Theo's Pov
Theo pressed himself tightly against the cold brick wall of the maintenance corridor, his heart hammering against his ribs. Beside him, Ennis's breathing was shallow and quick. They'd left the others at the derelict storage bay two levels down with strict instructions to wait for them and to run if the alarms went off.
"You sure about this?" Ennis whispered.
"No," Theo admitted. "But we're here anyway."
That earned him a weak smile. Good enough.
The maintenance hatch had been his insurance policy for months. He'd discovered it during a routine wiring assignment, noticed that the security seal was older than the others, worn around the edges. A little pressure here, a little twist there, and—
The hatch swung open with a soft groan.
They slipped inside.
The school's interior was different at night. During the day, it was all harsh fluorescent lights and the drone of instructors' voices. Now it was filled with shadows and silence, the corridors stretching before them felt like a scene out of a horror movie. Their footsteps echoed softly, and Theo winced at every one.
"We need to split up," he murmured. "Less chance of the both of us getting caught. I'll head for one of the access panel on the third level. You circle around to the principal's office and wait for me there."
Ennis grabbed his arm. "Theo, if something happens—"
"Nothing's going to happen." He kissed her forehead quickly. "I'll see you in ten minutes."
She didn't look convinced, but she let go.
They parted ways at the junction, Ennis disappearing into the shadows of the east corridor while Theo crept toward the stairwell. The Enforcers did random sweeps, but they were lazy about it.
They had become complacent.
No one had ever been stupid enough to break into a school the night before Equilibrium.
No one except him.
The third level was darker than the rest. Theo liked that. Dark meant unseen. He found the access panel he needed behind a broken dispenser that had been awaiting repair for six months. Typical Enox efficiency. He pulled out his multi-tool, attached it to the panel's diagnostic port, and watched the tiny screen flicker to life.
Accessing mainframe...
Security protocols: Active
Bypass in progress...
"Come on," he breathed. "Come on."
Suddenly footsteps echoed in the empty halls with heavy boots and measured pace.
An Enforcer patrol.
Theo froze, his eyes darting toward the corridor. The footsteps were getting closer, accompanied by the low crackle of a comm unit. He couldn't run. The access panel was half-open, his tool still attached. If they saw it, they'd trace the breach. They'd find him. They'd—
The footsteps stopped.
"What was that sound?" a voice muttered.
Theo held his breath.
A moment of silence stretched a beat too long. Just when he thought they would never leave.
"Probably nothing. These old corridors always creak. Let's finish the round. I want to be off shift before the ceremony tomorrow."
"Yeah man, that shits depressing."
The footsteps resumed, then faded into the distance.
Theo let out a shaky exhale and turned back to his device. The screen blinked green.
Access granted.
He was in.
The mainframe was surprisingly primitive,a relic from the early days of Enox, patched and repatched until it was held together by digital duct tape. Theo navigated through the menus quickly, his fingers flying across the small interface. Student records. Graduating class. Final examination results.
A folder appeared on screen: EQ-247-Results-Final.
His hand hovered over it.
This was it. The list that would determine who lived and who died. A hundred names would be called tomorrow. Fifty would walk away with their lives, their futures, their families. The other fifty would be escorted to the processing chambers and never seen again.
He opened the file.
Theo scanned for his name first.
Cross, Theo — PASS
Relief flooded through him so intensely his knees nearly buckled. He was safe. He was going to live.
Okonkwo, Mira — PASS
Kovac, Jax — PASS
Lian Zhao — PASS
Patel, Ennis — FAIL
His world stopped.
He stared at the words, waiting for them to change. Waiting for his eyes to deceive him but the text remained stubbornly, cruelly the same.
No.
No, that couldn't be right. Ennis was smarter than most. She worked harder than most especially after the death of her brother. She deserved to live, She had to live.
Theo's mind raced. Was it a glitch? A mistake? But the system didn't make mistakes. That was the whole point;the cold, unfeeling precision of the algorithm.
And it had decided that Ennis would die.
A sound cut through his spiraling thoughts.
A sob. It was distant but unmistakable.
Ennis.
Theo's blood ran cold. She was supposed to be in the principal's office, waiting. She must have gotten curious, must have found another access panel, must have—
Theo yanked his tool from the access panel and sprinted toward the sound.
He found her in the corridor outside the principal's office, slumped against the wall with her hands covering her face. Her shoulders shook with loud ugly sobs, each one a knife in Theo's chest.
"Ennis—"
"I saw it." Her voice was wrecked, barely a whisper. "I found another terminal. I thought maybe I could help, maybe I could find your name faster, and I—" She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears, her eyes hollow with despair. "My name wasn't there, Theo. I looked and looked and it wasn't there and then I found the fail list and I—"
She broke down again, and Theo dropped to his knees beside her, pulling her into his arms. She clung to him like he was the only solid thing in a world that had just turned to water.
"I'm going to die," she choked out. "Tomorrow. I'm going to die and I never—I never got to—" She couldn't finish.
Theo held her tighter, his own eyes burning. Behind them, somewhere in the school, a door opened.
"Hey! Who's there?"
An Enforcer, they had heard her
Theo's mind went into overdrive. He had mere seconds, maybe less. They could run, but the Enforcer would raise the alarm, and they'd never make it out. They'd be caught, and the penalty for breaking into the school the night before Equilibrium…
"Theo, we have to go—" Ennis started, pulling at his arm.
"Run." She saw that familiar look in his eyes and made a break for it while he was already moving, pulling out his multi-tool and connecting it to the nearest access panel, accessing the file again.
Patel, Ennis — FAIL
Cross, Theo — PASS
His fingers flew across the interface.
"THEO!" She yelled, hovering at the end of the hallway.
"One second."
The screen blinked.
Changes confirmed.
Patel, Ennis — PASS
Cross, Theo — FAIL
He yanked the chip free and shoved it into his pocket just as heavy footsteps rounded the corner.