Sublevel 3 was pristine. Clinical. Like a medical facility crossed with a tech startup.
The elevator doors opened to a white corridor. LED strips along the floor. Glass walls revealing empty labs.
Too empty.
"Where is everyone?" Arjun whispered.
"Waiting," Maya said grimly.
They moved forward. Weapons ready. Every sense alert.
Karan's voice crackled through their earpieces. "I'm seeing... this is strange. All personnel signatures are concentrated in one location. Conference room C. End of the corridor."
"All of them?" Rudra asked. "Including Priya?"
"Can't tell. Thermal imaging shows fifteen bodies. But I can't identify individuals."
"It's a presentation," Anvi realized. "They're showing her something. Convincing her of something."
"Or conditioning her," Maya added darkly.
They reached Conference Room C. The door was glass—reinforced, but transparent.
Inside, they saw them.
Fifteen people. Sitting in neat rows. Facing a large screen.
And at the front, standing, was Priya.
Not restrained. Not scared.
Teaching.
She was showing a presentation. Gesturing at data. Explaining something technical.
The people in the audience—Nexus operatives, Rudra assumed—were taking notes.
"What the hell?" Bhairav muttered.
Rudra watched carefully. Priya's body language. Her expressions.
She wasn't being forced.
She was... engaged. Interested. Professional.
Like she was giving a university lecture.
"She's helping them," Zara said, horrified.
"Or they've already turned her," Maya said. "Conditioning can work fast. Especially if they have leverage."
The sister. They'd used her sister.
Rudra's mind raced. Options. Strategies. Outcomes.
Burst in shooting? Too dangerous. Too many hostiles.
Wait and observe? Priya might be lost already.
Create a distraction? Maybe. But doing what?
Then Priya looked directly at them.
Through the glass. At Rudra.
She didn't react. Didn't call out. Didn't signal danger.
She just... looked. For three seconds. Then returned to her presentation.
"She knows we're here," Anvi said.
"And she's not calling for help," Bhairav added. "Why?"
"Because she's waiting," Rudra realized. "She's buying time."
On the screen behind Priya, data scrolled. Financial information. Transaction records.
The same data she'd been analyzing before she disappeared.
But now it was complete. Organized. Traced back to source accounts.
And at the top of the pyramid: three names.
Director A: Vivaan Malhotra
Director B: Shreya Kapoor
Director C: Rajesh Kumar
Three of the five Directorate members. Identified.
"She cracked it," Anvi whispered. "She found them."
"And she's showing Nexus operatives," Maya said. "Why would she—"
Then Rudra understood.
"She's not helping them. She's confronting them. Look at the audience."
The operatives weren't taking notes appreciatively. They were shifting. Uncomfortable. Some looked angry. Some looked betrayed.
"She's exposing the Directorate to their own people," Rudra said. "Showing them who's really in charge. Who's been using them."
It was brilliant. And incredibly dangerous.
Because the Directorate wouldn't let this stand.
As if on cue, alarms blared.
Red lights flashed.
The operatives in the conference room stood. Chaos. Shouting. Some reaching for weapons.
And Priya ran.
Straight toward the door. Toward Rudra's team.
"Go!" Rudra ordered. "Get her and extract!"
The door burst open. Priya sprinted through.
"Took you long enough," she said, not breaking stride.
Behind them, the conference room erupted. Operatives pursuing. Some to capture Priya. Some arguing with each other.
The team ran. Back toward the elevator.
But it was locked. Disabled.
"Karan!" Rudra shouted.
"They've locked down the facility. I'm working on it!"
"Work faster!"
Gunfire. Bullets impacting walls. Glass shattering.
They dove behind lab equipment. Returning fire.
"Stairwell!" Maya pointed. "Service stairs. This way!"
They ran. Up. Up. Up.
Behind them, pursuit. Organized. Professional.
But also divided. Rudra could hear shouting. Arguing. The operatives weren't unified anymore.
Priya's revelation had fractured them.
They burst onto ground level. Into the old biology lab.
"Karan, exits?" Rudra demanded.
"North window. Leads to forest. Go now!"
They climbed through. Into the pre-dawn darkness.
Behind them, the facility blazed with light. Alarms. Chaos.
They ran into the forest. Not stopping. Not looking back.
Only when they reached the vehicles—a kilometer away—did they pause.
Everyone accounted for. Everyone alive.
Priya bent over, catching her breath. "That... was insane."
"What happened?" Rudra asked. "Why did you go with them?"
"Because they showed me proof. My sister. She's alive."
Silence.
"Where?" Anvi asked gently.
"Another facility. In Shimla. They've been keeping her. Using her. Testing her." Priya's voice cracked. "For three years."
"We'll get her," Rudra promised. "But first—did you really identify three Directorate members?"
"Yes. Malhotra we knew. But Kapoor and Kumar are new. I traced financial flows. Shell companies. Everything leads back to them."
"That's huge," Bhairav said.
"It's evidence," Anvi corrected. "But we need more. We need proof that stands up. That can't be dismissed or covered up."
"I have it," Priya said, pulling out a hard drive from her jacket. "Everything. Downloaded before they caught me. Financial records. Communication logs. Orders. All authenticated and time-stamped."
She handed it to Rudra.
"This is what they wanted," she said. "Why they grabbed me. They knew I was close to identifying the Directorate. They wanted to see how close. What I knew."
"And you showed them," Maya said with grudging respect. "Used their own people against them."
"Some of those operatives didn't know who they were really working for," Priya said. "They thought they were serving a greater good. Making people stronger. When I showed them the truth—the money, the corruption, the real agenda—some of them broke."
"How many?" Rudra asked.
"Maybe five. Maybe more. I don't know if they'll turn against Nexus. But they're questioning now. And that's a start."
As they drove away from Kupam, Rudra thought about what they'd accomplished.
Not just a rescue. But a fracture. A crack in Nexus's foundation.
It wasn't enough. Not yet.
But it was progress.
And sometimes, progress was everything.