Chapter 15: Dead Ends

Matthias Keller's confession changed the room.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The medical laboratory trembled faintly as explosions continued somewhere deeper inside the underground facility.

Emergency lights flashed against white walls.

Computers blinked with warning messages.

Blood stained the floor near the entrance.

And in the center of it all sat Matthias Keller, the missing man who was not missing, the victim who had not been only a victim, and the source who had dragged Claire Moreau into the most dangerous story of her life.

Claire stared at him.

You sent the email.

Matthias nodded weakly.

Yes.

You put me on that train.

I gave you the choice to board it.

That answer sparked immediate anger.

Claire stepped closer.

No. You gave me a trail designed to make sure I would follow it.

Matthias did not deny it.

Because I knew you would.

Adrian stood beside Claire, but his attention remained fixed on his brother.

Years of grief and anger battled across his face.

You let me think you were dead.

Matthias closed his eyes.

I know.

You let our mother think you were dead.

Pain crossed Matthias's face.

That was the hardest part.

Adrian laughed bitterly.

You don't get to say that.

The words hit the room like a strike.

Even Maya Volkov remained silent.

Claire understood why.

This was not only about Nightglass anymore.

This was family.

Betrayal.

Years stolen by secrecy.

Matthias looked at Adrian.

I was trying to protect you.

No.

Adrian's voice sharpened.

Don't use that excuse. You disappeared. You joined them. You built something monstrous. Then when it went wrong, you decided to send a journalist and your brother into the middle of it.

Matthias flinched.

He deserved the accusation.

Claire could see that he knew it.

Still, there was something else in his expression.

Urgency.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For what was coming.

Claire forced her anger down.

Why me?

Matthias looked at her.

Because Nightglass studies everyone it touches. Police officers, politicians, intelligence analysts, corporate investigators. They predict loyalty, pressure points, weaknesses.

He coughed, then continued.

But journalists are harder. Good ones don't follow authority. They follow contradictions.

Claire did not respond.

Because that was true.

Matthias pointed toward a damaged computer terminal.

I needed someone who would notice the gaps.

Someone who would document everything.

Someone who could make the evidence public before Nightglass erased it.

Maya stepped forward.

And now we have very little evidence left.

Adrian held up the USB drive.

Thirty-two percent of the archive.

Maya looked at it.

Enough to prove Nightglass existed.

But not enough to prove who controlled it.

Claire caught the distinction immediately.

Controlled.

Not created.

Maya nodded.

Nightglass has layers. Scientists, contractors, private security, government contacts, corporate sponsors. Exposing one layer won't destroy the system.

Matthias whispered.

Unless you expose the directorate.

The word silenced everyone.

Claire turned back to him.

What directorate?

The people who took control after the original program collapsed.

Original program?

Matthias breathed slowly, fighting pain.

Nightglass began as an emergency identity program after a series of intelligence failures. Witnesses, defectors, whistleblowers, people whose lives were in genuine danger. New identities. New locations. Complete protection.

That almost sounded defensible.

Almost.

Then Matthias continued.

But the system became too powerful. If you can erase a person to protect them, you can erase a person to control them. If you can create new identities, you can create new assets. If you can make someone vanish legally, you can make anyone disappear.

Claire felt a chill.

So the program changed.

It was taken over.

By who?

Matthias looked toward Maya.

She knows.

Maya's jaw tightened.

Claire turned to her.

You said your task force was created to dismantle Nightglass.

Yes.

By whom?

Maya hesitated.

That hesitation was answer enough.

Claire stepped closer.

You're not official, are you?

Maya didn't answer.

Adrian looked at her sharply.

Then who do you work for?

Maya's eyes hardened.

People who understand that Nightglass cannot be allowed to survive.

That is not an answer.

It's the only one you're getting right now.

The fragile alliance cracked.

Claire suddenly realized the room was full of secrets from every side.

Nightglass had secrets.

Matthias had secrets.

Maya had secrets.

Even Adrian had parts of his past still hidden.

There were no clean lines anymore.

Only overlapping lies.

A radio crackled on Maya's vest.

Commander, Sector Four exit routes are compromised.

Maya grabbed the radio.

Status of evacuation tunnels?

Blocked.

Surface access?

Heavy resistance.

Maya cursed under her breath.

Dead ends.

The chapter title seemed to form in Claire's mind before she could stop it.

Every route closing.

Every answer leading to another secret.

Every escape turning into a trap.

Matthias gripped the edge of the table.

There is another way out.

Maya looked at him.

Where?

Old service tunnel beneath the rail yard.

Not on current maps.

Adrian's expression darkened.

Of course you know about a secret tunnel.

Matthias looked at his brother.

I helped design part of the facility.

Adrian looked away.

The betrayal landed again.

Claire could almost feel it.

She looked at Matthias.

Can the tunnel get us out?

Yes.

Can it get the passengers out?

Matthias hesitated.

That hesitation said too much.

Claire's voice hardened.

Can it get the passengers out?

Not all of them.

The answer hit heavily.

Somewhere inside the facility, dozens of passengers from the train were still trapped.

Possibly hundreds more from previous transfers.

Leaving meant surviving.

Staying meant risking everything.

Maya made the military decision first.

We take the evidence, extract Keller, and expose Nightglass from outside.

Claire immediately shook her head.

No.

Maya turned.

This isn't a debate.

It is if you expect me to come with you.

Adrian looked at Claire.

Claire.

She met his eyes.

We found living passengers. Children. Families. If we leave them, Nightglass relocates or erases them before anyone reaches this place.

Maya's voice sharpened.

If we stay, we may all die.

Claire looked at the USB drive.

If we leave with incomplete proof and no witnesses, they deny everything.

Matthias spoke quietly.

She's right.

Maya glared at him.

You are in no condition to advise strategy.

Maybe not.

Matthias coughed again.

But she is right.

He looked at Claire.

There is a central manifest node. Separate from the archive. It controls live transfers.

Claire's attention sharpened.

Where?

Command core.

Maya shook her head immediately.

Impossible.

Why?

Because that's where Weiss will be.

Viktor Weiss.

The man who had vanished during the chaos.

The man who seemed too calm for someone losing control.

Claire realized something.

He's not running.

Matthias nodded.

No. Weiss believes he can still save Nightglass.

Or himself.

Both.

Adrian looked at his brother.

What is on the central node?

Complete live manifest. Passenger locations. Identity keys. Directorate links. Everything needed to prove who is behind Nightglass.

Claire felt the decision forming.

If we get that, we have the whole story.

Maya looked furious.

If you get that, you might also trigger the facility's final purge.

Final purge?

Maya's silence answered enough.

Matthias finished the explanation.

If Nightglass cannot secure its subjects, it destroys the evidence, locks the facility, and removes everyone classified as compromised.

Claire stared at him.

Removes.

You mean kills.

Matthias looked down.

Yes.

The room seemed colder.

There it was.

The real deadline.

Not the train.

Not the archive.

The people.

Every passenger still inside the system was running out of time.

Maya's radio crackled again.

Commander, Nightglass units are falling back toward command core.

Claire looked at Adrian.

He understood before she said anything.

We're going after Weiss.

Adrian's face showed fear, but also resolve.

Yes.

Maya stared at them both.

This is reckless.

Claire picked up the black briefcase.

So was boarding the train.

Matthias struggled to stand.

Adrian immediately moved to help him, despite everything.

The gesture was small.

Instinctive.

Brotherly.

Matthias noticed.

So did Claire.

Some bonds could be damaged without being destroyed.

Maya finally exhaled sharply.

Fine. We move to command core. Fast. If this goes wrong, we extract immediately.

Claire didn't promise.

Neither did Adrian.

The group left the laboratory and entered the corridor.

Alarms screamed throughout the facility.

Smoke filled the ceiling.

Distant gunfire echoed like thunder.

Every hallway seemed to split into danger.

Every door seemed to hide another secret.

Dead ends surrounded them.

But somewhere beyond the chaos waited the central manifest.

The full truth.

The names of the people behind Nightglass.

And Viktor Weiss.

Claire tightened her grip on the briefcase and followed the others into the smoke.

She had spent months chasing missing people.

Now the missing people were chasing time.

And if Claire failed, the world would never know they had existed at all.