HONOR, DIGNITY, AND PRIDE

Honor, Dignity, and Pride 20

The Injection of Mercy and the Race on Live Stream

“But this serum...” screamed Sevgül, looking up in panic. “What is this fluid in my arm? If I am going to live, why are you poisoning me? !”

“You see, Sevgül... If we wanted to, we could have put you to sleep on that concrete with a single drop,” said the mechanical voice with icy gravity. “The serum in your arm contains a slow-release, lethal poison capable of stopping your heart within seconds. It is currently spreading through your veins. The antidote... rests inside the encrypted steel safe on the opposite wall. And there is only one person in this world who knows the passcode to that safe.”

The screen suddenly split. While Gökçe’s picture remained on the left, a completely different, entirely separate children’s room appeared on the right. This was a cold, old room in an orphanage located in a remote village of Konya. Sitting on the bed was a 12-year-old girl with curly hair, her eyes filled with sorrow. This was Zeynep—the secret daughter İlkay Bey had confessed to in Room 6, the child born of the woman he had abandoned to death.

“The passcode to the safe is written between the pages of an old fairytale book in the room of Zeynep—the secret daughter İlkay Bey exiled to that orphanage to protect his honor,” said the mechanical voice. “Now, I will connect you directly to the tablet in Zeynep’s room via a live broadcast. You have exactly 3 minutes. If you cannot convince Zeynep and retrieve the passcode from that book, the poison in the serum will paralyze your heart. But remember! You must NEVER mention this underground court, the murders, the holding, or İlkay’s death! You will introduce yourself to her as an ‘older sister’ from the holding. You will play your role flawlessly, Sevgül. If you tell the girl the truth, or if you frighten her, the live broadcast will be cut instantly, and you will remain here without an antidote. The choice is yours.”

A green light illuminated on the screen, and a countdown timer of 03:00 began. At the same moment, a signal sound echoed from the microphone in the middle of the room. The connection was established.

The 12-year-old Zeynep on screen raised her head in astonishment upon seeing the incoming call on the old tablet in her hands. She could not see Sevgül, who was masked and covered in blood, because Kürşad had darkened her video feed, transmitting only her voice to the girl.

“Hello... Who is this?” said Zeynep, her voice echoing in the room with timid, childlike innocence.

In desperate panic, Sevgül leaned toward the microphone. Completely stripping her tone of the holding matriarch persona, she tried to infuse it with maternal warmth. “Zeynep... Hello, my beautiful girl,” said Sevgül, barely suppressing her sobs. “I am... I am an older sister from your father’s—İlkay Bey’s—company. My name is Sevgül.”

Zeynep’s eyes lit up instantly upon hearing her father’s name. “My father? It has been so long since my father had someone call me... Is he alright? Is he going to take me to live with him?” she asked innocently.

A lump caught in Sevgül’s throat. Seeing İlkay’s bones dissolving in acid in the opposite mirror while lying to this innocent child was tearing her soul to pieces. “Your father... your father is very well, sweetheart. He is currently on a very important business trip abroad,” said Sevgül, tears filling the inside of her mask. “But he wanted me to get something very important from you. There is an old fairytale book on the desk in your room... The one with the red cover image. Could you open it for me, sweetie?”

Zeynep got up from the bed, her steps making a creaking sound on the old floorboards. She approached the desk and picked up the dusty fairytale book with curled edges. “Yes, I found it, Sister Sevgül. My mother left this book to me.”

“Zeynep, between the pages of that book... there should be a secret note, a code your father left for me. Could you read the numbers to me, my beautiful girl? We need to open a very urgent document at the company, and if you don’t give me that code... I will be in a very difficult position here.” Sevgül’s voice trembled; her eyes gated to the remaining time on the screen: 01:15... 01:14... The numb coldness of the poison in her veins had now climbed all the way to her shoulders.

Zeynep began frantically flipping through the pages of the book. “I’m looking... I’m searching... Ah, yes! I found it! There are numbers written in pencil on the back of the page!”

“Tell me, sweetheart! Please read those numbers!” wailed Sevgül, her breath shortening.

“I’m reading... 7... 4... 9... 2... S...” Zeynep began to recite.

Just then, the door to Zeynep’s room burst open with a loud thud. In walked the cruel head matron of the orphanage—a villainous woman with her hair tightly pulled up in a bun, her face tense with hatred and irritation. In her hand was a thick wooden ruler.

“Zeynep! Who are you talking to on that forbidden tablet again? !” roared the woman, her cunning, harsh voice echoing through the room. “Didn’t I forbid you from using that device? Give it to me!”

“No! Please don't, Süreyya Hanım, my father’s company is calling!” cried Zeynep, backing away in tears.

Sevgül went wild in front of the screen. “Zeynep! Read the end of the code! Please say the last character! Don’t turn off the tablet!” she screamed into the microphone.

The evil woman charged toward Zeynep, grabbing the child’s arm forcefully. She slammed the ruler onto the table with a sharp c***k. “You have no father! You are just an abandoned orphan here—know your place!” she barked, reaching for the tablet in Zeynep’s hand.

In the final fraction of a second before the tablet was snatched from her hand, Zeynep sobbed and screamed toward the camera: “The last letter is B! Sister Sevgül, the last letter is B! 7492SB!”

And as the villainous woman grabbed the tablet, she slammed the screen face-down onto the table. The live feed cut off instantly. The screen went pitch black.