Ethan knox - September 2120
"Told you it would be easy" Isaac grins, practically bouncing as he opens the emergency exit door.
Sensors line the doorway, ready to trigger an alarm if anyone tries to slip through, but Thomas had given Isaac a device that temporarily short-circuits the system. It's a neat little trick that makes him look way too smug.
"Nice job" I call out, giving him a thumbs-up. His whole Christopher disguise thing still makes me twitch a little, but hey, he got the job done.
Isaac grins back, gives us a double thumbs-up, and heads toward the van. "I'll leave the rest to you guys," he waves.
Kai hesitates a beat at the door, like he's making sure we're all ready. Then he turns to me and Tessa.
"Ready?" he asks.
We nod together. My eyes can't help but linger on him for a heartbeat longer than usual, and I catch the way his own glance flickers toward me before he breathes out and steps through the door.
As we start climbing the stairs, Tessa pulls out her little gadget that freezes security camera footage, just long enough to slip by without anyone noticing.
My eyes flash blue as I instinctively scan ahead. "Two cameras on the next corner" I warn.
Tessa nods, waving her device. It freezes the feed just long enough for us to slip past, and I can't resist a quiet chuckle at how smoothly she does it.
"It is a lot quieter than I thought it would be" I say, smiling at Kai.
"That's 'cause this staircase is only for emergencies," he answers, eyes darting like he's reading danger in the air.
"Well, I wouldn't take the stairs if the building had a hundred floors either" Tessa smiles.
"So how high do we have to climb? My legs are already screaming," I groan, pretending to collapse against the railing.
Tessa snickers. "If your legs hurt already, poor Kai," she teases, nudging me with a grin.
I shove her lightly, laughing. "Shut up, Tessa," I whisper, though I'm smiling too.
Just then, Kai missteps on a stair but catches himself. I glance at him, and his cheeks are blazing red from embarrassment from Tessa comment.
I can't help it, Tessa and I both let out quiet chuckles at his reaction. He glares at us, flustered, and honestly…he's adorable like that. I find myself wanting to reach out, just to make sure he's steady.
"Guys! Focus!" he mutters, but there's still that flush on his face as he climbs. I find myself just…watching him, a little protective urge warming my chest.
"So, how many more floors?" I ask, trying to keep the mood light.
"The first floor likely to have intel is floor 19," Kai says, checking the hologram on his watch. "Looks like an archieve room for documentation."
The climb gets quieter after that, just the soft echo of our footsteps and the faint smell of disinfectant that twists my stomach a bit. But I can't stop keeping an eye on Kai, making sure he's okay.
Finally, we reach the door to floor 19. Tessa steps forward, hands glowing with that soft yellow light. In seconds, the lock clicks, and Kai slowly pushes the door open.
I flash him a grin. "After you, superhero," I say, unable to resist teasing him.
He rolls his eyes at my comment, but the corner of his mouth twitches, just a hint of a smile, before he slips into the corridor ahead.
It's dark. Not abandoned-dark, but purposeful, like someone dimmed the lights to make the place forgettable. A faint hum thrums through the walls. Somewhere far below, music from the Summit bleeds upward, dull and ghostlike, as if the party is happening in another world entirely.
Rows of open rooms stretch out in both directions. Each one is stacked with boxes and storage crates, neatly labelled, impossibly organised, the kind of place that looks harmless until you realise it could bury you alive in information.
My eyes flash blue as I scan ahead, vision stretching through the shadows. No movement.
"It's clear" I whisper.
"How are we supposed to check through all this?" Tessa mutters, staring at the sea of boxes.
Kai turns slowly, assessing. His jaw tightens in mission mode."Focus on anything that mentions counterfeits or Lunex," he says. "Once we find a terminal, we'll narrow it down."
We spread out. Paper rustles softly. Cardboard scrapes. The smell of dust mixes with disinfectant, it's sharp enough to sting the back of my throat.
I tear open a box labelled LV-Prototype Records. It's full of graphs, Formulas, Timelines. Half of it reads like another language, but I take photos anyway.
Across the aisle, Kai works in silence, scanning with precise movements, like he's cataloguing everything at once. He looks calm, like he's in his element.
Then suddenly, something tugs at me.
The wrong kind of silence.
I let my vision slip forward.
[The lift doors glide open. A man stumbles out first, laughing. A woman follows, shushing him, clinging to his jacket. They're flushed, dizzy, clearly drunk and heading this way.]
The future snaps shut.
I whistle low and sharp."Two incoming. Lift. Ten seconds."
Tessa is at my side instantly and we sprint to Kai. He doesn't speak, he just lifts his hand and gestures us behind him.
We crouch and my shoulder brushes his back. He feels so solid and warm.
The lift dings and the doors slide open.
Laughter spills out, just like my vision, it is loud and careless.
"Are you sure this is okay?" the woman giggles.
"Relax," the guy slurs. "No one comes up here. Trust me."
They stagger forward. If either of them glances even slightly left, they'll see us. My pulse climbs my throat, while Tessa squeezes my arm. I fight the urge to grab Kai and pull him back with us.
They're almost level with us when Kai moves.
Just a flick of his fingers.
Shadows peel off the corridor walls like smoke, they are fast, but silent and quickily strike both of them at the back of the neck.
They gasp once before then begin to collapse.
Before their bodies hit the floor, the shadows cradle them, easing them down softly like invisible hands.
Tessa exhales. I realise I'd been holding my breath as well.
Kai steps forward and lifts them both with effortless strength, as if they're weightless. The seriousness in his eyes shifts, it's softer now, because even knocked out, he treats them gently.
"We'll leave them in one of the rooms," he murmurs. "They'll think they blacked out."
"How long will they stay knocked out?" Tessa asks.
"A few hours."
I grin. "You say that like you've done this a thousand times."
He hesitates. Looks away. That guilty little flicker and somehow, it makes my chest ache.
We arrange the couple in a storage room, propping them safely against the wall. Kai pauses a second, making sure neither of them looks uncomfortable. It's ridiculous and sweet of him.
He turns back, our eyes meet. For half a heartbeat, the world is quiet again.
"Good call" he says softly, smiling.
Heat crawls up my neck. I shrug, trying to look casual.
Daniel's voice suddenly crackles through the comms."Status?"
Kai presses his earpiece. The smile vanishes and he's back to being professional again."Floor 19 holds only paper documentation. No digital records accessible."
There are muffled voices on the other end, then Daniel returns."Intel suggests Floor 35 contains data on a new GeneX project. Head there."
"Confirmed" Kai replies, tone sharp, steady, a soldier slipping back into armour.
He gestures us forward and heads toward the emergency stairs.
As we start climbing again, the ache returns in my legs, but my mind is already ahead of us, glimpsing flashes of corridors, locked doors, the shape of something important waiting above.
Then be finally reach it. Floor 35.
Tessa presses her palms against the panel again. The yellow glow gathers beneath her fingertips, creeping into the seams of the metal. A second later the mechanism, clicks, as if the door has simply given up arguing with her.
We slip inside and immediately, I know this place is different.
The lab breathes, quietly, like it has its own pulse. Machines hum, as centrifuge spins somewhere, steady and controlled. Soft white light washes the benches, warm enough not to sting the eyes. The air is cool, but not biting.
It doesn't smell like chemicals and bleach and fear.
It smells like… dusted metal, faint coffee, and paper.
Almost... Normal, which is somehow even more unsettling. It doesn't feel like GeneX.
On the far side, a wide observation window reveals an office overlooking the lab, as if whoever worked here didn't just run experiments, they lived in them.
Tessa whispers, "This feels weird," and I silently agree.
My attention snags on the computer in the office."Think that will have the information we need?" I say, nodding at it.
Kai scans every corner before answering. "We'll check everything we can while we're here."
We move into the office. The lighting shifts, they are dimmer, and warmer, like a place meant for thinking instead of dissecting. Books line an entire wall, worn spines and colour-coded tabs peeking out. A sofa sits beneath them, slightly indented where someone sat too often. A mug rests on the table, washed, but still faintly stained.
Beside the desk stands a tall, sleek safe.
"Start there?" I suggest.
"Yeah," Kai nods.
Tessa doesn't hesitate. She presses her hands against the steel. Her glow is slower this time, pulsing, wrestling with layered locks. Sweat beads at her temple.
Kai stands near the doorway, watching the lift. One hand rests loosely at his side, close enough to summon shadows if he has to. His profile is tense Protective.
The final lock snaps and Tessa swings the door open.
I lean in and my grin spills out before I can stop it."Jackpot."
Neatly arranged rows of Lunex vials gleam faintly like captured moonlight. But sitting among them, off-centre and almost hidden behind paperwork, is one vial filled with a green liquid that looks thicker, almost heavier, like it shouldn't exist.
"What is that?" I murmur.
Kai steps closer, shoulders brushing mine. He stares at it, brows knitting."I've never seen anything like that before." His voice is low.
Tessa moves to the computer, fingers hovering above the keyboard. Her power ripples through the circuits, the screen unlocks, and she slips a USB drive into place. Lines of data roll across the monitor.
Kai removes his bag and begins loading the Lunex carefully, layering them between padding like they're fragile animals. When he reaches the green vial, he pauses a heartbeat longer, then nests it carefully.
My attention drifts across the office while they work. Organised shelves, handwritten notes scatter the desk, and a plant with leaves that are somehow still alive.
It feels like someone lives here, it's not just a lab.
Then I notice the frame. It's tucked at the corner of the book shelve. Easy to miss unless you're really looking.
I lift it and the world narrows.
In the photos, two boys sit on a sunlit porch, shoulders pressed together.Identical smiles and faces.
One with black hair.
One white as winter.
They look happy.
My fingers tighten around the frame.
I glance at Kai. His back is to me loading the vials into the bag. I look back at the picture and my chest pulls tight, painfully tight.
"What's wrong?" Kai's voice softens as he turns to look at me, instinctive worry threading every word.
He steps closer, eyes flicking from my face to the frame.
I swallow, throat suddenly dry.
Because there's no doubt. No second-guessing.
The boy with the black hair and the boy with the snow-white hair.
Kai and Noah.