The emergency lights flickered back on.
Elias raised his weapon.
The platform was silent.
A moment ago, a woman had stood among them.
She had turned toward Elias.
Her eyes had been completely black.
Then she had spoken in his voice.
“Thirty-eight.”
Now she was gone.
No body.
No footprints.
Nothing.
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
“Nobody move.”
The survivors froze.
Marcus looked across the platform.
“Count.”
Nobody questioned him.
They began calling out names.
One.
Two.
Three.
Elias watched Marcus carefully.
His eyes moved from person to person.
Thirty.
Thirty-one.
Thirty-two.
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“Thirty-two.”
Noah exhaled.
“So we’re all here.”
Marcus didn’t answer.
He counted again.
Thirty-two.
Then again.
Thirty-two.
His eyes narrowed.
“Who saw the woman?”
Several hands slowly rose.
A young man pointed toward the eastern tracks.
“She was there.”
Another survivor shook his head.
“No.
She was beside the train.”
“I saw her near the stairs.”
“I saw her standing behind Marcus.”
Marcus looked from one survivor to another.
“Describe her.”
Silence.
The survivors exchanged uncertain glances.
The young man spoke first.
“She was young.”
An older woman shook her head.
“No.
She was old.”
Someone else said:
“She had dark hair.”
Another answered:
“Blonde.”
“I remember a red jacket.”
“I remember a security uniform.”
Marcus stared at them.
Nobody could agree.
Elias felt a chill crawl across his back.
The creature hadn’t simply disappeared.
It had left something behind.
Confusion.
Marcus pulled a notebook from his jacket.
“New rule.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Nobody verifies another survivor alone.”
He wrote quickly.
RULE TWO — TWO PEOPLE MUST CONFIRM EVERYTHING.
Noah frowned.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
Marcus looked up.
“If someone leaves the group, two people go with them.”
“If someone claims they saw something, someone else confirms it.”
“If someone disappears—”
He paused.
“Nobody follows.”
Mara stared at him.
“Why?”
Marcus closed the notebook.
“Because we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
He didn’t say anything else.
But Elias understood.
Marcus was beginning to distrust his own senses.
The group moved toward the central platform.
Nobody wanted to stand near the tunnels anymore.
The abandoned station felt different now.
Every shadow looked like a person.
Every sound could have been a voice.
Every face seemed slightly unfamiliar.
Elias noticed Marcus counting again.
Thirty-two.
Thirty-two.
Thirty-two.
Then Marcus stopped.
His eyes remained fixed on the survivors.
Elias approached.
“How many?”
“Thirty-two.”
“You sure?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“I think.”
Elias said nothing.
Marcus opened his notebook.
He began writing names.
One after another.
Elias watched.
Marcus finished.
Then stopped.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Elias looked at the notebook.
There were thirty-eight names.
“Marcus.”
Marcus stared at the page.
“I only wrote thirty-two.”
Elias pointed.
“Then why are there thirty-eight?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Noah came closer.
“What are the extra names?”
Marcus read them.
Six names.
He recognized five.
The sixth made him stop.
Marcus Vale.
Elias frowned.
“Your name.”
Marcus stared at it.
“I know.”
“Why is it there?”
“I don’t know.”
He crossed it out.
The ink smeared across the page.
A few seconds later, Marcus looked again.
The name was back.
He dropped the notebook.
Elias picked it up.
The name remained.
Marcus Vale.
He looked at Marcus.
“Did you write this?”
“No.”
“You just said you don’t remember.”
“I didn’t write it.”
Marcus’s voice was becoming sharper.
Elias looked at Noah.
Noah shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
Subject Nine stepped closer.
She looked at the page.
Her expression changed.
“Burn it.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
“Burn the notebook.”
“Why?”
“Because it isn’t a record anymore.”
Subject Nine pointed at the names.
“It’s a test.”
Elias frowned.
“A test of what?”
“Memory.”
A sudden metallic crash echoed from the far end of the station.
Everyone turned.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Stay here.”
He moved toward the sound.
Elias followed.
Marcus glanced at him.
“I said stay.”
“I’m not letting you go alone.”
Marcus sighed.
“Fine.”
They entered an old storage room.
Several boxes had fallen from a shelf.
Nothing else moved.
Marcus searched the corners.
Elias checked beneath the shelves.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A photograph.
He picked it up.
It showed a laboratory.
Several researchers stood behind glass.
A younger Marcus was among them.
Elias froze.
“Marcus.”
Marcus looked over.
He saw the photograph.
His face became completely blank.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was on the floor.”
Marcus took it.
He stared at the younger version of himself.
Elias stepped closer.
“You said you never worked for Chimera.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why are you in this photograph?”
Marcus’s fingers tightened around it.
“I don’t remember.”
Elias looked at the photograph again.
There was someone standing beside Marcus.
A man wearing a white coat.
His face had been scratched out.
Marcus turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
OBSERVATION TEAM — SUBJECT ZERO
Marcus’s breathing stopped.
Elias noticed.
“Subject Zero?”
Marcus dropped the photograph.
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“You recognized it.”
Marcus stepped backward.
“I said I don’t know.”
His voice cracked.
Then a whisper came from the doorway.
“Marcus.”
He froze.
Elias turned.
Nobody was there.
The voice came again.
This time, it was Marcus’s brother.
“You remember.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Stop.”
“You remember the door.”
Marcus’s breathing became uneven.
“Stop.”
“You remember leaving me.”
Marcus pressed both hands against his head.
“No.”
Elias stepped toward him.
“Marcus.”
“You heard him too.”
Elias stopped.
“What?”
Marcus looked at him.
His eyes were wet.
“You heard him.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
Marcus stared.
For several seconds, he looked completely lost.
Then he whispered:
“I can’t tell anymore.”
A scream came from the platform.
Everyone rushed back.
A man was standing near the tracks.
His weapon was raised.
Marcus shouted:
“Put it down!”
The man turned.
His face was pale.
“I saw her.”
“Who?”
“My wife.”
Silence.
Mara stepped closer.
“Your wife?”
The man nodded.
“She’s alive?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“She died three days ago.”
Nobody spoke.
Marcus slowly lowered his weapon.
“Did she speak to you?”
The man nodded.
“She said she was cold.”
Mara’s expression softened.
“What did you say?”
The man looked toward the tunnel.
“I told her I’d come.”
Marcus’s expression changed instantly.
“Don’t.”
The man turned.
“What?”
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Step away from the tunnel.”
The man looked confused.
“Why?”
Marcus pointed.
“Step away.”
The man’s hand moved toward his neck.
Subject Nine suddenly shouted:
“Don’t touch it!”
Everyone looked.
Dark veins were visible beneath the man’s skin.
The man stared at them.
“What is that?”
The veins spread.
Slowly.
Like black ink.
He screamed.
“Help me!”
Two survivors grabbed him.
He collapsed.
Then his voice changed.
For one second…
It was a woman’s voice.
“I don’t want to die.”
The survivors froze.
The man began crying.
“No…”
The woman’s voice came again.
“I don’t want to die.”
Then his eyes turned black.
Chaos erupted.
Marcus shouted:
“Get back!”
The man’s body convulsed.
His bones shifted.
His fingers twisted.
His mouth opened.
The creature looked at Elias.
Then smiled.
“Thirty-three.”
Elias froze.
It continued.
“Thirty-four.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Thirty-five.”
The creature’s head tilted.
“Thirty-six.”
Noah fired.
The bullet struck its shoulder.
The creature barely reacted.
“Thirty-seven.”
Elias fired.
The creature fell backward.
“Thirty-eight.”
It stopped moving.
Silence.
Smoke drifted through the air.
Marcus slowly lowered his weapon.
“Is it dead?”
Subject Nine stared at the body.
“Don’t touch it.”
Nobody moved.
Something beneath the creature’s chest twitched.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Subject Nine whispered:
“It’s not counting people.”
Elias looked at her.
“Then what is it counting?”
She looked around the platform.
“Changes.”
The survivors stared at her.
Noah frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Every time someone reacts to it…”
She swallowed.
“…it learns.”
Elias looked at the corpse.
“So fear teaches it.”
“Yes.”
“Memories?”
“Yes.”
“Voices?”
“Yes.”
Subject Nine looked at Marcus.
“And grief.”
Marcus looked away.
Later, Elias found Marcus sitting alone near the old ticket office.
The survivor list was beside him.
He had crossed out several names.
Elias approached.
“What are you doing?”
Marcus didn’t look up.
“Finding the one that doesn’t belong.”
Elias glanced at the list.
There were thirty-eight names.
“Who?”
Marcus pointed.
Elias looked.
His own name was there.
ELIAS.
He stared at Marcus.
“What?”
Marcus’s voice was quiet.
“I don’t remember when you joined us.”
Elias felt cold.
“You know me.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been with me since the shelter.”
“I know.”
Marcus looked at him.
“That’s the problem.”
Elias said nothing.
Marcus slowly turned the page.
Another name had been written underneath.
MARCUS VALE.
Neither of them moved.
Then—
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The sound came from somewhere inside the station.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Elias raised his weapon.
A voice whispered from the darkness.
“Which one of you is real?”
Neither answered.
Then the lights went out.