31. Hannah
Hannah
“Avery…”
Her name breaks apart inside me.
Like glass.
Like something buried deep in my chest finally shattered open.
The tunnel disappears for a second.
Not really.
But my mind fractures around the edges.
Smoke.
Gunfire.
Blood.
Clay beside me.
None of it feels fully real anymore.
Because suddenly—
I remember her.
Not everything.
Just pieces.
Tiny shattered fragments cutting through me one after another.
A little girl slipping half her dinner tray onto mine when she thought the guards weren’t looking.
Dark curls.
Bright eyes.
Holding my hand under blankets while alarms screamed somewhere far away.
“If we pretend we’re somewhere else, it doesn’t hurt as much.”
Oh God.
Oh my God.
A sob tears out of me before I can stop it.
Avery coughs blood onto the concrete.
Sentinel operatives reposition immediately, weapons still raised, but nobody fires now.
Not yet.
Even they’re watching.
Observing.
Like this is another experiment.
Wu stands perfectly still in the center of it all.
Cold.
Untouched.
“You shot her,” I whisper.
Wu’s expression never changes.
“She became compromised.”
Compromised.
My entire body shakes violently.
“She’s my friend!”
“She was unstable.”
The rage that explodes through me is so sudden it nearly blinds me.
“No!”
My scream echoes through the tunnel.
“No more calling us that!”
Us.
The second the word leaves my mouth, something shifts.
Because I said us instinctively.
Not them.
Us.
Wu notices immediately.
Of course he does.
His eyes sharpen slightly.
“Your memory is returning.”
Clay steps closer to me instantly.
Protective.
Grounding.
“Hannah, stay with me.”
But I can barely hear him.
The memories keep coming now.
Not whole.
Worse.
Broken.
Sharp.
A little boy crying in a medical chair.
Children lined against a wall during testing.
Avery sneaking crayons into my room after punishment isolation.
Wu is standing behind the glass, watching all of us like rats in a maze.
My stomach turns violently.
“Oh God…”
Avery struggles to push herself upright against the wall.
Blood stains her shirt darker by the second.
Clay notices immediately.
“She needs pressure on that wound.”
Russ grabs my med kit.
But the second he moves—
Sentinel operatives raise their rifles.
Wu speaks calmly.
“No treatment.”
Rage detonates beside me.
Clay’s weapon snaps up instantly.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
Wu ignores him.
“Avery’s survival probability is below six percent.”
Avery laughs weakly through blood.
“There he is.” Cough. “Always calculating.”
Hearing her talk to him like that—
not scared—
not submissive—
makes me realize something.
Avery had emotionally escaped him long before she actually did.
Wu’s eyes settle on her.
“You could have remained protected.”
“Protected?” Avery spits blood onto the tunnel floor. “You tortured us.”
Wu’s expression hardens slightly.
“We created resilience.”
“You electrocuted a nine-year-old!”
The tunnel goes silent.
Not metaphorically.
Actually silent.
Even the operatives behind Wu seem to freeze.
My pulse stumbles.
Nine.
Subject Twelve was nine.
Wu doesn’t deny it.
That’s the worst part.
“We were attempting neurological expansion under stress adaptation.”
I physically recoil.
Clay looks ready to kill him barehanded.
Russ’s face has gone cold in a way I’ve never seen before.
Not anger.
Judgment.
The kind that ends careers.
Wars.
Organizations.
Avery looks at me again.
And suddenly all the fury drains out of her expression.
Now she just looks devastated.
“You really don’t remember us.”
I shake my head helplessly.
“I’m trying, I remember little pieces.”
Tears spill down her face instantly.
“You used to sing to me.”
The words crack something open inside me.
And suddenly—
I remember the song.
Not all of it.
Just the melody.
Soft.
Quiet.
Children huddled together during storms while power flickered overhead.
Me singing because Avery cried when thunder shook the walls, and they killed her sister.
A strangled sound leaves my throat.
Clay catches me before I collapse sideways.
“I’ve got you.”
Always him.
Always steady.
I grip his arm hard enough to hurt.
“I remember her.”
Wu watches me carefully.
Clinical fascination burning behind his eyes now.
“You exceeded every projection.”
I look at him.
Really look at him.
And suddenly the fear starts changing shape.
Because for the first time—
I see what he truly is.
Not a protector.
Not a mentor.
A scientist.
One who learned how to wear kindness like a mask.
“You hurt children,” I whisper.
Wu’s voice stays calm.
“We saved children the world had already discarded.”
“No.” My voice shakes harder now. “You kept the broken ones because broken things were easier to control.”
Something flickers in his eyes then.
Not guilt.
Annoyance.
Because I finally said the truth out loud.
Avery smiles weakly through blood.
“There she is.”
Wu takes one slow step forward.
“Come with me willingly, Hannah, and I can stabilize the reintegration process before permanent damage occurs.”
Gabriel laughs harshly from behind cover.
“Listen to him. Still selling nightmares like medicine.”
Wu’s attention flicks toward Gabriel briefly.
“You survived because Hannah intervened on your behalf repeatedly during training.”
The tunnel goes still again.
I stare at Gabriel.
He won’t look at me.
No.
No no no—
“You were there?”
Gabriel’s jaw tightens.
“Yes.”
My chest tightens painfully.
“You knew me.”
His silence says enough.
Avery coughs again.
Harder this time.
Blood spills down her chin.
Clay kneels beside her carefully despite the rifles aimed at all of us.
“You move her, she dies,” he says quietly.
Wu doesn’t respond.
Because he knows Clay’s right.
Avery grabs my wrist suddenly.
Weak.
Shaking.
But desperate.
“Hannah…”
Her eyes lock onto mine.
“You have to remember the room.”
Fear slices through me instantly.
“What room?”
Avery’s breathing turns ragged.
“The red room.”
Every light in the tunnel suddenly feels colder.
Wu moves instantly.
Too instantly.
“Avery.”
Warning.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
Avery ignores him.
“You hid it there.”
My pulse starts hammering.
“What did I hide?”
Avery grips my wrist harder.
“The list.”
Wu’s composure finally cracks.
Just a little.
But enough.
Oh my God.
There it is.
That’s what this is really about.
Not me.
Not recovery.
Information.
Russ sees it too.
“What list?”
Wu’s voice turns deadly calm.
“Enough.”
Avery smiles weakly through blood.
“You were always smarter than him.”
Then she looks directly at me.
And whispers—
“The children, Hannah.”
Ice floods my veins.
Avery’s eyes fill with tears.
“He’s still taking children.”
The world stops.
Everything inside me goes cold.
Because suddenly—
the little flashes make horrible sense.
Rows of beds.
Tiny shoes lined beside walls.
Children crying during storms.
Not past tense.
Present.
Clay sees my face change instantly.
“Hannah?”
I look at Wu.
And for the first time—
I don’t feel confused.
Or frightened.
I feel fury.
Pure.
Burning.
Deadly.
“How many?” I whisper.
Wu says nothing.
That’s answer enough.
Avery’s voice breaks.
“You promised you’d come back.”
The words hit like a knife straight through my chest.
Because somewhere deep inside—
buried beneath all the missing memories—
I think I did.