Jake run his hands through his hair. "So, how did you do it?" he said calmly to Arya.
Arya didn't respond instead she did something.
As Jake was watching her, she lift her right hand and tap three times behind her ears, where the implant was. Then, snap her fingers on her left hand.
She looked at Jake, and said, "That's how."
"That's it?" Jake responded. "So, you're saying you could see your screen now, without the system's help?"
"Yes," she said. "I learned about it when we were walking down the lower ground before. I was just trying something, and I accidentally discovered it."
"Can I do it?" Jake asked, his voice full of curiosity.
"I don't know, give it a try," she said.
Jake did the same thing that Arya did. But… nothing happened.
"Why is it not showing?"
"It's not just tapping and snapping. You have to follow a sequence. It took me three times to know how to activate it," she said. "Follow me."
"First tap is like pressing it slightly as if testing a button. Second tap is sharper, more deliberate hit. Third tap is lighter, almost featherlike touch. Then, in a span of 2 seconds, you should snap using your dominant hand." Jake was mimicking her movement. Then, something flickered in front of him, but it quickly disappeared.
"I saw something…but it's gone. What happened?" Jake asked, furiously.
"That happens if you activate it partially. But, if it becomes successful, you'll hear something, almost like a whisper saying 'system access'," Arya said calmly.
"This is amazing, Arya! We now have an advantage!" Jake exclaimed happily.
"Yes, we do," she said.
"So, how do you turn it off?" Jake asked.
"You just have to blink three times, then snap again," Jake did what Arya told him.
"Well, that was quite easy, compared to when activating it," he chuckled.
Jake started walking towards the others, then, he asked Arya, "Does Zack know about this?"
"Not yet. But I know he knows something is off. Maybe, he was just waiting for me to tell him."
"Well, yeah. It's Zack, of course he already knows," Jake laughed, and Arya let out a small chuckle.
They both approached the others, they found a round table circled with chairs in the center of the room.
"What's this?" Arya asked.
"I found it behind the shelves, so we assembled it," Ellie said.
They stepped closer to the table. Arya touched it and close her eyes.
"It's not an ordinary table," she said then blinked her eyes open.
"What is that?" Jake pointed something on the table, like a push button.
Without hesitation, Mark pushed it.
Then, it glowed.
It's a map?
"What the hell! It's the blue print of the mall," Arya said.
It glowed for about ten seconds.
Then, shifted to darkness.
"Where is it? What happened?" Mark said.
Arya's heart pounded as she reached out, pressing the same spot Mark had. Nothing happened.
"It disappeared," Ellie muttered, frowning. "Was it a one-time thing?"
"Probably," Arya said, her voice firm.
Clark stepped forward. "Try it again."
Nicole pressed the button. Nothing happened.
"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath.
"Well, it was good while it lasted," Mark said, pulling out a chair and sitting on it.
—
Meanwhile on the surveillance room, just a door away from the stock room, Zack and Ambrose sat.
Zack leaned on the table in front of the monitors, lift his hands to rub his temples.
"You're remembering, aren't you?" Ambrose murmured, his tone unreadable.
"Why? What do you know about it?" Zack turned his head towards him.
Ambrose chuckled, but there was no real amusement in his voice. "That's why you've been restless. You don't want to remember, but you do. And the system won't let you forget."
"I know what you saw, Zack. And I know what it means."
Zack's breath hitched. A flicker of something — fear, rage, or maybe both — crossed his face before he stormed off.
"So, tell me about it," Zack exhaled, his tone firm and steady, he stared into Ambrose's eyes, waiting for an answer.
Ambrose tilted his head, watching Zack with something between curiosity and knowing amusement. He didn't answer right away. Instead, he let the silence stretch, as if testing Zack's patience — waiting for him to break first.
Zack's fingers curled into fists against the table. "Tell me," he demanded.
Ambrose sighed, tapping his fingers against his knee. "You really want to hear it? Fine." He leaned forward, his golden eyes gleaming under the dim light. "You're not what you think you are."
Zack's breath stalled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Ambrose tilted his head. "You ever wonder why your survival rate keeps jumping up? Why the system won't mark any weaknesses for you? Why you can't seem to forget the things it wants you to remember?"
Zack clenched his jaw. He had wondered. He just didn't want to admit it.
Ambrose's smirk faded. "You weren't supposed to be here."
A cold shiver ran down Zack's spine. "What?"
Ambrose leaned back in his chair, studying Zack with an almost knowing look. "Think about it, Zack. Everyone here was pulled in the same way, through the same event — including you. You were at the impact zone, just like the rest of us. But the difference is… you weren't supposed to be."
Zack opened his mouth, then shut it. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He had never questioned it before. He had just assumed —
Ambrose continued, his voice softer now. "I don't know the full truth. But I know this — someone put you here. The system accepted you, The system doesn't pick people at random — it calculates, it selects. And that means…" He leaned in, eyes sharp. "It's hiding something from you. Maybe even from itself."
Zack exhaled shakily, gripping the table to steady himself. "Then what am I?"
Ambrose smiled, but this time, there was no mockery. Just quiet certainty. "That's what you need to figure out." .
Silence stretched between them. Ambrose stood up and started walking towards the stock room, while Zack's mind raced, grasping at memories, connections, anything that could make sense of his words. But deep down, he already knew — something had always felt off. He just never wanted to admit it.
And now, there was no ignoring it.