The Recall Trials Chapter 108: The Path Chose Me

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Zaara’s fingers were still tangled in mine as we headed back toward the center of the room.

Dinner was served like every other night—trays shoved through the slots in the wall. Protein mush. A few scraps of vegetables. Water tasting faintly of tal.

Neither of us had much appetite.

We sat shoulder to shoulder on one of the bunks, trays balanced on our laps, forcing down bites in silence. Around us, the other contestants kept stealing glances our way, whispering behind their hands.

Theo wandered past, muttering, "Eat up, Lover Boy. Might be your last al."

I shot him a half-hearted glare, but he just kept walking.

Zaara nudged lightly. "Ignore him. He’s an ass."

"I know," I mumbled, poking at the grayish food.

A few bunks away, Nomi lay propped up on pillows, still pale, eyes half-lidded. Kira hovered protectively nearby, checking her pulse every few minutes.

I tried to catch Nomi’s eyes once, but she looked away.

Eventually, the lights overhead dimd to a dull red glow—the Trials’ twisted signal for "bedti."

Zaara and I lay down on the thin mattress. We curled up facing each other, knees touching. I could feel every tremor in her body.

"Are you scared?" she whispered.

"Yes," I said. "Are you?"

"Yes."

Neither of us said anything else for a while.

My mind was screaming with noise. Nomi. The baby. The Aetherions. The thought of dying tomorrow.

Zaara tucked her face against my chest, fingers bunching in my shirt.

"Try to sleep," she murmured. "Please."

I didn’t.

Hours crawled by in restless half-consciousness, my eyes popping open at every distant clang of tal or shuffle of footsteps.

At so point, Zaara finally drifted off, her breathing soft and even.

I stared into the darkness above .

We’re okay... right?

The Next Morning

The lights flared on without warning, bright white and brutal.

A harsh buzzer blared overhead.

Zaara jolted awake beside , eyes wide.

The robotic Voice crackled to life over the intercom:

"GOOD MORNING, CONTESTANTS. PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE EIGHTH TRIAL."

I sat up so fast my vision spun.

Contestants were already scrambling out of bunks. Theo was tugging on his jumpsuit, cursing under his breath. Nomi was trying to sit up, Kira holding her steady.

Zaara squeezed my arm. "Whatever happens... we stay together."

I nodded, swallowing the dryness in my throat.

Guards stord in from both doors, faceless behind black riot helts.

"ALL CONTESTANTS. FORM A SINGLE LINE. MOVE."

We filed out of the chamber, boots thudding on the cold floor.

The hallway twisted and branched until we erged into a new arena I’d never seen before.

Guards ushered the twelve of us forward until we were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder.

And there it was:

A monstrous black tunnel yawned open at the far end of the arena. The entrance was rimd in pulsing red lights, like the mouth of sothing alive and waiting to swallow us.

Theo muttered, "Fuck sideways."

Beside him, Zaara squeezed my hand so hard my knuckles popped.

Nomi, pale and shaking, stood on my other side, Kira hovering protectively behind her.

The Voice bood again:

"THE EIGHTH TRIAL: THE TUNNEL OF CHOICE."

A low chanical whir followed, and twelve sleek humanoid droids rolled forward on silent wheels. Their chro bodies glead under the floodlights. They each held a tablet-like device pulsing with an eerie green glow.

The Voice continued:

"EACH OF YOU WILL ENTER THE TUNNEL ALONE. WITHIN, YOU WILL FACE INTERSECTIONS. EACH PATH IS A CHOICE. SO PATHS LEAD TO SURVIVAL... OTHERS TO IMDIATE ELIMINATION."

"THERE ARE NO CLUES. NO MAPS. ONLY INSTINCT."

The true path...

And behind , I heard Nomi gasp, clutching her stomach as Kira tried to hold her upright.

I twisted around, eyes wide.

"Vincent," Zaara whispered urgently. "We have to focus."

But my gaze kept drifting to Nomi—her pale face, the way her free hand curled protectively over her abdon.

And I realized...the Aetherions would make sure this trial wasn’t just about the grid.

It was going to be about us.

All of us.

And who we’d be willing to sacrifice.

Darkness swallowed .

The instant I crossed the threshold, the noise of the arena vanished behind , like a door slamming shut on the world.

The floor beneath my boots was slick tal, slightly vibrating, as though so giant machine deep below was breathing.

Thin strips of red lights glowed along the ceiling, revealing walls of dark, ribbed plating. It felt like walking through the throat of so massive creature.

My breath echoed too loudly in the narrow corridor.

Suddenly, the path split. Two tunnels opened on either side, their entrances identical.

"TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS."

The Voice crackled faintly from hidden speakers.

My pulse thundered.

Left? Or right?

I closed my eyes. Thought of Zaara. Of Nomi. Of the baby that might be mine.

Left.

I swung left, my footfalls quickening.

About ten ters in, a tal grate clanged shut behind , sealing the way back.

A sudden blast of freezing air howled from vents overhead. I stumbled forward—and stopped dead.

A sheer drop yawned before . A bottomless pit, black and silent.

My breath ca loud and ragged.

Left. Right. Forward.

There were no signs. No arrows. No clues.

The Aetherions wanted us blind.

So I kept moving.

One foot after the other, heartbeat thudding in my ears.

Minutes—or maybe hours—slipped past, ti stretching into sothing aningless.

I passed a fork—left or right?

I chose left. My chest clenched. I could’ve just picked death.

I kept walking.

The deeper I went, the dimr the lights got. Shadows stretched like claws along the walls. Sotis, I thought I saw movent just ahead—sothing darting out of sight—but when I blinked, there was nothing.

And then I heard it.

A hiss.

Sharp. Animal. Close.

I froze.

It slithered again—closer this ti, like silk dragging against steel.

Then my boot landed on sothing soft... moving.

HISSSSSSSSS.

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.

I jumped back, nearly slipping.

But nothing lunged. The hiss faded into the shadows.

I stared down, squinting in the weak light. There was nothing. No snake. No creature. No shadowy beast.

Just the silence again. Until—

A breath.

Not mine. Slow. Ragged. Human.

Coming from up ahead.

My blood went cold.

I strained my ears. The breathing continued. It wasn’t chanical—it wasn’t a trap. Soone... soone was there.

I took a step forward. Then another.

The tunnel curved slightly, leading into a thicker patch of darkness.

I turned the corner, and—

A voice rasped from the shadows.

"...Vincent..."

I stopped breathing.

No. No, that wasn’t—

"...Vincent..."

I staggered back. "Who’s there?"

Then the figure stepped out from the gloom. Slowly. Deliberately.

My chest locked. My heart cracked wide open.

"Dad?" I choked.