Sierra-4's next message came three days after the Shimla extraction.
URGENT: APEX timeline moved up again. Two weeks. Directorate holding emergency meeting. Delhi safe house. Tomorrow night. This is our chance.
Rudra read the message twice. Processing.
"A chance for what?" Anvi asked, reading over his shoulder.
"To get them all. Three of the five Directorate members in one location. If we can capture them, document them, prove who they are—"
"We can bring down the whole operation," Bhairav finished.
It was risky. Possibly suicidal.
But it was also an opportunity they couldn't ignore.
"We need to plan this carefully," Maya warned. "The Directorate doesn't meet often. When they do, security is maximum. We're talking about the people who run Nexus. They'll have countermeasures we haven't seen."
"Then we surprise them," Rudra said. "We hit hard. Fast. Before they can respond."
"With what force?" Arjun asked. "Even with our survivors, we're maybe twenty fighters. Against trained operatives? Against the Directorate's personal security?"
"Then we don't fight them," Anvi said, thinking. "We outsmart them."
She pulled up the Delhi safe house schematics. Sierra-4 had provided detailed layouts.
"Look. The meeting room. It's interior. No windows. One entrance."
"A kill box," Maya observed. "If they're inside and we're outside, they can defend indefinitely."
"Unless we're already inside when they arrive," Priya said, catching on.
"How?" Bhairav asked. "They'll sweep the location before the meeting. Check for bugs. Intruders. Everything."
"Not if the intruders are hidden somewhere they'd never look," Karan's voice came through the speakers. "The infrastructure."
He highlighted sections of the schematic. "The safe house has a central HVAC system. Ducts running throughout. Including directly above the meeting room."
"You want us to hide in the vents?" Zara asked. "That's... classic."
"Classic because it works," Maya said. "If we can get into the ducts before their security sweep, we can wait above the meeting room. Record everything. Get visual confirmation of all Directorate members."
"And then?" Rudra asked.
"Then we decide. Depending on what they're discussing. What they're planning."
It was insane. But it might work.
"We'd need to infiltrate the safe house early," Anvi calculated. "At least twelve hours before the meeting. Stay hidden. Silent."
"In air ducts. For twelve hours," Bhairav said. "That's going to be uncomfortable."
"Better uncomfortable than dead," Maya replied.
They planned. Assigned roles. Prepared equipment.
The infiltration team would be small. Just four people. Rudra, Anvi, Maya, and Karan (remote support).
Everyone else would be positioned outside. Ready for extraction or intervention.
The Infiltration
The Delhi safe house was in Vasant Vihar. An upscale apartment in a gated complex.
Getting in wasn't hard. Maya had credentials—fake IDs, maintenance uniforms.
They walked in at 8 AM. Carrying tool bags. Looking like HVAC technicians.
Security barely glanced at them.
"Fourth floor," Maya directed. "Apartment 412."
They took the service elevator. Reached the apartment. Maya picked the lock.
Inside was exactly what the schematics showed. Expensive furniture. Modern tech. And in the center: a conference table.
"They'll meet here," Anvi confirmed. "Eight PM tonight. Twelve hours."
"Let's get into position," Rudra said.
They located the HVAC access panel. In the ceiling of a back bedroom.
Maya climbed up first. Then Anvi. Then Rudra.
The duct was cramped. Dark. Barely enough room to move.
But it worked. They crawled through the system until they were directly above the meeting room.
Through a vent grate, they could see down into the space.
Perfect vantage point.
"Now we wait," Maya whispered.
Twelve hours. In darkness. In silence.
They took turns sleeping. Eating energy bars. Drinking water carefully—no bathroom breaks were possible.
Time crawled.
But at 7:30 PM, activity below.
Security teams arrived. Sweeping the apartment. Checking for bugs. For threats.
The infiltration team held their breath. Absolutely still. Absolutely quiet.
The security team passed beneath them. Checked the main rooms. The bathrooms. The closets.
Never looked up.
After thirty minutes, they left.
"Clear," Karan confirmed, monitoring communications. "They think the location is secure."
At 8:15 PM, people started arriving.
First: a woman. Mid-forties. Elegant. Authoritative.
"Shreya Kapoor," Anvi whispered, recognizing her from the financial records.
Then: a man. Older. Stern. Military bearing.
"Rajesh Kumar," Maya identified.
And finally: Vivaan Malhotra. The man who'd run the Kupam program.
Three of the five Directorate members. In one room.
They sat around the conference table.
No pleasantries. Just business.
"Status on APEX?" Kapoor asked.
"Accelerated to fourteen days," Kumar reported. "All cells are mobilized. Protocols are ready."
"Subject locations confirmed?" Malhotra asked.
"Ninety-seven percent. We've lost tracking on a few. The ones who've gone underground with the resistance."
"The resistance," Kapoor said with disdain. "That boy and his little group. How have we not shut them down yet?"
"Because they're serving a purpose," Malhotra said. "Testing our systems. Identifying weaknesses. They're making us stronger."
"They rescued nine subjects from Shimla," Kumar countered. "That's not making us stronger. That's embarrassing."
"A minor setback," Malhotra dismissed. "Nine subjects out of three hundred. Statistically irrelevant."
"Unless those nine become ninety," Kapoor said. "Or nine hundred. The resistance is growing. People are questioning. Even our operatives are showing doubt."
"Then we accelerate APEX," Kumar decided. "Execute within one week. Before the resistance can organize further."
Above, Rudra felt ice in his veins. One week. Not two.
"Are we confident in the methodology?" Kapoor asked.
"Completely," Malhotra said. He pulled up a presentation on the room's screen.
And what Rudra saw made him understand. Finally. Horribly.
Operation APEX wasn't about recruiting survivors.
It was about eliminating them.
The screen showed a neural activation sequence. A triggered response. Built into every subject who'd been through Project Rekha.
A kill switch.
"All subjects have been conditioned," Malhotra explained. "Neural pathways established. When we broadcast the APEX signal, their limbic systems will overload. Massive neural cascade. Effectively a brain hemorrhage."
"Death within minutes," Kumar added. "Painless. Clean. Untraceable."
"Why?" Kapoor asked. "If they're useful, why eliminate them?"
"Because the experiment is complete," Malhotra said. "We've learned what we needed. How to condition. How to create resilient operatives. How to control them. The subjects were always meant to be temporary. Phase One. Now we move to Phase Two."
"Creating new subjects," Kumar said. "With improved protocols. Better conditioning. No resistance. No doubt."
"The perfect operatives," Kapoor concluded.
They were talking about genocide. Three hundred murders. All to cover their tracks.
Rudra looked at Anvi. At Maya. Saw the same horror reflected in their eyes.
"We need to stop this," Anvi whispered.
"How?" Maya asked. "We're three people against the Directorate. Against Nexus. Against a kill switch in our own brains."
"The kill switch," Rudra realized. "That's the key. If we can disrupt the signal. Prevent it from reaching the subjects. We can save them."
"Or we eliminate the Directorate," Maya said coldly. "Right now. While they're all here."
Rudra looked down at the three people below. Planning mass murder.
He could kill them. Right now. Drop down. Use his weapon. End the threat.
But that would make him like them.
A murderer. A monster.
"No," he decided. "We record this. Everything. Get proof. Expose them publicly. Let the world see what they are."
"And if that doesn't work?" Maya pressed.
"Then we find another way."
He pulled out his phone. Started recording through the vent grate.
Every word. Every image. Every admission.
Evidence that couldn't be denied.
Below, the Directorate continued planning.
Above, the resistance documented.
One week. To stop a genocide.
One week. To save three hundred lives.
One week. To end Nexus.
The clock was ticking.