Chapter 17
798 Words
đź“– CHAPTER 17: What Elena Could Do
The room fell completely silent.
Even the operatives outside stopped moving.
Because the Hunter had bowed its head slightly toward Elara.
Not attacking.
Acknowledging.
⸻
Mira looked like she might faint.
Adrian looked worse.
Not shocked.
He already knew this was possible.
And somehow that was more terrifying.
⸻
Elara stayed frozen on one knee.
Heart pounding violently.
The memories hitting harder now.
Not complete.
But enough.
⸻
White laboratory lights.
Children standing in lines.
A scientist saying:
“The Vale subjects respond differently to machine synchronization.”
Then—
The Hunter kneeling in front of a little girl.
Her.
⸻
Elara gasped softly.
“No…”
⸻
The Hunter’s red scanner softened to a dim pulse.
Still locked onto her.
Waiting.
⸻
Adrian moved first.
Slowly.
Carefully.
“Elara,” he said quietly.
She looked up at him.
And immediately noticed something strange.
Fear.
Not fear of her.
Fear for her.
⸻
“You knew,” she whispered.
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Mira stared at him sharply.
“You knew she could synchronize?”
“I suspected.”
“That’s not the same thing!”
⸻
Elara pushed herself to her feet slowly.
Everything felt unstable.
“You need to explain. Right now.”
The Hunter remained still beside her.
Like a guard awaiting orders.
⸻
Adrian exhaled slowly.
Then finally gave her a real answer.
“Project Vale wasn’t only about intelligence testing.”
Silence.
⸻
Mira whispered softly:
“Adrian…”
But he continued anyway.
“The children were being trained to interface with adaptive military systems.”
Elara blinked slowly.
“…what?”
“The Hunters.”
⸻
The word felt heavier now.
Alive.
⸻
Adrian’s voice stayed calm.
But quieter.
“They were designed to respond only to compatible neural patterns.”
Elara frowned.
“And mine is compatible?”
A pause.
Then:
“You were the most compatible.”
⸻
Silence crashed into the room.
⸻
Elara stared at the Hunter beside her.
Suddenly every memory fragment felt sharper.
The machines watching her.
The tests.
The voices praising her scores.
⸻
“No,” she whispered.
“I’m not some weapon.”
The Hunter’s scanner flickered once.
Almost reacting to her tone.
⸻
Adrian stepped closer immediately.
“You were a child,” he said firmly.
“You didn’t choose any of this.”
That should have comforted her.
Instead it hurt.
⸻
Elara laughed bitterly.
“But everyone else did.”
Silence.
No one denied it.
⸻
The Hunter suddenly turned toward the hallway.
Alert.
Its scanner brightened red again.
⸻
Then another mechanical voice echoed from outside:
“PRIMARY UNIT UNRESPONSIVE.”
More footsteps.
More Hunters.
⸻
Mira went pale instantly.
“There’s more than one?!”
Adrian cursed softly under his breath for the first time.
That alone told Elara how bad this was.
⸻
The Hunter beside Elara stepped slightly in front of her.
Protective.
⸻
The operatives outside froze immediately at the sight.
One whispered into comms:
“Unit has synchronized.”
Static exploded through the line.
Then shouting.
Confused shouting.
⸻
Elara looked at the machine beside her.
“…it’s protecting me.”
Adrian answered quietly:
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Just like before.”
⸻
Another memory flashed—
A younger Elena crying during a blackout.
A Hunter standing outside her room all night like a silent guard.
⸻
Elara grabbed her head again.
Too many memories now.
Too fast.
⸻
Adrian reached toward her instinctively.
“Elara—”
“Stop calling me both names like they mean different people!”
The room went silent again.
Because maybe they didn’t.
⸻
The Hunter suddenly turned sharply toward the hallway.
Its voice shifted:
“THREAT LEVEL ESCALATING.”
Then—
Heavy footsteps answered from outside.
Three times larger.
Three times louder.
⸻
Mira whispered in horror:
“Oh God…”
Adrian’s expression darkened immediately.
“They brought an Alpha.”
⸻
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Even Elara’s Hunter stepped back slightly.
Like it recognized something stronger approaching.
⸻
The wall outside trembled.
Concrete dust falling from the ceiling.
⸻
Elara’s breathing quickened.
“What’s an Alpha?”
Adrian looked at her.
And for the first time—
He answered without hiding anything.
“The Hunter that killed the other children.”
⸻
Silence.
Cold.
Terrible silence.
⸻
Then a massive impact shook the entire building.
The wall cracked violently.
And through the dust—
A larger red scanner slowly lit up.
⸻
The Alpha had arrived.
⸻
But before anyone could move—
Elara’s Hunter stepped fully in front of her.
Protecting her.
Choosing her.
⸻
And suddenly Elara realized something terrifying:
The machines weren’t malfunctioning.
They remembered her.
⸻
đź“Ś END OF CHAPTER 17
- Writer
