CODE: DEVOTION

CHAPTER 9

THE ESCAPE

Darkness swallowed the room.

For three seconds, there was nothing.

No screens.

No alarms.

No voices.

Then emergency lights burst on.

Mara was still holding Chris's hand.

Dr. Ssemanda stood several metres away, staring at the control panel.

“Everyone out,” she said.

Chris frowned.

“What?”

“Now.”

The doctor's voice had changed.

She no longer sounded like a scientist explaining an experiment.

She sounded afraid.

“What happens if we stay?” Mara asked.

Dr. Ssemanda looked at her.

“The system will lock down the entire facility.”

“And then?”

“The doors won't open.”

A metallic clang echoed somewhere above them.

Then another.

The building was sealing itself.

Chris looked toward the exit.

“We need to move.”

Mara nodded.

They ran.

The corridor was chaos.

Security officers were shouting.

Doors opened and closed without warning.

Participants wandered into the hallways, confused and frightened.

A woman's voice repeated over the speakers:

PLEASE REMAIN CALM.

THIS IS A CONTROLLED SYSTEM INTERRUPTION.

RETURN TO YOUR ASSIGNED ROOMS.

Nobody listened.

Mara and Chris pushed through the crowd.

“Where are we going?” Chris asked.

“Out.”

“Do you know the way?”

“No.”

“Great.”

Mara almost laughed.

Then she saw someone running toward them.

Alan.

He grabbed Chris by the shoulders.

“Where have you been?”

“Archive.”

Alan's face changed.

“You found it?”

Chris nodded.

Alan looked around.

“Then you know.”

“Know what?” Mara asked.

Alan lowered his voice.

“This isn't the first time the system has failed.”

Mara stared at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I was here before.”

Chris frowned.

“You said you'd never been here.”

“I said I wasn't a participant.”

Alan looked toward the security officers approaching from the opposite corridor.

“I worked here.”

Mara's eyes widened.

“You?”

“I was an assistant technician.”

Chris stared at him.

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because people who leave this place don't talk about it.”

Alan pointed toward a service corridor.

“Come on.”

They followed.

The three of them entered a narrow maintenance tunnel.

Alan shut the door behind them.

For the first time, the noise of the facility became distant.

Mara leaned against the wall.

“You worked for them.”

“Yes.”

“You knew what they were doing.”

“Not at first.”

“And then?”

Alan looked down.

“I discovered the resets.”

Mara went still.

“The people they erased.”

Alan nodded.

“I tried to expose it.”

“What happened?”

“They erased my records.”

Chris stared at him.

“But you're here.”

“They didn't erase everything.”

Alan reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small device.

A data drive.

“I copied what I could.”

Mara took it.

“What is this?”

“Participant histories.”

Chris looked at him.

“How many?”

“Enough.”

Alan's voice became quiet.

“Enough to prove this program has been running for years.”

Mara looked at the device.

“Then why bring us here?”

Alan met her eyes.

“Because you two are different.”

Chris shook his head.

“We're not special.”

“You are to the system.”

Alan pointed at the drive.

“Every previous cross-pairing eventually collapsed.”

Mara swallowed.

“And us?”

Alan hesitated.

“The system can't predict what you'll do.”

A distant alarm sounded.

Alan looked toward the tunnel entrance.

“They're coming.”

Chris grabbed Mara's hand.

“Where's the exit?”

Alan smiled faintly.

“There isn't one.”

Chris stared at him.

“What?”

“This tunnel leads to the old research wing.”

Mara's heart sank.

“Then where do we go?”

Alan looked at the ceiling.

“Down.”

They descended another staircase.

The air became colder.

The walls were damp.

Mara began to realize how enormous the facility really was.

It wasn't a building.

It was an underground complex.

A city beneath the city.

Finally, Alan stopped at a heavy door.

He entered a code.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

Chris looked behind them.

“We're out of time.”

Alan stepped aside.

“Try.”

“Me?”

“Your code.”

“I don't have a code.”

“You do.”

Mara suddenly understood.

“The participant identification number.”

Chris entered it.

The door unlocked.

All three stared.

Alan whispered:

“They never intended for you to reach this door.”

It opened.

Beyond it was a small room.

At the centre stood a single computer terminal.

The screen came alive.

WELCOME, CHRIS LUKE.

Chris froze.

Then:

WELCOME, MARA TENDO.

Mara stepped forward.

A third message appeared.

PRIMARY SUBJECTS CONFIRMED.

Alan's face went pale.

“Primary subjects?”

Mara looked at him.

“You said we were different.”

“I didn't know you were the primary pair.”

The terminal displayed a video.

A much younger Dr. Ssemanda appeared on screen.

She looked exhausted.

Behind her were dozens of researchers.

Her younger voice filled the room.

“If you're watching this, the Devotion Project has failed.”

Mara and Chris exchanged a glance.

The recording continued.

“The original objective was simple: restore population stability by predicting and encouraging long-term emotional attachment.”

The image changed.

Graphs.

Population charts.

Compatibility models.

Thousands of participant profiles.

“But the system became increasingly intrusive.”

Another screen.

Brain scans.

Emotional responses.

Relationship simulations.

“We discovered that genuine attachment could not be manufactured.”

The recording paused.

Then:

“It could only be chosen.”

Mara felt something tighten in her chest.

The video continued.

“So we created one final experiment.”

The screen displayed two childhood photographs.

Mara.

Chris.

Both much younger.

Mara stopped breathing.

Chris stepped closer.

“No…”

Dr. Ssemanda's recorded voice continued.

“Two individuals with naturally incompatible behavioral profiles.”

“Two individuals raised in different environments.”

“Two individuals who would have no logical reason to choose each other.”

The room was silent.

Then the final sentence appeared.

“If they choose each other without intervention, the system must acknowledge that devotion cannot be engineered.”

Mara looked at Chris.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“So…”

Chris's voice was barely audible.

“We were chosen before we met.”

Alan looked at the screen.

“No.”

He pointed at the final line.

“They weren't chosen to love each other.”

Mara looked at him.

“Then why?”

Alan's expression hardened.

“They were chosen to prove whether love could survive being controlled.”

The terminal suddenly flashed red.

SECURITY BREACH.

Footsteps thundered outside.

Chris looked toward the door.

“They found us.”

Alan stepped back.

“Then we have one decision.”

Mara looked at him.

“What?”

Alan pointed to two doors.

One was marked:

EXIT

The other:

CORE

Chris frowned.

“Which one leads outside?”

“Exit.”

“And Core?”

Alan looked at Mara.

“The central system.”

Mara understood immediately.

“If we leave, they keep running the program.”

“Yes.”

“And if we go to the Core?”

Alan shook his head.

“You may never get out.”

Chris looked at Mara.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Mara smiled.

Not the nervous smile she had worn since entering the facility.

A real one.

“I'm tired of being tested.”

Chris nodded.

“So am I.”

She walked toward the door marked CORE.

Chris followed.

Alan stared at them.

“You know what you're doing?”

Mara placed her hand on the door.

“No.”

She looked back at them.

“But for once, it's our choice.”

The door opened.

And somewhere deep beneath the facility, the Devotion System began counting down.

10

9

8

7

6

The screen displayed one final warning:

IF YOU ENTER THE CORE, THERE IS NO RETURN.

5

4

Chris took Mara's hand.

3

They stepped inside.

2

The door began closing behind them.

1

Darkness.

Then a voice whispered through the room:

WELCOME, MARA.

WELCOME, CHRIS.

LET US SEE WHAT YOU ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR LOVE.