The corridor Narey discovered in the underground laboratory of the Biology Department seemed endless, like the belly of the campus hiding all its secrets. The walls were damp and moss-covered, with old cables snaking along like roots. Narey cautiously navigated the narrow path, the small flashlight in her hand trembling, casting light on the faded names on the metal doors. She stopped at one door labeled "LAB EX-7." There was no record of this room in the campus blueprint she had stolen from the administration office last week. With a hard effort and a pocket knife, she pried open the door—creaking slightly. Inside, the room resembled a military research laboratory: small monitors glowed faintly, cables scattered around, and in the center stood a metal chair equipped with an electrode helmet.
"Welcome to the deepest part of this university, Narey," a calm, cold voice suddenly came from the shadows. Narey spun around quickly. An old man, tall and thin, wearing a gray lab coat, stepped in. His hair was sparse, his face hollow, but his eyes were sharp like needles.
"Professor... Vellan?" Narey asked, half on guard.
"No," the man replied. "I am Professor Laksana. Vellan is just... the face on the screen. I am the real architect of Cerebrum Shift." Narey held her breath.
"All of them, the students—Rafi, Anjani, Lucas—they were promising subjects. Their sensitivity to neurological activity was high, making them perfect candidates. But they were too curious... too agile," Laksana continued as he approached the console.
"Did you kidnap them?" Narey asked sharply.
"No, Narey. I observed them. They are pioneers of what could become the evolution of human consciousness. What I am doing here is not illegal experimentation—this is a revolution."
Narey stared at a nearby screen. There were brainwave patterns. Names: Rafi Ardana. Anjani Kusumo. Lucas Vanrah. All still active.
"They're alive? Where are they?"
"Their bodies... are no longer important. Their consciousness is undergoing a simulation. Another world. A safe space for testing. I can call them back. But why would I? They are now more perfect than ordinary humans."
"You're playing with something that should not be touched," Narey growled.
"And you're investigating something you don't understand," Laksana retorted.
Suddenly, a sound from the intercom. "Beta Protocol detected. External agent accessing the main system." Laksana's face changed.
"You're not alone," he said quietly. "Who sent you? That agency? Or... Arlo?"
Narey restrained herself from answering. She glanced at the nearest terminal, trying to copy the data. Laksana moved quickly, pressing the emergency button. Red sirens blared. The whole room began to shake slowly. "You won't get out with that data, Narey. But you can join us. Your consciousness can transcend human limits too."
"Save your offer for someone more easily fooled," Narey said as she pulled a flash drive from the port and ran toward the exit corridor. But the hallway was now full of fog, and from the walls, a sound... whispers, echoes of consciousness that might no longer be human. Narey had to get out—before her mind got left behind in that underground space.
Outside, the campus sky that night looked unusual. Calm. Too calm. As if something had awakened deep below. And Narey knew: her battle had just begun. The evening sky glowed orange-red as Narey walked through the dark corridor of Block E. The students' clamor had subsided, leaving behind an eerie silence that enveloped the old building. After her meeting with Professor Vellan—who firmly denied involvement in the Cerebrum Shift project—Narey's focus had now shifted to Professor Laksana.
Laksana was known as a calm and humble figure. He taught Systemic Biology and was well-liked by students. But from the classified intelligence files Narey had stolen from the rectorate's archive room, Laksana's name appeared on the list of early developers of the Cerebrum Shift project. There was even evidence that he had access to Lab C-7—an underground experimental room previously thought to be used only by campus security.
That night, Narey infiltrated Lab C-7 using a stolen access card from a lab assistant. Behind a 30 cm thick steel door, she found a dark room filled with advanced neurotechnology equipment not even listed in the National Research Department's catalog.
She activated one of the monitors, which automatically lit up upon detecting motion. A video recording appeared: Anjani Kusumo sat in a metal chair with cables embedded in her head. Her voice was faint, pleading for the experiment to stop. A shadowy figure stood behind the camera. When the light flickered briefly, that face became faintly visible—Professor Laksana.
Narey's chest tightened. Anjani hadn't been killed or randomly abducted. She had been made a subject of experimentation. But for what? For whom?
The sound of footsteps from the hallway interrupted her thoughts. Narey quickly hid behind a rack of equipment. A man in a white coat entered. Laksana. He spoke into a small communication device in his ear. "The evaluation session is proceeding smoothly. Subject 03 is showing signs of full synchronization. Only one more to go. Vanrah."
Vanrah. The name that had always been the biggest mystery.
Narey secretly recorded the entire conversation. She couldn't capture Laksana that night, but now she had solid evidence. One by one, the pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together.
The next day, Narey met with Vellan in the faculty garden. The old man looked at her tiredly, as if bearing the weight of many years.
"I never agreed with Laksana's methods," Vellan said. "But I couldn't stop him. He has protection from above. Very high up."
"The government?" Narey asked.
Vellan nodded. "This project started as research for neurodegenerative treatments. But when Laksana brought the proposal to the Ministry of Defense... everything changed. They wanted a weapon. A mind control machine."
Now Narey understood why the case had been covered up. Why intelligence sent her but didn't fully support her. Maybe because some of them were involved too.
"I need to go deeper," Narey said. "To the heart of the project."
Vellan looked at her intently. "If you go in, you may not come out. But if you're sure... I know where they're hiding Vanrah."
Vellan then handed her a small piece of old map paper, with pencil scribblings marking an underground path connecting Lab C-7 to an off-campus facility. According to Vellan, only a handful of people had known about this route since the Old Order era—and it had been reused by Laksana and his secret team.
"They moved the experiments there after Anjani's case became suspicious. Even the campus security chief doesn't know this route is still active," Vellan explained.
Narey stared at the map for a long time. At the end of the corridor drawn by hand, there was a cross symbol and a faint note: "Core Subject Room."
This chapter ends as Narey prepares to head to the place Vellan mentioned: the underground facility outside the campus, once a research headquarters from the Old Order era. The place where all the experiments were finally conducted. And the place where the truth—or destruction—awaited her.