The car slows, then turns sharply down a narrow alley I’ve never noticed before. It’s tucked between two aging buildings, their exteriors worn and dim, windows dark and boarded. Nothing about it stands out. At least, nothing that would make anyone look twice.
That’s probably the point.
Jax cuts the engine and glances at me, “We’re here.”
I scan the building once more, as I say, “This is it?”
He smirks faintly. “That’s why it works.”
He steps out, motioning for me to follow.
The air outside is cooler now, the last traces of daylight fading into dusk. I tighten my grip on my bag and hurry after him as he moves toward a rusted side door.
He doesn’t knock. Though… why would he? Instead, he pulls a small device from his pocket, presses it briefly against the lock, and waits.
There’s a soft click just before the door opens.
“After you,” he says.
I hesitate only for a second before stepping inside.
“Whoa” I say, as I twirl around, gazing at everything in the room.
What looks abandoned from the outside, just opens into something alive. Dim, but active.
Screens are everywhere, stacked along the walls and layered across several desks, many are mounted in uneven rows. Lines of code scroll across the monitors in constant motion, casting shifting light across the room. Wires run like veins along the floor and ceiling, connecting everything in a web of quiet, controlled chaos.
A low hum fills the space. It's steady and almost comforting.
I continue to turn slowly, taking it all in.
“You did all this?” I ask.
Jax shrugs, setting his keys down. “Over time.”
My chest feels a bit tight, not from fear this time, but from something else that I can't identify.
Impressed? Grounded? Proud? Or… maybe I just feel… safe.
This is his world. For the first time since the scan, I feel like I've stepped onto solid footing.
“Sit,” he offers, gesturing to a chair in front of the main console. “We don't have a lot of time.”
I move toward the chair, setting my bag down at my feet. Jax slides into the seat beside me, already typing furiously across the keyboard.
“Start talking,” he says. “What exactly do you need me to do?”
I hesitate. How much should I say? What could I say without revealing too much?
“Can you… make it so they can’t find me?” I ask carefully.
Jax stops typing, then leans back slightly as he studies me. “That depends,” he says. “Define find.”
My pulse quickens. “I mean… my records. My ID. The scan. Whatever flagged me.”
“Okay,” he exhales, closing his eyes. “That’s… not small.”
“I figured.”
Glancing at me again, he continues, “You’re asking me to erase you.”
The words hit harder than I expect.
Erase me.
My stomach twists, but I ignore it. “Just from the system,” I say quickly.
He doesn’t respond to that right away. Instead, he turns back to the screens, pulls up layers of data, consisting of student records, registry logs, and tracking feeds.
“You’re already flagged,” he says, “Which means they’ve probably mirrored your file across multiple servers.”
My chest feels tight. It feels hard to breathe.
“So, what does that mean?” I manage to ask.
“It means deleting you from one place doesn’t do anything,” he pauses for a moment. “It all has to go. Clean. At the same time, or close enough that it doesn’t trigger a restore.”
He starts tapping a few keys again, bringing up my student profile. My name and image. Everything that proves I exist.
I try to swallow, but my mouth is dry.
“I can start with the school database,” he continues. “That’s the easiest layer. Local system and fewer redundancies.”
“How long?”
“Minutes,” he says. “Maybe less.”
The weight starts to lift off my chest, until he says, “Government registry is different.”
I feel like the air is sucked out of me.
“How different?”
Jax leans back again, running a hand through his hair.
“Best case? A few days.”
“A few… days?” I repeat, not believing what I’m hearing.
“Yeah,” he says, as he pinches the brim of his nose. “And that’s if I don’t get blocked, traced, or locked out halfway through.”
It’s getting harder to breathe. “I don’t have days,” I’m barely whispering now.
“Yeah, I figured from your message,” the way he says it, quiet and steady, makes me feel safe even amongst the weight of his bad news.
“I’ll layer it,” he continues, “start degrading your profile instead of just deleting it. Make it look like corruption. That buys time.”
“Time for what?”
“For you to disappear before they figure out what’s happening.”
I clinch my knees as though it will magically solve my problem. “Okay,” I say softly. “Do it.”
Jax nods once and turns fully to the system. His fingers move quickly now, precise and confident. Lines of code shift, restructure, then vanish.
“While I’m doing this,” he says, “you need to understand something.”
I look at him without saying anything, waiting for him to finish.
“This won’t stop them,” he says.
“What do you mean,” I ask. I feel like there’s a pit in my stomach as I wait for his answer.
He gestures toward my wrist. “Your marker.”
I cover my wrist with my hand as my pulse begins to beat rapidly. We never talk about my marker. I know he’s wanted to ask me about it plenty of times, but he always avoids it. I’m always glad too… I mean, how can I explain it? How can I explain why my marker is different from everyone else’s?
“What about it,” I ask, looking away from him.
“It’s not just ID,” he says, still typing away, “It’s a tracker. Not constant, like a GPS, but it pings. Syncs with scanners, networks, proximity grids… systems like that.”
I breathe out slowly, trying to calm myself down. “Are you saying they can still find me,” I ask, as a chill runs down my spine.
“I’m saying they’re going to try,” he corrects. “And they’re not going to stop.”
This is bad. Even if I erase myself, I still won’t really be gone. How will I be able to truly disappear? What’s the point of even attempting?
Jax glances at me again, softer this time.
“What happened back there?” he asks, his question coming quieter than before… more careful. “I know we don’t talk about it at all, but your marker isn’t normal. Anyone can tell just by looking at it. It’s not even in the same place as everyone else’s.”
I’m trying to think of something to say, but my mind has gone completely blank. I thought I had prepared for this moment. I knew one day he would finally ask me about it, but all of my planned explanations are gone.
I hesitate for a moment more, before saying the first thing I finally think of. “I told you… the scanner messed up. It flagged me.”
“That’s not an explanation,” he says gently.
“It’s all I have.”
He’s looking at me a little longer than I like, as though he’s waiting for me to break. However, I don’t. Not just because I have to keep this a secret from everyone, but because I don’t even understand what’s going on myself.
Finally looking away, Jax goes back to fiddling with his computer. “Okay,” he says.
I know he doesn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me either. The silence stretches between us, filled only by the soft hum of the system and the rapid tap of his fingers.
“So,” he says, almost casually, “since the marker topic is off limits… what happened with Vale?”
How did he know about Director Vale?
“What?”
“You mentioned him,” Jax says, not looking at me. “Rian Vale.”
Relief briefly floods over me. “That’s not important.”
Jax’s hands slow slightly on the keys. I know he’s not satisfied with my answer, but I’m still hoping he will let it drop.
“He helped you,” he says, but it’s not a question.
I hesitate, before I say, “He just… told me how to get out.”
“And you… trusted him?”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Jax huffs softly, “I’m sorry. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you the one who is always spouting out how Rian is your rival? How you’ll never be on the same side as him? Never give him an advantage over you? Never fall for his charms? So, forgive me if I choose to believe that you always have a choice.”
Something in his tone makes me glance at him. An edge and tension that I’ve never heard from him before.
“He didn’t turn me in,” I say, more defensively than I intended.
Jax’s jaw tightens. “Yeah,” he says. “That’s… impressive. Considering who his dad is.”
I hesitate again, before adding quietly, “He could’ve, but he didn’t.”
Jax’s hands stop completely this time for just a second. “Yeah, all the more to lure you in,” he whispers under his breath, yet still loud enough for me to hear. Then he resumes typing… faster now.
After a moment of silence, he asks, “Did anything else happen?”
The question lands differently. Too specific. My heart skips. “No,” I say, but my voice squeaks a little. Then, before I can stop myself, I continue, “He said I wasn’t the error.”
The words slip out and I freeze; however, Jax doesn’t, yet something in him changes. His shoulders tense and his expression hardens just slightly.
“Of course he did,” he mutters.
I frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” he says quickly. “Just… sounds like something he’d say.”
What is he talking about? Why would that sound like something Rian would say? Jax isn’t making any sense right now and his statement doesn’t sound like nothing. It sounds like my friend knows more than he is letting on, even with the limited information I’m giving him. Or is this about something more personal?
I study Jax more closely and a slow realization begins to form.
“You don’t like him,” I say.
Jax lets out a short laugh, without humor, “Should I?”
“I don’t know,” I say, leaning forward. “You’re the one reacting.”
He just keeps typing and doesn’t answer. However, the tension still lingers. I look away, unsure what to do next. I don’t understand what his problem is when he’s never indicated before that he doesn’t like Rian.
I lean back, shaking my head. I don’t have time or the head space to deal with this. Not now.
A sharp ping cuts through the room. I look up at the same time that Jax does. He leans forward, scanning the screen.
“School database is gone,” he says.
Relief floods through me so suddenly that it makes me dizzy.
“Gone?” I repeat, looking up at the ceiling.
“Gone,” he confirms. “To them, it’ll look like a system corruption.”
“Thank you,” I blow out a shaky breath.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he says, typing again. “We’re not done.”
Of course we’re not, but can’t I have a little celebration moment? I nod, forcing myself to focus again.
“There’s something else,” I say, although I’m unsure if I should even bring it up. “I need you to find someone.”
Looking over at me, he raises an eyebrow, “Who?”
“Someone named Elara.”
The name feels strange in my mouth. It’s unfamiliar, but it’s important that I look for her. Jax turns back to the system immediately, but not before I notice the relief on his face. Wait… did he think I was going to say Rian?
“Last name?” he asks, bringing me back to the subject.
“I don’t know.”
He huffs, “That helps.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but she’s off-grid,” I add quickly. “Or… at least… she’s supposed to be.”
Jax’s fingers move again, pulling from deeper networks. “I can’t do much if she’s off the grid, but let’s see what we can find. At the very least, I should be able to track the last place she was… unless she covered her tracks well. Let’s just hope there’s no one else with that first name who’s off-grid too.”
The screens shift, pulling fragmented data, cross-referencing old records, hidden files, and information I can’t even make out.
“There,” Jax blurts, as he smacks the desk.
I lean forward, reading the screen. There’s a name and a location and nothing more. It’s very little to go on, but it’s something. My heart is beating so fast now that I can hear its deafening sound in my ears.
“That’s her?”
“Looks like it,” he says, leaning back in his seat. “She’s been off the radar for a while. That alone is impressive.”
I grab a piece of paper and pen off his desk and jot down the information. As much as I hate to leave a paper trail, I can’t commit the information to memory unless I study it for a while… and I don’t have time for that.
“I need to go.”
Jax blinks, “Now?”
“Yes.”
He frowns, “How?”
I hesitate, as I stand, “Bus routes. Maybe walking part of the way.”
His expression darkens immediately, “That’s a terrible plan.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
“No,” he says. “It’s the only one you’ve thought of.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. What can I say to that? He’s right and I know it. I have no come back… nothing that I can say to distance myself from him. I need to do this alone… I’m supposed to do this alone.
“I’ll take you,” he adds.
“What?”
“In the morning,” he says, twisting around in his chair till his whole body is facing me. “Less traffic monitoring and fewer patrols.”
I know I must refuse, but if I’m being honest with myself… I don’t want to. I can’t deny that I don’t want to do this alone.
“I don’t want to drag you into this…” That's all I can manage to say at the moment.
“You already did,” he says smirking, as he shakes his head.
His statement isn’t harsh, but it’s honest. My stomach tightens.
“I can’t let you go alone,” he adds.
I want to say something, but what? Once again, I’m at a loss for words. However, that’s not the case for every part of my body. A loud, unmistakable growl cuts through the moment. I cover my stomach with my hand as I feel my cheeks burn. Jax just blinks for a few moments before he faintly smirks again.
“Yeah,” he says, with a little chuckle. “You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“I’m fine,” I say quickly.
“Sure you are.”
“I am.”
He stands directly in front of me and says, “Stay. I’ll get something.”
“You don’t have to…”
“I know,” he says. “I’m going anyways.”
He grabs his keys again, heading toward the door. “I won’t be long.”
The door closes behind him and silence settles over the room. I sit back down slowly, and my body begins to feel heavy. I must be catching up finally to everything that’s happened. The scan. My parents. The house. Kane. Rian and even Jax.
I rest my hands loosely in my lap, as I stare at the screens. I’m not actually paying attention to them though. They just serve as background noise as my thoughts drift elsewhere.
I think back to Rian in the stairwell. He said I wasn’t the error. What did he really mean by that? Then there’s Jax. His tense and sharp demeanor was confusing. There was something unspoken sitting just beneath every word, especially when he spoke about me and Rian.
My chest tightens.
I don’t understand either of them. I don’t even understand what I’m feeling right now, let alone what they were feeling. Wait… why am I wondering what they are feeling? As of right now, I don’t have the luxury to figure them out.
I look at my bag, and think about the hidden device inside, the map, and even Elara’s name. There are so many questions I have and no one’s here to answer them for me. All I know is that I have to keep moving in order to survive.
I lean back in the chair, breathing slowly. Tomorrow I will leave again and everything will change… again. However, for now… at least for a little bit… I will let myself sit here in silence. Hopefully everything will make more sense tomorrow.