THE NUMBERS GAME
1154 Words
Chapter 3: The Numbers Game
---
The safehouse was quiet.
Too quiet.
After Rizal Park, none of them slept.
Ava sat on the floor, back against the wall, laptop closed for the first time in days.
Lucas was cleaning a gun he hadn’t fired.
Maya was watching the door.
The fake code had worked. 48 hours. That’s what they bought.
48 hours before Castillo figured it out and came back angrier.
Ava hugged her knees. "I was 8," she said suddenly.
Lucas looked up.
"When he started," she continued. "The numbers game."
Maya turned. "What numbers game?"
Ava smiled. But it wasn’t a happy smile. "You want a flashback, Ghost? Fine. You want to know why I have the code in my head? I'll tell you."
She closed her eyes.
---
15 YEARS AGO. MANILA. AVA WAS 8.
The house was big. Too big. Marble floors that hurt if you fell.
Her father called it "the office".
She called it "the quiet house" because the staff never talked.
"Daddy?" Ava peeked into his study.
Director Reyes was at his desk. No smile. Never a smile when he was working.
"Come here, Anak." He patted his knee.
Ava climbed up. He smelled like cologne and coffee.
"Are you ready for our game?" he asked.
"The numbers game!" Ava clapped. She loved the numbers game.
Her father pulled out a small notebook. Black. No lines.
"Okay. Repeat after me. 7."
"7!"
"4."
"4!"
"4."
"4!"
"9."
"9!"
They went on for 10 minutes. Random numbers.
When she got one wrong, he didn’t yell. He just said "Again" in a flat voice.
When she got them all right, he gave her chocolate.
"Very good," he said. "You have a special brain, Ava. You can remember things other people forget."
"Like what?"
"Like secrets," he said. And tapped her nose.
That night, she dreamed of numbers.
---
AGE 10.
The game changed.
Now there were letters with the numbers.
`G7. K4. M9. T2.`
"Daddy, this is hard."
"I know," he said. "But you can do it. You’re my smart girl."
He started timing her. With a stopwatch.
"If you finish under 2 minutes, we go to the park."
"If you don’t, no TV."
Ava hated the stopwatch. But she hated disappointing him more.
One day, she heard him on the phone in his office. Door was cracked.
"...the asset is ready. She won’t remember it’s there. Not until we need it."
"Yes sir. Nightfall 2.0. Embedded."
Ava didn’t know what "embedded" meant.
She just knew her dad sounded different. Cold.
That night, she asked her mom. "What’s an asset?"
Her mom looked scared. "Go to bed, Anak."
Two weeks later, her mom was gone.
"Car accident," her father said. His eyes were dry.
Ava cried for a week. Her father didn’t.
The numbers game got harder.
---
AGE 12.
Her father brought her to "the office" after school.
It wasn’t a house anymore. It was a building. With guards.
"Sit here," he said. Pointed to a chair in a white room. No windows.
A man in a lab coat came in.
"This won’t hurt," her father said. "Much."
They put a cap on her head. Wires.
"Just think of the numbers, Ava. Like we practiced."
Her head hurt. For hours.
When it was over, her father hugged her. First time in months.
"You did great. You’re helping the country."
She threw up in the bathroom after.
That night, the numbers game was different.
He didn’t say the numbers.
He just looked at her and she... remembered them.
A whole string. 32 digits. Without trying.
"Perfect," her father whispered. "Perfect."
---
AGE 14.
Ava started sneaking into his office.
She wanted to know why.
She saw files. Photos.
People with red Xs on their faces.
Maps. Codes.
And one folder labeled: `NIGHTFALL PROTOCOL`
Inside was a picture of her. Age 8. With wires on her head.
Under it: `BIOLOGICAL KEY. DO NOT TERMINATE.`
Her hands shook.
"Looking for something?"
She screamed.
Her father was in the doorway.
"I... I couldn’t sleep."
He closed the door. Locked it.
"Ava," he said softly. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"Good. Because you’re the most important thing in the world. To me. To the country."
He took the folder from her. Burned it in the ashtray.
"Forget what you saw. Okay? For me."
She nodded. Because she was 14 and he was her dad.
The numbers game stopped after that.
She thought she was free.
---
BACK TO PRESENT. SAFEHOUSE.
Ava opened her eyes. Her cheeks were wet.
"So yeah," she said, voice hoarse. "That’s why I have the code. He put it there. Piece by piece. For 6 years."
Lucas hadn’t moved. But his knuckles were white on the gun.
"He used you," Maya said quietly.
"He protected me," Ava snapped. "He said it was for the country."
"It was for him," Lucas said. Finally. "Nightfall wasn’t for the country. It was for him. To have power no one could take away."
Ava wiped her face angrily. "Why are you telling me this? Why now?"
"Because," Lucas said. He set the gun down. "Because I need to know if you remember all of it. Every digit."
"I do," Ava said. "I remember everything. That’s the problem."
"Then we use it," Lucas said. "Not for Castillo. For us. We feed him the real code. But we change one digit. Make it crash the entire system when he tries to launch it."
Ava stared at him. "You want me to kill my father's work?"
"I want you to end it," Lucas corrected. "So no one else can use you. Ever again."
Silence.
Maya broke it. "Ghost. We have movement. 2 blocks out."
Lucas stood up. Instant. "How many?"
"4. On foot. Sweeping."
"Time?"
"10 minutes."
Ava was still on the floor.
Lucas crouched in front of her. "Ava. Look at me."
She did. Her eyes were red but dry now.
"I’m sorry," he said. "For what he did to you. And for what I have to ask you to do now."
"Don’t be sorry," Ava said. "Be fast."
She stood up. Grabbed her laptop. "32 digits. I can write it in 30 seconds. Tell me where to put the trap."
Lucas nodded. Proud. And terrified.
"Good girl."
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Ava froze.
Her father used to say that. `Good girl.`
Lucas saw it on her face. "I didn’t mean—"
"I know what you meant," Ava cut him off. "Let’s go."
They moved.
As they ran down the stairs, Ava thought about the numbers.
7. 4. 4. 9.
G. K. M. T.
Her father’s voice in her head: `Again.`
Lucas's voice in her ear: `We’ve got you.`
She chose which one to listen to.
Outside, the rain was starting again.
The game wasn’t over.
But this time, Ava was playing to win.
END OF CHAPTER 3
- Writer
