Page 37 of Lost Echoes
19
Ember
The chat window flickers. Phoenix’s messages slow, then shift:
Time you met some others. They’ve been waiting for a new ally who isn’t broken or bought.
A new tab opens, pulling us into a private encrypted room. Four usernames appear.
Phoenix97
GhostNode
Compass14
N1ghtingale
Phoenix types first:
They’ve made contact through the spool. Trust them.
The others speak, their words flashing across the black screen like lightning bolts in the dark.
GhostNode:
Age 25. Pulled from Radley at 9. Escaped the programming, barely. I live behind firewalls now. My specialty’s money—who pays whom, where the funds flow, who’s laundering what. Spoiler: Radley wasn’t broke. Government money trickled in for decades. I follow the stains.
Compass14:
Age 30. Taken at 8, escaped at 14. I know the underground like I know my own veins. Two sub-levels. One always locked unless you had clearance. They thought kids didn’t notice. I noticed everything.
N1ghtingale:
Age 26. Programmed as a handler. I watched the younger ones. Taught them the “games.” Smiles, songs, cues. I thought I was helping. But I was part of it. I carry every scream. I don’t expect forgiveness.
I sit back, stunned. They’re real. They’re scarred. And they’ve been preparing.
Phoenix cuts in:
Each of us carries a piece of the puzzle. I gather files. Ghost follows money. Compass tracks locations. Nightingale remembers methods. Together, we’ve been waiting for the right moment to cut it all open. You want in? You’re in.
GhostNode:
We’ve been planning an information release for years. A coordinated drop—so big, so fast, they can’t bury it before the world sees. But we need timing. And we need more proof.
Compass14:
Names. Dates. Journals. We have fragments. Enough to scare them, but not enough to nail them.
N1ghtingale:
And we need protection. Once we go live, they’ll hunt us harder than ever.
Luke leans close to the screen. “They’re organized and ready.”
I nod in agreement, hardly able to take it all in.
Phoenix again:
