Page 38 of Lost Echoes
We move soon. Laurel’s arrest shook the system. Security protocols are active, but that means people are watching. When the next crack opens, we pour everything through at once. Then you will help us decide when.
The cursor blinks, waiting for my response.
My throat is tight, but my fingers move anyway:
We’re in.
The chat fills with acknowledgments, quick bursts of text that feel like hands clasping across an impossible distance.
For a change, I don’t feel like I’m chasing shadows. I feel like we’re part of something larger. Something sharp.
Something dangerous enough to finally cut Radley open.
Before Phoenix can move to strategy, I glance at Luke. He gives the smallest nod. We agreed earlier that if we share anything from Billa, then we cloak it in shadows. No names, places, or traces back to her.
I type slowly, carefully:
We heard something offline. Survivors meeting in person. They mentioned the white spool—not as a memory but as a warning. Said it was passed like a baton, that whoever held it had to hurt others. And they said Laurel wasn’t the true mastermind.
For a moment, the chat goes still. Then the survivors reply one by one.
Compass14:
The spool again. Always the spool. I’ve heard whispers but never knew if they were real or symbolic.
N1ghtingale:
It was real. A prop. White, wooden. They made us treat it like a crown. If you held it, you acted next. Sometimes they gave it to me and told me to choose which child would “perform.” I still wake screaming.
GhostNode:
If survivors are meeting in person, we need details. Even vague. Numbers? Ages?
Luke jumps in before I can type too much:
We can’t risk specifics. Just know they exist. Quiet, scattered. They’re scared, but they’re talking.
Phoenix:
Good. It means memory is spreading faster than the programming. It’s exactly the crack we’ve been waiting for. Now we plan the strike.
The chat explodes with messages. They’ve clearly been waiting for this moment.
GhostNode:
Step one is evidence stabilization. Every file mirrored across at least five systems, air-gapped where possible. We use the monitoring setup as one of our nodes.
Compass14:
Step two is location cross-matching. My maps, their journals, Phoenix’s files. We find consistencies—basements, sub-levels, transport routes. We create a master schematic that no one can ignore.
N1ghtingale:
Step three is testimonies. Not just ours. Dozens, if we can get them. Short, sharp, and undeniable. We blur voices, mask names, but keep the raw pain. Make it impossible to look away.
Phoenix:
Step four is a coordinated drop. We hit mainstream news, independent journalists, whistleblower sites, encrypted archives—everything at once. Too wide to contain. Too loud to bury. They’ll try to smear us, but if we flood it, the truth will stand.
