The data from the raid was a goldmine. But it also raised new questions.
And new suspicions.
Rudra sat in their new safe house—a warehouse Karan had helped them acquire—staring at a particular file.
SUBJECT R-23 - ENHANCED OBSERVATION LOG
It contained detailed notes about his movements. His patterns. His relationships.
But the dates went back years.
Before Kupam.
Before he'd ever heard of Nexus.
They'd been watching him since he was fourteen.
Since the Ashworth Academy fire.
"Finding something interesting?"
Rudra turned. Maya stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
"How long have you known?" Rudra asked.
"Known what?"
"That they've been watching me for years. That Kupam wasn't random. That I was specifically selected."
Maya's expression didn't change. "Since the beginning."
Rudra stood. "And you didn't think to mention it?"
"Would it have changed anything?"
"It would have changed my trust in you."
"Maybe. But you needed me for operational intel. Personal feelings are irrelevant."
Rudra's jaw clenched. "That sounds like something Nexus would say."
Maya stepped closer. "That's because they trained me well. But unlike them, I'm using that training to fight them. Not serve them."
"How do I know that?"
"You don't." Maya met his eyes. "You can't. Just like I can't know for sure you're not secretly working with them. Or Anvi. Or Bhairav. Or anyone."
"That's paranoia."
"That's survival." Maya pulled out her own phone, showing him a file. "You want to talk about trust? Look at this."
It was a profile. On Anvi.
SUBJECT A-19 - ENHANCED OBSERVATION LOG
Same format as Rudra's. Same detailed tracking.
"Anvi's been observed too," Maya said. "Since her sister disappeared. They've been watching her, waiting to see if she'd follow the same path as Meera."
"Does she know?"
"Probably. She's smart enough to figure it out."
Rudra processed this. "Anyone else?"
"Everyone. Bhairav. Priya. Arjun. Zara. Me. We're all subjects. All potential recruits. That's why Nexus hasn't shut us down yet."
"What?"
"Think about it. We raided their safe house. Stole their data. Exposed their operations. And what have they done? Made one phone call. That's it."
Rudra frowned. She was right.
"They're still observing," Maya continued. "Testing. Seeing how we organize. How we operate. We're not enemies to them. We're a new phase of the experiment."
The realization hit Rudra like ice water.
They hadn't escaped Project Rekha.
They were still in it.
Emergency Meeting
Rudra called everyone together. Immediately.
When they arrived, he didn't waste time.
"We have a problem. A big one."
He showed them the observation logs. The tracking. The detailed notes on all of them.
Reactions ranged from shock to anger to grim acceptance.
"They've been playing us," Anvi said quietly. "From the beginning."
"Not playing," Rudra corrected. "Continuing the experiment. We're not fighting Nexus. We're performing for them."
"Then we stop," Bhairav said. "Disband. Go our separate ways."
"That's what they want," Maya argued. "See how we react to betrayal. To loss of trust."
"So what do we do?" Priya asked. "Keep going? Knowing they're watching?"
"We use it," Anvi said, catching on. "Just like we did before. We give them a show. But we run a parallel operation. One they don't see."
"How?" Arjun asked. "If they're watching everything—"
"They're watching what they can see," Karan's voice came through the speakers. "Digital communications. Physical surveillance. Traditional methods. But there are gaps."
"What gaps?" Rudra asked.
"Analog communication. Dead drops. Coded messages in public places. Old-school spy craft. No digital footprint. Harder to intercept."
"You're talking about running two operations," Zara said. "One fake. One real."
"Exactly," Rudra confirmed. "The fake one—the one they're watching—continues as planned. We expose cells. Leak information. Build a case."
"And the real one?" Bhairav asked.
"We hunt the Directorate. Find out who they are. Where they operate. What APEX really means."
"That's going to be nearly impossible," Maya warned. "The Directorate is buried deep. No one I knew in Cell Seven even knew their real names."
"Then we follow the money," Anvi said. "Financial transactions. Shell companies. Someone's funding all this. And money leaves traces."
"I can help with that," Priya offered. "I've been analyzing the financial records we stole. There are patterns. Recurring transfers. Always to the same root accounts."
"Can you trace them?" Rudra asked.
"Maybe. But it'll take time."
"How much time?"
"Weeks. Maybe months."
Rudra thought for a moment. "Do it. But keep it offline. No digital tools. Paper only. Karan, can you provide data in physical format?"
"I'll print everything," Karan confirmed. "Old school all the way."
"Good." Rudra looked around the room. "Here's the setup. Publicly, we continue our campaign. Expose safe houses. Leak operational details. Make noise."
"And privately?" Anvi asked.
"Privately, we investigate the Directorate. Small team. Need-to-know basis only. Anvi, Priya, and me. Everyone else continues the public operation."
"Why split us?" Bhairav asked, hurt evident in his voice.
"Because if Nexus is watching, they'll focus resources on the visible threat. The more public we are, the more they'll monitor us. Which means the private investigation stays hidden."
It made strategic sense. But it also meant dividing the team.
Creating trust issues.
Which, Rudra realized, was probably exactly what Nexus wanted.
"I don't like this," Bhairav said. "Secrets within secrets. We're becoming what they are."
"We're adapting," Maya corrected. "There's a difference."
"Is there?" Bhairav stood. "How long before we're conditioning each other? Testing each other? Terminating failures?"
"That won't happen," Rudra said firmly.
"How do you know?"
"Because we choose differently. Every day. Every decision. We choose to be better than them."
"Words," Bhairav said. "Just words."
He left the room.
Uncomfortable silence filled the space.
"He'll come around," Anvi said quietly.
"Will he?" Rudra wasn't sure.
Trust was fracturing. Exactly what Nexus wanted.
And he didn't know how to stop it.
Late Night Conversation
Rudra found Bhairav on the warehouse roof. Staring at the city lights.
"You okay?" Rudra asked, sitting beside him.
"No. But I'm still here."
They sat in silence for a while.
"I'm scared," Bhairav admitted. "Not of Nexus. Of us. Of what we're becoming."
"We're becoming survivors."
"Or monsters." Bhairav looked at him. "You ever think about the people we hurt during the raid? Those operatives. We threatened them. Held them at gunpoint."
"They're enemy combatants."
"They're people who went through the same programs we did. Who survived. Who made different choices."
Rudra didn't have a response to that.
"What if we're wrong?" Bhairav continued. "What if Nexus is right about us? That we're just more experiments. More subjects. Just playing different roles in the same game."
"They're not right."
"How do you know?"
"Because we have a choice. They never gave their subjects a choice. But we do. Every day. Every mission. We can walk away whenever we want."
"Can we though?" Bhairav asked. "Really? Or are we just telling ourselves that to feel better about what we're doing?"
Rudra thought about it. Honestly.
"I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe we're still trapped. Maybe we'll never be free of what they did to us. But at least we're trapped together. At least we're fighting back."
"Is that enough?"
"It has to be."
Bhairav was quiet for a long moment. Then: "If this goes wrong. If we become what they want us to be. Promise me you'll stop it. Stop us."
"Bhairav—"
"Promise me."
Rudra met his eyes. Saw genuine fear there. Not of Nexus. Of themselves.
"I promise," Rudra said. "If we cross the line. If we become monsters. I'll stop it."
"Even if it means stopping yourself?"
"Especially then."
Bhairav nodded. Seemed satisfied.
"Okay. I'm still in. But we do this carefully. We remember who we are. Why we're fighting."
"Agreed."
They sat together as the city hummed below them.
Two survivors trying not to become what had tried to destroy them.
It was a thin line.
And every day, it got thinner.
But they'd walk it.
Together.
Because that's what survivors did.