Chapter 6

The footsteps kept getting closer, heavier with each step.

The Eradicators were here, doing the Dominion Network's dirty work, closing in on our last safe place.

Samuel's face was tight with worry. "You have to hurry! If they get you, nowhere will be safe anymore."

My fingers flew across the screen, typing code as fast as I could. Every keystroke felt like someone driving nails into my skull, the pain so sharp I could barely think straight. But with each line of code I wrote, something was waking up inside me—something I'd never felt before.

Memory fragments broke loose and flooded my brain.

I saw flashes of images—blurry, like half-remembered dreams.

I saw faces I didn't recognize, cold white labs, and blood mixed with streams of data.

I'd been their lab rat from day one. "Number 10734" was just what they called me.

Turned out I was part of the Dominion Network all along, and that was the reason why they hadn't killed me yet.

This power wasn't something I'd developed. It was built into me from the beginning.

Heat spread through my body as my fingers moved faster across the screen.

"Unlock sequence: Fifth character position corresponds to your deepest fear."

I kept saying it over and over, my pulse racing.

"What are you afraid of?" Samuel asked, his voice urgent.

"I..."

I went completely still.

It hit me then what I was really afraid of. It wasn't dying or failing. It was—

"Losing myself," I said quietly. "Turning into something I don't recognize."

The code on the screen finally started making sense. All those jumbled numbers and symbols began lining up in patterns.

My hands stopped moving as a row of bright characters clicked into place.

I'd cracked more than just a hole in the Dominion Network's system. I'd figured out what scared me most.

"Done," I muttered. The code disappeared, replaced by a string of glowing letters and numbers.

Everything went quiet.

I felt different somehow—stronger. Like something inside me had just woken up and blended with the code.

Then, I heard them outside—the Eradicators at our door, speaking in flat, emotionless voices. "Target confirmed. Number 10734. Begin elimination."

Samuel's face went pale. "They're here. We need to move!"

I jumped to my feet, and something was different. My body felt faster and sharper. Like I'd been sleepwalking my whole life and just woke up.

That was when I knew something had changed in me.

I turned and rushed toward the door.

The Eradicators kept talking in those dead voices. "Target acquired—"

But then, the lights outside cut out, and alarms started screaming.

"Reverse code activated."

I looked down at my flickering screen, everything went fuzzy for a second, and then I saw something that made no sense.

I saw the Eradicator's face clearly now—cold metal hiding a face even colder underneath.

But then that face just broke apart, like a glitched hologram falling to pieces.

They were nothing but slaves to the Dominion Network.

"Holy shit, you did it!" Samuel shouted, staring at me like I'd just walked on water. "You actually hacked into part of the Dominion Network."

Something powerful was flowing through me now. My head felt crystal clear, like someone had just cranked up the resolution on everything around me. I could hear things I'd never noticed before—footsteps three floors down, electrical hums in the walls.

"This is your chance," Samuel said, grabbing my arm. "You're awakened, but it's just the start. You could do way more than this. You could actually take them down!"

I took a deep breath. I wasn't that scared kid anymore. For the first time in my life, I had real power. And they were the ones who should be running scared.

"I'm going to make them understand," I whispered, my voice low and determined. "They're not the hunters anymore. Now, their fate is in my hands."

My words echoed in the silence as the Eradicators' footsteps faded into nothing. I stood there in the pitch-black underground, fire blazing in my eyes like nothing I'd ever felt before.