Chapter 11: Five Minutes to Live
The laboratory shook violently.
Concrete cracked overhead.
The ceiling groaned as dust and broken stone rained onto the polished floor.
The digital countdown flashed in bright crimson.
04:59
04:58
Marcus didn't hesitate.
"Everybody move!"
His voice echoed through the underground facility as Castillo Security agents sprang into action.
Two teams rushed toward the remaining prison blocks.
Another team began carrying boxes of hard drives, medical files, and Project Mirror archives.
Grace grabbed Isabella's research journals.
"We can't leave these."
Alejandro nodded.
"They're the only proof."
The Flood
Marcus's radio crackled.
"Commander!"
"Level Two is completely underwater!"
"We've located twelve survivors, but three cells are jammed!"
Marcus looked at Alejandro.
"I'll get them."
Alejandro immediately shook his head.
"We both go."
Elena grabbed his arm.
"No."
He turned toward her.
She looked into his eyes with complete certainty.
"You rescue the prisoners."
"I'll save the evidence."
He frowned.
"It's too dangerous."
She smiled softly.
"I spent three years surviving this place."
"I know every hallway."
For the first time...
Alejandro realized she wasn't the frightened woman he had found in a maid's uniform.
She was becoming Elena again.
Strong.
Fearless.
Determined.
He gently kissed her forehead.
"Come back to me."
"I always will."
Vivian's Confession
Outside the mansion...
Vivian sat handcuffed inside one of Marcus's armored vehicles.
Rain continued pouring over the estate.
Castle Security agents questioned her while firefighters prepared for the explosions beneath the mansion.
One investigator slammed a folder onto the table.
"How many people died because of Project Mirror?"
Vivian stared through the rain-streaked window.
"I don't know."
"That's impossible."
"It isn't."
She closed her eyes.
"Eduardo never told us everyone's real names."
"They were numbers."
"Subjects."
"Assets."
"Candidates."
The investigator leaned closer.
"Where's the master server?"
Vivian remained silent.
Then...
She slowly smiled.
"You've been looking beneath the mansion."
The investigator frowned.
"Yes."
"That's exactly where Eduardo wanted you to look."
The Forgotten Tunnel
Back underground...
Samuel led Elena through a narrow maintenance passage.
Few lights still worked.
Most had already failed.
The walls trembled with every distant explosion.
Samuel stopped beside a rusted steel door.
"My father built this tunnel."
"It leads to the original archives."
Elena frowned.
"I've never seen this."
"Neither had Eduardo."
Samuel inserted an old brass key.
The lock opened immediately.
Inside...
Rows of dusty filing cabinets stretched into darkness.
No computers.
No electronics.
Only paper.
Thousands of handwritten journals.
Architectural blueprints.
Financial ledgers.
Original research notebooks.
Samuel smiled sadly.
"This is the real history."
"He never found it."
Elena understood immediately.
Everything in Project Mirror's computers could be erased.
But paper...
Paper survived.
Saving the Children
Meanwhile...
Alejandro and Marcus reached the flooded corridor.
Water already reached their waists.
Children cried from behind reinforced steel doors.
Marcus shouted,
"Explosives!"
Two agents attached breaching charges.
Three...
Two...
One...
BOOM!
The steel door burst inward.
A little girl no older than eight rushed into Alejandro's arms.
She was soaked.
Shivering.
Terrified.
"Is the bad lady gone?"
Alejandro smiled gently.
"She can't hurt you anymore."
More children emerged.
Some carried each other.
Others refused to leave without elderly prisoners who had protected them.
One teenage boy turned back.
"My little brother!"
"He's still inside!"
Without hesitation...
Alejandro plunged deeper into the flooding corridor.
Eduardo's Last Trap
In the laboratory...
Grace continued copying Isabella's files.
Suddenly...
Every monitor activated again.
Not Eduardo.
An automated message.
Founder Directive 11
Grace's blood ran cold.
The system announced:
"If Project Mirror is compromised..."
"Release all neurological research to global financial markets."
Marcus's technician stared.
"What does that mean?"
Grace turned pale.
"It means..."
"The technology won't die here."
"It will be sold."
"To anyone."
Governments.
Criminal organizations.
Private militaries.
Anyone willing to pay.
Marcus immediately ordered,
"Destroy every server."
Agents opened fire.
Bullets shattered screens.
Hard drives.
Data centers.
Flames spread through the laboratory.
One by one...
Project Mirror disappeared forever.
Vivian's Revenge
At the surface...
Vivian suddenly laughed.
The investigator frowned.
"What's funny?"
She looked toward the mansion.
"You still don't understand."
"I wasn't Eduardo's favorite."
"You were?"
She nodded.
"He trusted only one person."
She leaned closer.
"And that person..."
"...is still inside."
The investigator immediately grabbed his radio.
"Marcus!"
"There may be another accomplice underground!"
Static.
No response.
The communication system had failed.
The Betrayal
Deep below the mansion...
Samuel carried two heavy boxes of Isabella's journals.
Elena followed closely behind.
Suddenly...
A familiar voice echoed through the dark tunnel.
"You should have stayed forgotten."
Elena froze.
Standing at the far end of the corridor...
Holding a pistol...
Was Harrison Keller.
Or rather...
The man who had stolen Harrison's identity.
He smiled coldly.
"I've waited years for this."
Samuel slowly placed the boxes on the ground.
"I knew you survived."
The impostor nodded.
"Eduardo prepared backups."
He aimed the gun directly at Elena.
"The founder is dead."
"But Project Mirror isn't."
Elena stepped in front of the boxes.
"You'll never rebuild it."
He smiled.
"I don't need the computers."
His eyes shifted toward Isabella's handwritten journals.
"I only need those."
Samuel quietly moved one step sideways.
Almost unnoticed.
The impostor never looked away from Elena.
He didn't see Samuel reach for an old iron pipe leaning against the wall.
One second later—
Samuel swung with every ounce of strength left in his aging body.
The iron pipe struck the gunman's wrist.
The pistol flew across the corridor.
A fierce struggle erupted.
Samuel shouted,
"Run!"
Elena grabbed the journals and sprinted toward the exit.
Behind her...
She heard another gunshot.
Then silence.
The Rescue
Alejandro finally reached the deepest flooded cell.
Inside...
A small boy was trapped beneath a collapsed steel beam.
The child looked up weakly.
"My name..."
"...is Lucas."
Alejandro's heart skipped a beat.
Lucas.
The same name from Eduardo's files.
The alleged "biological son."
Marcus arrived beside him.
"We have to move!"
The countdown reached:
01:43
Alejandro lifted the beam with all his strength.
Marcus pulled the boy free.
As they turned toward the exit...
The tunnel behind them collapsed.
The only remaining path led through the old archive tunnel...
Where Elena had gone.
May you like
And where the gunshot had echoed only moments earlier.
End of Chapter 11
