The Livestream That Predicted Death

The Hidden Message

Episode 8: The Hidden Message

Ethan stared at the countdown.

02:37:04

The numbers continued to fall.

Beside him, Sarah remained completely silent.

Ethan looked down at the silver necklace in his hand.

The circular symbol caught the weak light from the computer.

"You said this belonged to Ryan."

Sarah nodded.

"Yes."

"Then how did it get here?"

"I don't know."

Ethan looked at the computer.

The last message from Oracle_13 was still displayed.

Now find out why he chose you.

He read it again.

"Ryan chose me."

Sarah shook her head.

"We don't know that."

"Oracle says he did."

"Oracle has lied before."

Ethan looked at her.

"How do you know?"

Sarah didn't answer.

Ethan's suspicion returned.

The anonymous warning.

DON'T TRUST SARAH.

He pushed the thought aside.

There was no time.

The countdown was still running.

02:36:18

"We need to find Ryan," Ethan said.

Sarah nodded.

"Agreed."

They searched the room again.

This time, Ethan focused on the computers.

Most were dead.

Some had been stripped of their hard drives.

One monitor still displayed the Oracle symbol.

Ethan touched the keyboard.

The screen changed.

A password box appeared.

ENTER SUBJECT CODE

Ethan looked at Sarah.

"What's a subject code?"

"I don't know."

The computer beeped.

A new message appeared.

YOU'VE SEEN IT BEFORE.

Ethan thought.

The symbol.

The number 13.

11:17.

The seven victims.

Nothing worked.

Then he remembered the photograph.

Seven people standing together.

The number written in the corner.

13.

He entered:

13

The computer accepted it.

A folder opened.

ARCHIVE 13

Inside were hundreds of documents.

Ethan scrolled through them.

Most were marked with dates.

Some were completely blank.

Then he found a file named:

SUBJECT 07 — RYAN COLE

He opened it.

The first page contained a photograph of Ryan.

Beneath it were several lines.

Name: Ryan Cole

Age: 34

Position: Systems Engineer

Project Access: Level 7

Status: Missing

Ethan scrolled down.

The next section was titled:

FINAL INTERVIEW

There was no transcript.

Only a time.

11:17 PM

Ethan looked at Sarah.

"That's when Ryan disappeared."

"Yes."

"Why is there no interview?"

"I don't know."

Ethan continued scrolling.

A hidden file appeared beneath the missing transcript.

RECOVERED AUDIO

He clicked it.

Static filled the room.

Then a man's voice.

Ryan.

Ethan had never heard him speak before.

His voice was tired but steady.

"If this recording has been recovered, then someone accessed Archive 13."

Ethan leaned closer.

Ryan continued.

"That means the project wasn't destroyed."

Sarah stared at the screen.

Ryan's voice became quieter.

"They told everyone Oracle was shut down."

"They lied."

Static interrupted the recording.

Then Ryan spoke again.

"The system is still running."

Ethan's face tightened.

"Where?"

Ryan continued.

"I don't know who controls it now."

"But I know they are using the original infrastructure."

"Someone has access to the prediction engine."

"Someone has access to the subjects."

"And someone has access to the police database."

Sarah looked at Ethan.

The recording continued.

"If you're hearing this because of Ethan Cole..."

Ryan paused.

For the first time, his voice sounded frightened.

"...don't let them convince you that he's the target."

Ethan froze.

Sarah stepped closer.

"What did he mean?"

The recording continued.

"He's not the target."

"He's the key."

The audio suddenly ended.

Ethan stared at the screen.

"The key to what?"

Sarah shook her head.

"I don't know."

The computer beeped.

A new file appeared.

HIDDEN MESSAGE

Ethan opened it.

A long sequence of numbers filled the screen.

13 — 7 — 11 — 17

Then:

6 — 9 — 14 — 4

Then:

20 — 8 — 5

Ethan frowned.

"It's encrypted."

Sarah looked at it.

"Can you decode it?"

"I'm not sure."

He studied the numbers.

The first sequence could represent letters.

13 was M.

7 was G.

11 was K.

17 was Q.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Maybe they weren't individual letters.

Maybe they were coordinates.

Maybe dates.

Maybe times.

He looked at the first sequence.

13 — 7 — 11 — 17

Then remembered the symbol.

The number 13.

The seven victims.

11:17.

Ethan's eyes widened.

"These aren't separate."

"What?"

"They're instructions."

He opened a blank document.

13 = Project

7 = Victims

11:17 = Time

He stared at the final number.

17.

"The fourth number isn't seventeen."

Sarah looked confused.

"It's a time."

"Eleven seventeen."

He entered 11:17.

The screen unlocked.

A hidden map appeared.

One location was highlighted.

CENTRAL STATION.

Sarah immediately stood.

"Maya."

Ethan nodded.

"That's where we need to go."

The countdown appeared again.

02:11:42

"We have just over two hours."

Sarah grabbed her jacket.

"Then let's move."

Ethan pulled the silver necklace into his pocket.

Before leaving, he looked at the computer one more time.

A final line had appeared beneath the map.

SHE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO RYAN.

Ethan stopped.

"Sarah."

She turned.

He pointed at the screen.

Sarah read the message.

Her face changed.

"Maya knows."

"Apparently."

"Then we need to find her."

They hurried out of the room.

The drive to Central Station was almost silent.

Ethan kept thinking about Ryan's recording.

He's not the target.

He's the key.

What did that mean?

Why had Ryan known his name?

Why had Oracle been watching Ethan for years?

And why had the system suddenly chosen him now?

Sarah broke the silence.

"You should know something."

Ethan looked at her.

"What?"

"Ryan wasn't the only person investigating Helix."

"Who else?"

"Maya."

Ethan's expression changed.

"Maya was investigating Helix?"

"Yes."

"Before the predictions?"

"Months before."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we weren't sure how much she knew."

Ethan stared through the windshield.

"So Maya knew Ryan."

"They knew each other."

"How?"

"She worked on one of Helix's external projects."

Ethan remembered her messages.

"I'm sorry, Ethan."

"I tried to warn you."

"Then she knew something was going to happen."

"Probably."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

Sarah looked at him.

"Maybe she was afraid."

Ethan's phone vibrated.

He looked down.

A message from Oracle_13.

YOU ARE GOING TO THE STATION.

Another message appeared.

BUT YOU'RE TOO LATE.

Ethan typed:

Where is Maya?

The response came immediately.

ASK THE PERSON BESIDE YOU.

Ethan slowly looked at Sarah.

She noticed.

"What?"

Ethan showed her the message.

Sarah's expression hardened.

"I don't know where Maya is."

"Do you know something?"

"No."

The phone vibrated again.

DON'T TRUST HER.

Ethan stared at the words.

Sarah saw them.

"That's what you've been getting."

"Yes."

"And you still don't know who is sending them."

"No."

Sarah looked back at the road.

"Then don't believe them."

Ethan didn't respond.

They reached Central Station at 11:02 PM.

The station was almost empty.

They entered through the main doors.

Ethan checked the map.

"Underground level."

They descended the stairs.

The lower corridor was quiet.

Too quiet.

No passengers.

No workers.

Only the sound of distant machinery.

Ethan's phone showed the countdown.

02:00:41

Then the lights flickered.

Sarah stopped.

"Ethan."

"What?"

She pointed ahead.

A small metal door stood at the end of the corridor.

A symbol was painted across it.

The same symbol from Helix.

The same symbol from the necklace.

Ethan walked toward it.

There was a keypad beside the door.

He touched it.

The screen displayed:

ENTER CODE

A message appeared on his phone.

11:17

Ethan entered the numbers.

The door unlocked.

Sarah raised her weapon.

Ethan slowly opened it.

Inside was a tiny room.

There was a chair.

A table.

And an old monitor.

The monitor turned on.

A video began playing.

Maya appeared.

Ethan's heart stopped.

She looked frightened.

But she was alive.

She stared directly into the camera.

"Ethan, if you're seeing this..."

She swallowed.

"...you need to listen carefully."

The video glitched.

Maya looked behind her.

Then whispered:

"Ryan didn't choose you."

Ethan froze.

The screen flickered.

Maya continued.

"Someone chose you for him."

The video suddenly cut to black.

Ethan stared at the monitor.

Sarah whispered:

"Who?"

The screen turned on one final time.

A single sentence appeared.

ASK RYAN.

Then another.

HE'S ALREADY THERE.

Ethan turned around.

The corridor behind them was empty.

Then he heard footsteps.

Slow.

Approaching.

Sarah raised her weapon.

A shadow appeared at the far end of the corridor.

The man stopped beneath the light.

Ethan stared.

He recognized the face from the photograph.

The missing engineer.

Ryan Cole.

Ryan looked directly at Ethan.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

Then Ryan said:

"Ethan..."

Ethan's heart pounded.

Ryan took one step forward.

"You weren't supposed to find me."

End of Episode 8

Cliffhanger: Ryan is alive, and Maya has revealed that he didn't choose Ethan. If Ryan didn't choose him, who did—and why has Oracle been watching Ethan for six years?