Her screen was open to the Helix Restoration registry — access partially decrypted, courtesy of one of her many "off-the-record" favors from the cyber division.
Line after line of redacted reports scrolled past her eyes:"Bio-Catalyst Development — Subtype: Floral Neural Matrix.""Sample Origin: Point Veert Experimental Grounds.""Status: Classified. Human Trials — Phase 2 Underway."
Jeena's fingers froze over the keys. "Human trials…" she murmured. "They're using the students."
She clicked another file, this one protected by triple encryption. A soft chime — then the file opened. A single image filled the screen:a cross-section of the Scadoxus-Turbina hybrid, its vascular system glowing faintly, with crystalline nodules embedded in its roots. Below the diagram, one word repeated:"Resonance."
"Resonance…" she whispered, recording the name in her notebook. "Not growth. Response."
A voice broke her concentration."Still on the ghost trail, Jeena?"
Chief Morrow leaned against her doorframe, a steaming cup of black coffee in hand. His usual grin looked more tired than usual.
"Define ghost," she replied without looking up.
"The one you've been chasing since the Crimson Covenant days," he said, walking in. "You're not officially on any Helix case, remember?"
"I'm aware." She clicked another window, minimizing the file. "But something's happening in that college. I got a tip that Ethan Callahan and Seth Donovan were transferred there under a fabricated exchange program."
Morrow sipped his coffee, unimpressed. "Students transfer all the time."
"Not with Helix funding the campus."
He set his cup down on her desk, eyes narrowing. "You're chasing threads that can burn you, Jeena."
She stared at him for a long second, then said quietly, "Threads or roots — either way, something's growing under that place."
Hours later, Jeena's car sliced through the rain toward the outskirts of the city.The old Helix Restoration branch loomed ahead, abandoned since their bio-incident two years ago. Her flashlight beam sliced through the dust as she forced the rusted door open.
The smell hit her first — metal, oil, something faintly sweet underneath.She walked through the corridor, boots echoing softly.
A shattered containment tank stood at the far end, glass spider-webbed across the floor. Beside it, faded lab notes covered in mold:
"Resonance only occurs under emotional frequency thresholds — subject proximity accelerates neural conductivity.""Point Veert chosen for test due to isolated environment and student demographic diversity."
Jeena's pulse quickened. "They're using emotions as triggers."
Her light caught movement. A shadow at the far end of the room.She drew her sidearm instantly. "Stop! Police!"
The figure froze. Then — a slow, careful voice. "Easy, detective. It's just me."
From the shadows stepped a man in a torn maintenance coat, grease-stained and half-drenched from the rain. His ID tag was faded — G. Marlowe – Janitorial Staff.
"You shouldn't be here," he said softly, voice low. "They monitor this place still. Through the plants."
Jeena frowned. "The plants?"
He nodded. "They seed them in the soil. Tiny spores, metallic filaments. They hear through the ground."
Jeena lowered her gun slightly. "You worked at Point Veert?"
"Still do," he said. "Or did. Before they shut me out of the lower wings."
She studied him. "You're the janitor Ethan mentioned."
A thin smile crossed his face. "He's still alive then."
"For now," she said. "You know what's under the college, don't you?"
Marlowe hesitated, eyes flicking to the cracked tank. "Not what — who."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small crystalline shard — faintly pulsing red. "They grew it around a human core. A preserved consciousness. That's what gives it cognition."
Jeena's breath caught. "Whose?"
Marlowe looked at her, his expression unreadable. "Professor Fargrave's twin."
The rain stopped by dawn, leaving the air thick and heavy.
Back at Point Veert, Ethan woke to a faint vibration through the floorboards — like a low heartbeat under the stone. The sun hadn't risen yet.He reached for his phone — no signal.
Across the room, Seth sat by the window, eyes fixed on the treeline outside. "You feel that?"
Ethan nodded. "It's not the wind."
He stood, pulling on his jacket. "We need to reach the comms tower. Jeena might be trying to contact us."
Seth rose too, but his eyes lingered on the horizon. The mist rolled through the forest, dense and silver. "The flowers are blooming again."
Ethan froze halfway to the door. "Now?"
"Everywhere." Seth's voice was hollow. "They're spreading beyond the greenhouse."
Far across the campus, underground vents hissed open.Scarlet vines coiled through the concrete, creeping toward the surface, each bud pulsing faintly like eyes waking from sleep.
Above, the loudspeakers flickered to life — an old, cheerful chime echoing across Point Veert.
"Good morning, students," said a calm, familiar voice.Fortea's."Breakfast will be served at the central dining hall. Attendance is mandatory."
Ethan and Seth exchanged a silent look.
"Mandatory?" Seth repeated.
Ethan's jaw clenched. "It's starting."
Jeena, back in her car, opened her recorder. "Case file update — entry 47," she said quietly."Subject: Point Veert Institute. Suspected Helix reactivation confirmed. Biological entity codenamed 'Resonance.' Unverified host consciousness — possibly Fargrave lineage. Potential link between faculty twins Fortea and Erena. Situation critical."
She stopped the recording and looked at the crystal shard on her passenger seat, its faint glow pulsing like a heartbeat.
Then — her phone buzzed. An incoming message from an encrypted number:"Do not come here. It's not a college anymore."
She stared at it, realization dawning like cold light."Ethan," she whispered. "You're inside their experiment."