OLD GHOSTS (Path A – entering the room)
279 Words
You slip inside the maintenance room and slam the door shut behind you.
Darkness.
Then—click.
A dim overhead light flickers on.
The room is small, cluttered with old equipment, wires, and a dusty terminal.
And someone else is already inside.
He raises his hands immediately.
“Easy! Easy—I’m not with them!”
You stare.
Mid-20s. Nervous. Glasses slightly crooked. Hoodie soaked from the rain.
Definitely not a trained operative.
“Who are you?” you demand.
“Name’s Ethan Cole,” he says quickly. “I—I think I just saved your life.”
You blink.
“…You locked that door?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Magnetic seal. Temporary, but it’ll hold them for a bit.”
As if on cue—
BANG.
Something slams into the door from the outside.
Ethan flinches.
“Okay, maybe not long.”
Maya’s voice returns.
“Ethan. Took you long enough.”
Ethan looks up, startled.
“Wait—you can hear her too?”
You narrow your eyes.
“You know him?”
Maya sighs.
“He’s the reason you’re in this mess.”
“HEY,” Ethan protests. “I prefer ‘accidental hero.’”
Another hit against the door.
Harder.
The metal dents inward slightly.
Ethan rushes to the old terminal and plugs something in.
The flash drive.
Your flash drive.
“Hey!” you snap.
“I need this to open a secure channel,” he says quickly. “Trust me!”
You hesitate.
Trust.
That word again.
CHOICE 5
A. Let Ethan continue
B. Stop him and take the flash drive back
C. Ask Maya what to do
- Writer
