Page 37 of Lost Echoes

19

Ember

The chat window flickers. Phoenix’s messages slow, then shift:

Time you met some others. They’ve been waiting for a new ally who isn’t broken or bought.

A new tab opens, pulling us into a private encrypted room. Four usernames appear.

Phoenix97

GhostNode

Compass14

N1ghtingale

Phoenix types first:

They’ve made contact through the spool. Trust them.

The others speak, their words flashing across the black screen like lightning bolts in the dark.

GhostNode:

Age 25. Pulled from Radley at 9. Escaped the programming, barely. I live behind firewalls now. My specialty’s money—who pays whom, where the funds flow, who’s laundering what. Spoiler: Radley wasn’t broke. Government money trickled in for decades. I follow the stains.

Compass14:

Age 30. Taken at 8, escaped at 14. I know the underground like I know my own veins. Two sub-levels. One always locked unless you had clearance. They thought kids didn’t notice. I noticed everything.

N1ghtingale:

Age 26. Programmed as a handler. I watched the younger ones. Taught them the “games.” Smiles, songs, cues. I thought I was helping. But I was part of it. I carry every scream. I don’t expect forgiveness.

I sit back, stunned. They’re real. They’re scarred. And they’ve been preparing.

Phoenix cuts in:

Each of us carries a piece of the puzzle. I gather files. Ghost follows money. Compass tracks locations. Nightingale remembers methods. Together, we’ve been waiting for the right moment to cut it all open. You want in? You’re in.

GhostNode:

We’ve been planning an information release for years. A coordinated drop—so big, so fast, they can’t bury it before the world sees. But we need timing. And we need more proof.

Compass14:

Names. Dates. Journals. We have fragments. Enough to scare them, but not enough to nail them.

N1ghtingale:

And we need protection. Once we go live, they’ll hunt us harder than ever.

Luke leans close to the screen. “They’re organized and ready.”

I nod in agreement, hardly able to take it all in.

Phoenix again: