Nate stirred awake to the familiar chi of his phone alarm, the soft buzz echoing from the nightstand. The screen lit up with a notification: "3D Printer: Process Complete." It was the tir he'd set—his helt prototype was done.
His eyes fluttered open, and imdiately, he felt the warmth of her. Sera's head still rested gently on his bare chest, her breath slow and even. A thin blanket covered both of them, but underneath, he could feel her body pressed against his—soft, delicate, and real. Her arm draped across his stomach, fingers curled slightly as if still clinging to him in her sleep.
He exhaled slowly, careful not to wake her as mories of the night before tried to flood back in. Not now.
Gently, he lifted her arm and slid out from beneath her, replacing his warmth with the blanket and tucking it around her carefully. She stirred but didn't wake, only letting out a quiet sigh before settling again into the sheets.
Nate stood by the side of the bed for a mont, watching her. Her dark hair spilled across the pillow, lips parted slightly as she breathed. Even in her sleep, she looked serene.
Shaking the thought away he headed to the bathroom to freshen up. A splash of cold water on his face helped snap him out of the haze, and minutes later, he was out the door, locking it quietly behind him.
When he reached the lab, the soft whirring hum of the machines had finally stopped. The 3D printer sat idle, the helt resting neatly on the tray like a completed masterpiece.
It was beautiful.
Dozens of micro-filant wires hole scattered into its surface like intricate veins, each one designed to read different frequencies. Inside, sensors were embedded with pinpoint accuracy, all fine-tuned to detect specific brainwave patterns. Nate approached slowly, eyes scanning every detail of the finished design.
He smiled.
"Ti to get to work."
---
Far away, in a white, clinical room that felt like it existed outside of ti, Jack stirred.
His eyes cracked open slowly, every inch of his body heavy. The light above him was blinding, pure white, and too perfect. His ears buzzed, his thoughts foggy.
Shapes ford gradually. He blinked a few more tis and made out Madison and Bella.
The two girls sat against the far wall, talking in hushed tones. Their heads turned when they noticed him moving.
"Welco back," Madison said, her voice low but warm.
"You were out a while," Bella added, concern etched in her eyes.
Jack groaned as he sat up, pushing himself back against the wall for support. His head ached like soone had dropped a truck on it.
"Where the hell are we?" he asked, rubbing his temples.
"No idea," Madison replied.
"Let guess... our powers don't work."
Bella shook her head. "Nothing. Not even a spark."
Jack let out a frustrated sigh, his back hitting the cold wall behind him. He glanced around the room again. White, spotless, almost sterile. The kind of place that looked too clean to be natural.
"This reminds of that lab," he said. "Where they experinted on Ray and the others."
Madison nodded. "Only difference? No bed. No mirror. Just a vent for air and endless white."
Jack's eyes traced the ceiling, then the corners. No caras that he could see. But that didn't an anything. They were being watched. He could feel it.
Then it happened.
A wall they thought was solid suddenly slid open with a low chanical hiss. None of them had seen the seam. The opening revealed a tall woman with sharp features, her brown hair tied in a tight bun. She wore a white lab coat and held a sleek tablet in her hand. Behind her stood five guards in black tactical armor, each of them ard and alert.
The trio didn't move.
They knew better.
Jack squinted up at the ceiling again, avoiding the woman's gaze. "What do you want?" he muttered.
The woman stepped forward, tablet in hand, eyes scanning sothing before she spoke. Her voice was calm, clinical.
"We want you."
Jack finally looked at her, frowning. "What the hell do you an? What do you want with ?"
The woman sighed, her gaze not unkind but distant, as if rehearsed. "We need your help."
All three of them stiffened at that. A request?
Jack exchanged a glance with Madison and Bella.
Whatever this was, it was more complicated than they thought.
Jack blinked as the woman's words sunk in. "What do you an you need ?" he asked, staring at her with sharp, cautious eyes.
The woman, calm and collected, gave a small nod. "I'm afraid we need to take you sowhere—alone."
Jack looked at Madison and Bella, both of whom tensed up. He gave them a short nod, his voice low but confident. "I'll be back," he said, before slowly rising to his feet.
He followed the woman and her guards out of the white cell, stepping through the seamless door. The mont they exited, he was greeted with a scene that looked straight out of a high-security military base. Steel walls, cara dos, corridors patrolled by ard soldiers—it was clear that wherever they were, this wasn't just any lab. This was a fortress.
Jack didn't say anything at first, just looked around, his sharp young eyes absorbing everything. But then the woman began speaking again, her voice calm but slightly impressed as she glanced down at the tab in her hand.
"Jack Lawrence. Age: ten. Currently registered as deceased. But prior to the crash..." she swiped her screen and continued, her tone shifting to awe. "Creator of a zero-energy cooling pod for cryogenic stability. Designed a voice-assisted A.I. with adaptive learning matrices. Built a portable quantum interference signal disruptor with only scrap materials. Developed a blueprint for a small-scale particle reactor that, mind you, could power an entire base this size for a month."
Jack sighed. "Lady, if you're trying to flatter , it's not working."
She didn't stop. "You successfully created a neural interface that allows direct interaction with stored mory files. You built an entire surveillance grid using insects as organic drones. And your last known project? A functional prototype for a micro teleportation chip. That's not just genius. That's unprecedented."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Cool. Now get to the part where you explain why I'm here."
The woman glanced at him, clearly amused by his lack of awe. "You're not impressed by your own achievents?"
"I was there when I built them," Jack said dryly. "Now how about less biography and more answers?"
The woman sighed, finally putting the tab aside. "We've been watching you for a long ti, Jack. Even before the crash. When the plane went down, we thought we lost you. But then, when reports ca in about survivors, we hoped... prayed, even. You've been on our radar for years. And when we finally confird you were alive, we did what we had to."
"What you had to?" Jack echoed with a raised eyebrow. "You an drug my friends, kidnap us, throw us in white cells, and experint on them like rats? Yeah, real classy move."
She didn't flinch at his tone. "We never intended harm. The experints were non-invasive. Mostly neurological scans and genetic sampling. Your friends are safe."
"Oh yeah?" Jack scoffed. "And don't act like you're the good guys. You've got the weapons, the soldiers, and you locked us up like criminals. Why would I help you? Don't you have top brains in here? Scientists with bigger degrees than my whole body mass?"
She glanced away, then back. "We do. So of the finest minds in the world. But even they've failed. And we believe you... may be the only one capable of solving the problem."
"Problem?" Jack's eyes narrowed. "What kind of problem?"
She gave a tight-lipped smile. "One that I think is best shown, not told."
Jack paused, then folded his arms. "You've got my attention. I'll play along—for now."
She nodded, grateful that he wasn't resisting. "And I an it when I say—your friends weren't hard. They were treated well, fed, and cared for. We made sure to minimize stress."
Jack's glare didn't ease. "What about that explosion? Nate might've triggered one when they went to save the others."
The woman paused, how did he know about that, then she nodded. "Yes. That was unfortunate. We didn't expect interference from your group. But they are safe now. They successfully escaped."
Jack sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "So dramatic. All this effort just for a ten-year-old."
She tilted her head slightly. "You're not just a ten-year-old. You're the most gifted scientific mind we've encountered in decades."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, flattery again. Just take to the part where you show what your smartest minds couldn't solve."
The woman gestured to a large elevator at the end of the hallway. As the guards stepped to the side, she turned to Jack. "What's behind these doors... is the reason we brought you here."
Jack smirked and stepped in. "Alright then, let's see what all the fuss is about."
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