Chapter 13: The Black Box Chase
213 Words
Lena fled the observatory, hugging the shadows as she made her way to the science wing. The campus was eerily quiet, the usual hum of students replaced by the drone of surveillance helicopters circling overhead.
Victoria's lab was unlocked, its interior in disarray. Papers littered the floor, and the periodic table poster hung askew. Lena ripped it down, revealing a safe embedded in the wall.
She tried Eleanor's birthdate—no luck. Julian's grant number—still nothing. Panic set in as she heard footsteps approaching. Think, Lena, think.
She remembered a line from Eleanor's journal: "The key lies in the first mistake." The MIT accident—2012. She punched in the date: 06/17/2012. The safe clicked open.
Inside was a black box no bigger than a shoebox, its surface covered in strange symbols. Lena grabbed it and ran, ducking behind a row of fume hoods as two men in black suits entered the lab.
"Where is it?" one of them growled, flipping over a desk.
Lena held her breath, clutching the box to her chest. She had to get to the ethics board hearing before Julian or NeuroTech could stop her. But as she crawled toward the exit, she realized something terrifying: the box was pulsing in her hands, as if alive.
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