hour ago."
The guard waved her through without checking. Sloppy security. Overconfident.
Their first advantage.
Zara held the elevator. The rest slipped in through the service entrance Maya had identified.
They met on the fourth floor.
"Apartment 412," Maya whispered. "End of the hall. Two occupants confirmed. Both operatives."
"Armed?" Arjun asked.
"Assume yes."
Rudra pulled out his phone. Texted Karan: We're going in. Cut power in 60 seconds.
KARAN: Understood. 60 seconds.
They moved down the hallway. Quick. Quiet.
Reached apartment 412.
Rudra held up his hand. Counting down.
Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
The lights went out.
Emergency lighting kicked in. Dim. Red.
Inside the apartment, they heard movement. Confusion.
Maya kicked the door. It splintered. Crashed open.
They poured in.
Inside
The apartment was larger than expected. More of a command center than a living space.
Desks covered in equipment. Laptops. Monitors. Communication gear.
And two people. Just as Maya said.
A man and a woman. Both reaching for weapons.
"Don't," Arjun said, gun pointed steady.
They froze.
"Hands where we can see them," Maya ordered.
Slowly, they complied.
Rudra recognized the look in their eyes. The same cold calculation he'd seen in Malhotra. In the Kupam guards.
Nexus operatives.
"Who are you?" the woman demanded.
"People you've hurt," Anvi said coldly. "People you experimented on."
Recognition flickered across the woman's face. "The Kupam survivors."
"Among others," Rudra said. "Sit down. Don't move. Don't speak."
While Arjun and Maya kept them covered, the others moved through the apartment.
Priya went straight for the computers. Fingers flying. Downloading everything she could access.
Zara searched for physical files. Documents. Anything paper trail.
Bhairav and Anvi secured the other rooms. Making sure there were no surprises.
Rudra stood over the two operatives.
"You're making a mistake," the man said. "You don't know what you're dealing with."
"We know exactly what we're dealing with," Rudra replied. "A shadow organization that tortures teenagers. That kills failures. That thinks it's above law and morality."
"We're creating the future," the woman said. "You should understand. You were selected. You passed Phase 4. You could be one of us."
"I'd rather die."
"That can be arranged."
Rudra leaned closer. "Here's what's going to happen. We're taking your files. Your equipment. Your communications. Everything. And you're going to sit here quietly while we do."
"And if we don't?"
"Then you learn firsthand what we learned in your programs. How to survive extreme stress."
The operatives went quiet.
From across the room, Priya called out. "I'm in. Downloading now. This is... this is huge. Personnel files. Operation details. Financial records."
"How long?" Rudra asked.
"Five minutes. Maybe ten."
"We don't have ten. Make it three."
"I'll try."
Karan's message appeared on Rudra's phone: Police dispatch just received anonymous call about disturbance at your location. ETA 6 minutes.
"Damn it," Rudra muttered. "Someone triggered an alarm."
Maya looked at the operatives. "Did you?"
They smiled. Not denying it.
"Three minutes," Rudra said to Priya. "Then we're gone with or without the full download."
She nodded, typing faster.
Zara returned with a box of physical files. "Found these hidden in the closet. Personal records. Subject profiles."
"Take them."
Bhairav and Anvi came back. "Rest of the apartment is clear. But there's a panic room. Locked. Could be more stuff inside."
"No time," Rudra decided. "We take what we have and go."
"One minute," Priya warned. "Almost done."
The sound of sirens echoed in the distance. Getting closer.
"Thirty seconds," Rudra said. "Everyone to the exit."
They moved. Efficient. Practiced.
Priya grabbed the hard drives, shoving them in her bag. "Got it!"
"Go!"
They ran for the service stairs. Maya led the way. Down. Down. Down.
Behind them, they heard the operatives calling out. "Fourth floor! They're on the fourth floor!"
But the team was already on the second floor. Then the first.
They burst out into the alley behind the building.
Police cars pulled up to the front entrance.
"Split up," Rudra ordered. "Scatter pattern. Meet at Rally Point Bravo."
The team dispersed. Different directions. Different routes.
Rudra went with Anvi. Running through back alleys. Blending into the late-night crowd.
Behind them, chaos. Shouting. Confusion.
But no pursuit.
They'd made it.
Rally Point Bravo
Rally Point Bravo was an abandoned metro construction site. Underground. Hidden.
One by one, the team arrived.
Maya. Priya. Zara. Arjun. Bhairav.
All accounted for.
All safe.
"Everyone okay?" Rudra asked, breathing hard.
Nods all around.
"That was too close," Bhairav said. "They had an alarm we didn't detect."
"Lesson learned," Maya said. "Never trust that you've found all the security measures."
"But we got what we came for," Priya said, holding up the hard drives. "This is huge. Massive. Everything we need to expose them."
"Let's see it," Anvi said.
They gathered around as Priya connected the drive to her laptop.
Files appeared. Hundreds of them.
Personnel rosters. Safe house locations. Operational plans. Financial transactions.
And something else.
A document labeled: NEXUS COMMAND STRUCTURE.
Rudra opened it.
And finally understood what they were really fighting.
Nexus wasn't just an organization.
It was a network. With tentacles in government. Military. Private sector. Academia.
At the top of the pyramid: The Directorate. Five unnamed individuals. No photos. No identities.
Just power.
Controlling everything.
"This is bigger than we thought," Anvi whispered.
"This is bigger than anyone thought," Rudra corrected.
They kept reading. Cell structures. Operations across multiple countries. Budget allocations in the hundreds of millions.
Nexus wasn't just experimenting on students.
It was running covert operations worldwide.
Assassinations. Espionage. Political manipulation.
And Project Rekha—The Kup Games—was just one small piece.
"What do we do with this?" Bhairav asked.
Rudra looked at his team. At the survivors who'd become fighters.
"We do what we planned. We expose them. All of them. Starting at the bottom and working our way up."
"And when we reach the Directorate?" Zara asked.
"Then we tear them down. Permanently."
Karan's message appeared: Analysis complete on the files. I've identified seven more safe houses. Twelve more cells. And something else.
RUDRA: What?
KARAN: A timeline. Nexus is planning something big. In three months. Code name: APEX.
RUDRA: What is it?
KARAN: I don't know yet. But whatever it is, it's their endgame. Everything they've done—all the experiments, all the training—has been building to this.
Rudra felt cold.
Three months.
They had three months to stop whatever APEX was.
Starting now.
"Pack up," Rudra ordered. "We've got work to do."
The team moved with purpose. They weren't scared anymore.
They were ready.
The Kup Games had taught them the rules of survival.
Now they were writing rules of their own.
And Nexus was about to learn that survivors don't just endure.
They fight back.