CHAPTER 10: PAPER TRAIL OF THE PAST
351 Words
Chapter 10 – Paper Trail to the Past
Ava barely remembered the drive to the old data center.
Elise’s last message was simple:
"Search the name Gideon Vale. Your answers begin there."
The building was quiet. Too quiet. It smelled like dust and old wires — like the ghosts of every digital secret ever buried.
She bribed her way past the night tech with cash and a lie about corrupted records from a “corporate client.” What she found was deeper than corporate.
She accessed the archive through an admin terminal and typed:
Gideon Vale
A loading wheel spun.
A file popped up: CLASSIFIED – Red Level Clearance Required
Ava grinned.
Red was her color.
She bypassed the security protocols with a trick she learned from Julian back when they used to hack into hotel firewalls for fun and s*x and secrets. He taught her well — maybe too well.
The file opened.
And what she saw made her skin crawl.
> SUBJECT: AVA BLAKE
Alias: 0047-B | Phase 2 Program Participant
Guardian assigned: Julian Hale
Overseer: Gideon Vale
Ava stared at the screen.
Guardian?
Participant?
Phase 2?
She scrolled further.
Photographs. Reports. Brain scans. Psychological profiles labeled “Cycle Reset: Memory Fragmentation – Incomplete.”
Her name wasn’t just in the file.
Her entire existence was cataloged.
There was even a note from Julian.
Handwritten. Scanned.
> “If she remembers everything, I won’t be able to protect her.”
Ava’s hands were shaking as she hit “Print.”
But then something caught her eye.
A date.
Gideon Vale: Declared Deceased – 6 years ago.
And below it, another line — recent.
> Accessed by: G. Vale – 2 weeks ago.
Her blood turned cold.
Gideon Vale wasn’t dead.
He was alive.
And watching her.
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🔥 End of Chapter 10
Now it’s real:
Ava was part of something bigger — a program, not a romance.
Julian didn’t just love her… he was assigned to her.
And the man they said was dead? Gideon Vale is very much alive — and possibly the one pulling every string.
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- Writer
