Chapter Sixty Six: Closing In
506 Words
Xavier’s POV
The island loomed like a jagged shadow against the storm-tossed sea. Every wave that struck the hull of his boat sent shudders through the deck, but Xavier’s hands remained steady on the wheel. He had to reach her before it was too late.
The encrypted drive he carried burned in his pocket — his father’s secrets, evidence of Mnemosyne, and perhaps a way to undo everything. But he couldn’t think about that now. Not when the facility ahead pulsed with activity like a living, breathing beast.
Alarms blared faintly from the distant lab buildings, synchronized with red lights that flashed intermittently along the shoreline. Drones patrolled the perimeter, their sensors sweeping for any anomaly. Xavier leaped from the boat as soon as it touched sand, ignoring the crashing waves, his boots sinking into wet sand.
> She’s here. I can feel her.
Every instinct screamed that Mila was near. And he wasn’t wrong. The facility ahead was alive with mechanical hums and flickering lights, the very air vibrating with the tension of minds at war.
He slipped past a security drone, ducking low, moving with the same precision he’d used countless times to evade his father’s surveillance. Heart pounding, he reached the main entrance, a massive reinforced door with biometric scanners glowing red.
> Her presence is in there…
He pulled the flash drive from his pocket, overriding the locks. The door hissed and slowly parted, revealing the sterile hallway beyond. Sparks scattered across the floor, alarms echoing faintly in the distance.
Inside, the hum of machines pulsed like a heartbeat. Screens displayed streams of code, and a faint glow traced through the ventilation system — shadows moving.
And then he saw it.
A figure — a girl — moving through the corridors. Her movements were fluid, deliberate, controlled. But something was off. Her eyes flickered with an intensity he had never seen before.
> Mila.
He ran toward her, ignoring the sparks and alarms. Every step, every breath, he felt the weight of the danger surrounding her. The facility’s systems had begun locking down, and time was slipping through his fingers.
Then came a voice, calm, eerily familiar — but not hers.
> “You’re late.”
Xavier froze. Ahead, standing in the center of the hall, was another Mila — exact copy, down to the smallest detail. But the expression on her face wasn’t innocent curiosity. It was measured, calculated.
> “Who… who are you?” Xavier stammered.
The clone tilted her head, eyes locking on him with unnerving certainty.
> “I am what she wasn’t allowed to be,” she said softly. “But don’t worry… soon, you’ll know both of us.”
Xavier’s jaw tightened. His heart raced. He had come to save Mila, but now he realized the game had changed. There was more at stake than he could have imagined.
And the facility was already reacting — lights flickered violently, alarms screamed louder, and somewhere deep inside, the neural sync was unstable.
Time was running out.
- Writer
