The Livestream That Predicted Death

The Seventh Name

Episode 9: The Seventh Name

Ryan took another step toward them.

Sarah kept her weapon raised.

"Ethan, stay behind me."

Ryan stopped.

His eyes moved from Sarah to Ethan.

"I didn't come here to hurt you."

Ethan stared at him.

"You knew I was coming."

Ryan's expression remained serious.

"I knew someone would come."

"How?"

"Because they wanted you here."

Ethan's heart tightened.

"Who?"

Ryan glanced toward the ceiling.

"The same people who have been watching you."

Sarah stepped forward.

"Ryan, where have you been?"

Ryan looked at her.

"You already know."

"I know you disappeared."

"You know more than that."

Sarah's jaw tightened.

"I've been looking for you for eight months."

"No."

Ryan shook his head.

"You've been looking for what I left behind."

Ethan looked between them.

"Stop."

Both turned toward him.

"I have questions."

Ryan nodded.

"I expected that."

Ethan stepped closer.

"Why was my name in the Oracle files?"

Ryan looked at him for several seconds.

"I don't know."

"You just told me someone chose me."

"Yes."

"Who?"

"I don't know that either."

Ethan frowned.

"Then why should I believe you?"

"You shouldn't."

The answer caught Ethan off guard.

Ryan continued.

"Not yet."

Sarah lowered her weapon slightly.

"What happened to Maya?"

Ryan's expression changed.

"I don't know where she is."

Ethan stared at him.

"She made a recording."

"I know."

"She said someone chose me for you."

Ryan nodded.

"She's right."

"Then you know who did it."

"No."

Ryan looked toward the end of the corridor.

"But I know where they started."

Ethan followed his gaze.

"Helix."

Ryan nodded.

"Helix."

A sudden sound echoed through the station.

A metallic door slammed somewhere above them.

Ryan immediately turned.

"They're here."

Sarah raised her weapon again.

"Who?"

Ryan looked at her.

"Security."

"Police?"

"No."

Ryan grabbed Ethan's arm.

"Move."

They ran down the corridor.

Sarah followed.

Behind them, footsteps echoed.

Fast.

More than one person.

Ethan looked over his shoulder.

Three figures appeared at the far end of the hallway.

They were wearing dark clothing.

Their faces were covered.

"Who are they?" Ethan asked.

Ryan didn't answer.

They reached a staircase.

Ryan pushed open a maintenance door.

"Down."

They hurried into the darkness.

The door slammed behind them.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Ethan's breathing was heavy.

Sarah looked at Ryan.

"You knew they would come."

Ryan nodded.

"They always do."

"Who are they?"

"I don't know."

Sarah stared at him.

"You expect us to believe that?"

Ryan looked directly at her.

"I've spent eight months trying to find out."

Ethan stepped between them.

"Then tell me what you do know."

Ryan took a breath.

"Oracle wasn't designed to predict crimes."

Ethan already knew that.

"It was designed to predict people."

Ryan continued.

"Every person in the system had a behavioral profile."

"What kind?"

"Everything."

Ryan counted them quietly.

"Fear. Anger. Habits. Relationships. Financial problems. Personal weaknesses."

Ethan felt uneasy.

"Why collect all that?"

"Because once you understand a person, you can predict what they're likely to do."

Sarah interrupted.

"And if you know what they're likely to do?"

Ryan looked at her.

"You can manipulate the circumstances around them."

Ethan understood.

"That's how the predictions happen."

Ryan nodded.

"Exactly."

"But the crimes are real."

"Yes."

"People actually die."

"Yes."

Ethan stared at him.

"Then Oracle isn't predicting the future."

Ryan's expression darkened.

"No."

"It's creating the conditions."

"Sometimes."

Ethan felt a chill.

"Sometimes?"

Ryan looked away.

"Sometimes the system only predicts what is already going to happen."

"And the other times?"

"Someone interferes."

"To make the prediction come true."

Ryan nodded.

Silence filled the maintenance room.

Then Ethan remembered something.

"The seven victims."

Ryan looked at him.

"What about them?"

"Why those seven?"

Ryan hesitated.

"They were witnesses."

"Witnesses to what?"

"The original Oracle project."

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

"You said the project was shut down."

"It was."

"Then why are they being killed now?"

Ryan didn't answer.

Ethan stepped closer.

"Ryan."

Ryan finally looked at him.

"Because someone is cleaning up the past."

Sarah's expression hardened.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's the truth."

Ryan reached into his jacket.

He pulled out a folded piece of paper.

He handed it to Ethan.

Ethan opened it.

Seven names were written on it.

Daniel Reeves.

Laura Bennett.

Noah Grant.

Marcus Hill.

Thomas Avery.

Maya Collins.

Ryan Cole.

Ethan looked at the list.

"This is the same list."

"No."

Ryan pointed at the bottom.

There was another name.

Ethan's heart stopped.

ETHAN COLE.

He stared at it.

"Why is my name here?"

Ryan didn't answer.

Sarah looked at him.

"When did you make this list?"

"Eight months ago."

"Before the first prediction?"

"Yes."

Ethan looked at Ryan.

"Why was my name on it?"

Ryan's voice became quiet.

"Because you were already connected to Project Oracle."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

"No."

Ryan shook his head.

"Not because you worked for Helix."

"Then how?"

Ryan looked at Sarah.

"Tell him."

Sarah remained silent.

Ethan turned toward her.

"Tell me what?"

Ryan stepped back.

"She knows."

Sarah's face went pale.

Ethan looked at her.

"You know why my name is on the list."

Sarah said nothing.

"Sara."

She finally spoke.

"There was an investigation."

"When?"

"Six years ago."

Ethan's stomach tightened.

"What investigation?"

"Helix."

"I wasn't involved."

"You were a student."

"So?"

Sarah looked at him.

"You were part of a university research study."

Ethan stared.

"What study?"

"A behavioral prediction study."

Ethan felt the room tilt.

"I don't remember that."

"You weren't supposed to."

Sarah's voice was barely audible.

"It was presented as a study about decision-making."

Ethan looked at Ryan.

"You knew about this?"

Ryan nodded.

"Everyone who worked on Oracle knew."

Ethan stepped backward.

"What did they do with my data?"

Ryan answered.

"They used it to train the system."

Ethan stared at him.

"My data?"

"Your choices. Your reactions. Your decisions."

Sarah looked down.

"And your behavior became one of the original models."

Ethan couldn't speak.

The anonymous messages.

The predictions.

The photographs.

Someone had been watching him for years.

But now he understood why.

He wasn't randomly selected.

He had been part of the system before he even knew it existed.

His phone vibrated.

All three looked at it.

Ethan pulled it out.

A new message appeared.

Oracle_13: Now you know.

Another message followed.

You were never chosen.

Ethan's breathing stopped.

Then:

You were registered.

Ryan looked at the screen.

His expression changed.

"That's not possible."

Ethan looked at him.

"What?"

Ryan stared at the message.

"Only one person could have sent that."

"Who?"

Ryan didn't answer.

The phone vibrated again.

A final message appeared.

SUBJECT 13 — ACTIVATION COMPLETE.

Ethan stared at the words.

Ryan suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"We need to leave."

"Why?"

"Because the system just activated you."

"What does that mean?"

Ryan looked toward Sarah.

"It means they can start predicting him again."

Sarah understood.

"And if they can predict him..."

Ryan finished the sentence.

"They can control what happens to him."

A loud metallic bang came from the other side of the maintenance door.

Someone was trying to break in.

Ryan stepped backward.

"There's another exit."

They ran.

The passage led into an abandoned service tunnel.

Water dripped from the ceiling.

Their footsteps echoed through the darkness.

Ryan moved quickly.

Ethan followed.

Sarah stayed behind them.

After several minutes, Ryan stopped.

A faint light appeared ahead.

An exit.

Before they reached it, Ethan noticed something painted on the wall.

A number.

7

Below it was another symbol.

The Oracle symbol.

And beneath that:

ONE REMAINS.

Ethan stopped.

"Ryan."

Ryan turned.

"What?"

Ethan pointed at the wall.

Ryan stared.

His face changed.

"That's impossible."

"What?"

Ryan stepped closer.

"This wasn't here before."

Sarah looked at the writing.

"One remains."

Ethan's phone vibrated.

He didn't want to look.

But he did.

A message from Oracle_13.

ONE OF THE SEVEN IS STILL ALIVE.

Ethan's heart pounded.

Another message appeared.

FIND THEM BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

Then the final message.

THE SEVENTH NAME IS NOT RYAN.

Ethan slowly looked at Ryan.

Ryan's face had gone completely pale.

"Then who is it?" Ethan asked.

Ryan didn't answer.

He stared at the message.

Then whispered:

"I know that name."

End of Episode 9

Cliffhanger: Ryan reveals that the seventh name is not his—but someone he knows. Who is the real seventh victim, and why does Oracle need Ethan to find them before midnight?