Chapter 14: The Purge

The archive doors exploded inward.

Metal fragments scattered across the floor.

The shockwave rattled every terminal in the room.

Claire Moreau instinctively ducked behind a workstation as armed figures poured through the entrance.

For a split second she thought Nightglass had found them.

Then she noticed something strange.

The uniforms were different.

No white masks.

No Nightglass insignia.

Black tactical gear.

Military precision.

The same attackers from outside.

One of them shouted.

Move. Now.

The archive countdown continued.

Nine seconds.

Eight.

Seven.

Adrian Keller looked uncertain.

Who are they?

The armed woman leading the team removed her helmet.

Sharp features.

Short dark hair.

Cold blue eyes.

She looked directly at Adrian.

If you want to see your brother again, come with us.

Everything stopped.

Adrian froze.

The woman didn't wait for questions.

She pointed toward the terminals.

The purge has already started.

You're out of time.

Claire looked back at the screens.

Entire databases were vanishing.

Years of records disappearing forever.

Five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Lena grabbed Claire's arm.

We have to go.

The final countdown reached zero.

Every screen turned black.

The server racks powered down simultaneously.

The archive died.

Silence followed.

A silence so complete it felt unnatural.

Then emergency lights activated.

The room glowed red.

The archive was gone.

Every record.

Every profile.

Every secret.

Destroyed.

Claire felt sick.

Months of investigation.

Thousands of missing people.

All erased.

Not all.

Adrian held up the USB drive.

We got something.

The woman leading the assault team nodded approvingly.

More than we expected.

Claire stepped forward.

Who are you?

The woman studied her for a moment.

My name is Maya Volkov.

I lead a task force dedicated to dismantling Nightglass.

Task force for who?

Maya smiled faintly.

That answer depends on who survives tonight.

Claire hated vague answers.

Before she could ask another question, gunfire erupted somewhere above them.

The sound echoed through the underground facility.

Nightglass security.

Maya turned toward her team.

Move.

The soldiers immediately obeyed.

Claire noticed something.

Unlike Nightglass operatives, these people seemed human.

Nervous.

Focused.

Not robotic.

Not detached.

They weren't following orders blindly.

They believed in their mission.

That made them potentially more dangerous.

The group hurried through a side corridor.

Emergency lighting illuminated concrete walls.

The station shook periodically from distant explosions.

The battle above continued.

Nightglass wasn't surrendering.

Not yet.

Maya moved beside Adrian.

Matthias is alive.

Adrian immediately looked at her.

Where?

Sector Four.

Research division.

The answer came too quickly.

Too confidently.

Claire noticed Adrian thinking the same thing.

How do you know?

Because he contacted us.

The corridor seemed to become quieter.

Adrian stopped walking.

What?

Maya stopped too.

Your brother exposed Nightglass.

He's the reason we're here.

Claire looked between them.

That didn't make sense.

If Matthias exposed Nightglass, why was he still inside?

Maya answered before anyone asked.

Because he couldn't leave.

Why not?

Maya's expression darkened.

Because Nightglass wasn't holding him prisoner.

The statement hit Adrian hard.

Then what was he?

An employee.

Nobody spoke.

Claire stared at Maya.

You're saying Matthias worked for Nightglass?

For years.

Adrian looked as though someone had punched him.

No.

Yes.

Maya didn't soften the truth.

Your brother joined willingly.

At least initially.

The corridor continued descending.

Nobody spoke for several moments.

The revelation changed everything.

Matthias wasn't a victim.

At least not originally.

He had helped build the system.

Then something happened.

Something significant enough to make him turn against it.

Claire finally broke the silence.

What changed?

Maya looked ahead.

He discovered the truth.

The answer raised more questions than it solved.

Ahead, the corridor opened into a large underground chamber.

Claire stopped immediately.

Rows of train carriages stood on hidden tracks beneath the mountains.

Dozens of them.

Maybe hundreds.

The sight was staggering.

This wasn't a station.

It was an underground transportation network.

Nightglass trains.

Nightglass routes.

Nightglass infrastructure.

Hidden beneath Europe.

For how long?

Claire whispered.

Decades.

Maya's answer came quietly.

Nobody wanted to believe the scale.

The chamber stretched beyond sight.

Maintenance crews ran between trains.

Security personnel exchanged fire with Maya's assault teams.

Explosions echoed in the distance.

The entire facility was collapsing into chaos.

One of Maya's soldiers approached.

Sector Four is compromised.

Maya cursed.

Status?

Nightglass initiated evacuation.

Of course they did.

Claire watched the conversation carefully.

These people clearly knew the facility.

Maybe better than Nightglass itself.

Maya turned toward the group.

We need to move.

Where?

Research division.

Why?

Because if Matthias is still alive, that's where he'll be.

The journey across the underground rail yard felt surreal.

Claire passed train after train.

Different designs.

Different routes.

Different destinations.

Some marked for cities she recognized.

Others labeled only with numbers.

Entire populations could disappear through this network.

Entire identities.

Entire lives.

The scale of Nightglass exceeded anything she had imagined.

Suddenly, alarms activated again.

Different alarms.

Not Nightglass.

Maya's radio crackled.

Commander, we found him.

Adrian immediately stepped forward.

Matthias?

The radio operator hesitated.

Yes.

Alive?

A pause followed.

Then the answer came.

Barely.

The entire group accelerated.

They ran through corridors lined with reinforced doors.

Past laboratories.

Past offices.

Past abandoned workstations.

The deeper they went, the stranger the facility became.

Eventually they reached a medical wing.

White walls.

Bright lighting.

Blood.

Lots of blood.

Claire's stomach tightened.

The battle had reached this area already.

Several bodies lay in the corridor.

Nightglass personnel.

Security staff.

Nobody stopped moving.

At the end of the hallway stood a reinforced door.

Open.

Inside waited several soldiers.

One looked up as they entered.

He's here.

Adrian pushed past everyone.

Claire followed.

The room resembled a laboratory.

Computers.

Medical equipment.

Research stations.

And in the center sat a man.

Alive.

Injured.

Exhausted.

Matthias Keller.

For several seconds nobody spoke.

The brothers stared at one another.

Years of questions.

Years of assumptions.

Years of grief.

All collapsing into a single moment.

Matthias looked older than his photographs.

Tired.

Haunted.

Yet unmistakably alive.

Adrian finally found his voice.

You're alive.

Matthias laughed weakly.

That seems to surprise everyone.

Then his eyes shifted toward Claire.

Good.

You're here.

Claire frowned.

You know who I am?

Matthias nodded.

I chose you.

The room went silent.

Claire felt cold.

What?

The anonymous email.

The train.

The investigation.

Matthias looked directly at her.

That was me.

The revelation hit harder than any explosion.

Months of investigation.

Every clue.

Every lead.

Every breadcrumb.

All carefully placed.

Not by Nightglass.

By Matthias Keller.

Claire stared at him.

Why?

Matthias looked exhausted.

Because I needed someone the system couldn't predict.

Someone who would keep asking questions.

Someone who wouldn't stop.

Claire opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

For the first time since boarding the train, she realized something.

She had never been investigating Nightglass.

She had been recruited to expose it.

And Matthias Keller had been guiding her every step of the way.