Chapter 12: The Surveillance Files

The train rolled into Station Alter beneath a curtain of falling snow.

Claire Moreau stood beside Adrian Keller and Lena Fischer, watching through the window as the ghost station emerged from the darkness.

Everything about the place felt wrong.

The platform was too isolated.

Too hidden.

Too prepared.

Floodlights illuminated sections of the station while armed personnel waited beside the tracks.

The old stone building looked abandoned from a distance, yet dozens of people moved around it with military precision.

No public signs.

No civilian vehicles.

No indication that the station officially existed.

Station Alter had been erased from the world.

Just like the people Nightglass relocated.

The realization sent a chill through Claire.

The train finally came to a stop.

For the first time since leaving Paris, the movement beneath her feet disappeared.

The silence felt unnatural.

Dangerous.

A mechanical voice echoed through the speakers.

Transfer protocol initiated.

Prepare subjects for relocation.

Claire glanced toward Adrian.

Subjects.

Not passengers.

Not people.

Subjects.

The language alone revealed everything about Nightglass.

People were inventory.

Assets.

Data points.

Lena stepped away from the window.

We have maybe ten minutes.

Ten minutes before what?

Before they realize I'm here.

Claire frowned.

You escaped six months ago.

Exactly.

Lena's expression darkened.

People who escape Nightglass aren't supposed to survive.

That answer wasn't comforting.

A loud metallic clank echoed through the train.

The carriage doors were opening.

Outside, armed personnel immediately began moving toward the passenger compartments.

Claire could see them through the glass.

White masks.

Black uniforms.

Nightglass.

The transfer had begun.

Somewhere behind them, frightened passengers were being removed from cages.

Taken to an unknown destination.

Processed.

Relocated.

Or worse.

Adrian looked toward the locked access door.

We need another way out.

Lena nodded.

There is one.

How do you know?

Because I used it before.

She led them through a narrow service corridor behind the executive compartment.

The passage ended at a maintenance hatch concealed behind an equipment cabinet.

Claire raised an eyebrow.

Convenient.

Lena almost smiled.

Nightglass was built by people.

People make mistakes.

They climbed through the hatch and emerged into a dark utility tunnel running beneath the station.

The air smelled damp.

Old.

Unused.

Concrete walls stretched in both directions.

Emergency lights flickered overhead.

Claire followed closely.

The tunnel eventually split.

One path led upward.

The other continued deeper underground.

Lena pointed upward.

Control offices.

And the other direction?

Archives.

Claire stopped.

Archives?

Lena nodded.

Every transfer.

Every subject.

Every relocation.

Nightglass keeps records.

Adrian looked interested.

Why would they keep records?

Because they never planned for outsiders to find them.

Claire immediately made a decision.

Archives first.

Adrian looked at her.

Really?

We're standing inside a secret station connected to a conspiracy involving thousands of missing people.

She tightened her grip on the black briefcase.

Yes. Archives first.

Lena nodded approvingly.

You're definitely a journalist.

The archive corridor descended deeper underground.

The further they walked, the newer everything became.

Old concrete gave way to reinforced walls.

Security cameras appeared.

Electronic access panels.

Motion sensors.

This wasn't an abandoned station anymore.

This was an active facility.

A hidden headquarters beneath the Alps.

Eventually they reached a heavy security door.

Lena examined the keypad.

I don't have access anymore.

Can you bypass it?

Maybe.

Claire groaned.

Not you too.

Lena laughed quietly.

It's a difficult door.

Adrian stepped forward.

Move.

Within thirty seconds, the panel clicked.

The door opened.

Claire stared.

That was fast.

Rail security training.

Remind me never to lock my apartment.

The room beyond was enormous.

Rows of servers stretched into the distance.

Computer terminals lined the walls.

Storage cabinets filled the center.

Thousands of files.

Thousands of names.

The archive.

Claire slowly walked inside.

This wasn't an archive.

It was a surveillance system.

Every screen displayed information.

Photographs.

Identity records.

Location data.

Medical reports.

Psychological evaluations.

The amount of information was staggering.

Then Claire noticed something terrifying.

Her own face.

Displayed on a monitor.

She approached slowly.

The screen contained a complete profile.

Photographs.

Employment history.

Travel records.

Family information.

Education.

Financial accounts.

Even personal messages.

How is this possible?

Lena looked at the screen.

Nightglass watches potential subjects long before contact.

Claire felt violated.

Every detail of her life had been collected.

Studied.

Catalogued.

She scrolled further.

Then froze.

Subject Assessment.

Probability of Recruitment: 82%.

Transfer Recommendation: Approved.

Date Created: Eight Months Ago.

Eight months.

They had been monitoring her for eight months.

Before the anonymous email.

Before the investigation.

Before she even knew Nightglass existed.

A cold realization settled over her.

The investigation wasn't an accident.

Nightglass wanted her involved.

Wanted her curious.

Wanted her following clues.

Someone had guided her toward this train.

Toward this station.

Toward this moment.

Adrian suddenly called her over.

Claire.

You need to see this.

He stood beside another terminal.

The screen displayed surveillance footage.

Hundreds of recordings.

Different locations.

Different dates.

Different people.

Claire immediately recognized one face.

Sofia Brandt.

The woman from Seat 19.

Video after video showed Sofia.

Walking through a mountain facility.

Attending meetings.

Speaking with Nightglass personnel.

Living.

Thriving.

Not imprisoned.

Not tortured.

Not controlled.

The footage completely contradicted everything Claire expected.

Then another face appeared.

Matthias Keller.

Adrian stepped closer.

His brother looked healthy.

Calm.

Alive.

He wasn't acting like a prisoner.

He appeared to be working there.

That disturbed Adrian more than any evidence of captivity.

The final recording carried a timestamp from only three days earlier.

Matthias stood beside Viktor Weiss.

They appeared to be arguing.

The audio quality was poor.

Most words were impossible to understand.

Except one.

Exposure.

Matthias repeated it several times.

Then pointed toward a document.

Weiss looked angry.

The recording ended.

Adrian stared at the frozen image.

What was he trying to expose?

Before anyone could answer, every monitor in the room suddenly changed.

One by one.

The surveillance footage disappeared.

The profiles vanished.

The files closed.

A single message appeared across every screen.

SECURITY BREACH DETECTED.

Then another.

LOCATION IDENTIFIED.

Claire's stomach dropped.

We triggered something.

No.

Lena looked terrified.

Someone found us.

Red warning lights activated throughout the archive.

An alarm began sounding.

Not in the station.

Not in the train.

Inside the archive itself.

Automatic lockdown initiated.

The voice echoed through hidden speakers.

Archive purge begins in sixty seconds.

Claire felt cold.

Purge?

Lena's face went pale.

They're going to erase everything.

Every record.

Every subject.

Every piece of evidence.

Claire looked around the room.

Thousands of files.

Thousands of lives.

Years of secrets.

And only sixty seconds before it all disappeared forever.