“What’s going on?”

“We’ve been set up, that’s what.”

“We…?” Todd questioned.

Norman hastily sealed the door behind him. He had led us through an emergency exit from the shipment room, down a secret passageway and many levels below ground.

“Me, you, Allen, Gena, everyone, we were all set up.” He went on.

By this time I had mustered up enough strength to keep up with their movements. I wasn’t a hundred percent focused, but I was back online. We entered what appeared to be some sort of engine room.

What’s all this?

Slightly limping, I hooked my eyelids onto the heel of his foot and traced every step he made.

Is this an engine room…

But there is already an engine room above ground. What’s another one doing down here? Moreover, it looks kind of abandoned…

“What are you saying? Why would they do this to us?” Todd is the calmer and more rational of the two brothers, so tried to get as many answers from Norman as possible without losing his cool.

I stayed behind, well not that I had a choice since I was limping, and listened as intently as I could.

Norman comes to a steady halt crashing me into his back against the force of gravity.

Then he told us...

“I came back from my vacation just a few days in advance. That night, the team and I, we were all going to throw a huge celebration party to commemorate our recent accomplishments. Our debts were paid, we were now free. They were paying for it after all. They said that we deserved it. We got placed in the finest hotel; it was practically vacated to accommodate us. All our dreams had finally come true.

I remember Allen turning to me and saying, he can finally enjoy life with his family without looking over his shoulder. I got a call that night from my wife. Our daughter Emma had suddenly fallen ill so rushed to the emergency room. We ended up going to my parents two days later after leaving the hospital. I came back the day you cornered me in the bathroom and everything else seemed normal up until then.

But then three days ago, they came for me.

“What about the others?”

Jason’s voice came out of nowhere. His neurotic mumbles were all too chilling. I grab the railing properly and finally stood up straight. Norman looked up at us then said,

“They’ve been wiped.”

The mood became grim and cold sweat began to wash over the two boys. Unable to swallow their spit, Jason began to sweat from his ear line down. And Todd depicted more obvious signs of fear with pupils dilated to a perilous level.

“Everything about them is gone. Records, family, medical history, their U.I’s completely wiped. It’s as if they didn’t exist.”

“How did you escape?” I intuitively interrupted.

“That’s a long story. I will explain later. For now, my family is gone. My little girls, I will never see them again. And as long as the man responsible for all this still breathes, I will not rest until he is dead.”

“Who is responsible for all this?” I impatiently inquired. “Tell me what’s going on! Who are you three working for? And need I remind you two jack-heads that you brought a bomb with you? You might want to get working on deactivating that thing.”

“They can’t." Norman responds, "It’s remotely controlled from headquarters.”

“Headquarters…?”

“You want to know who we work for?” He asks.

“It’s about damn time!”

“Okay, Sargent Nicholai Bishop. Son of Mar Bishop, biological parents Ann and Gram Marston.

I halted.

“This is Agent Todd and Jason Mores. You already know my name. We work for the Government In section 12BL Classified Technology and Weapons Program. We were sent here to ensure the destruction of this Facility in order to ensure the continued survival and evolution of the human race. We were on duty for our country. But as you can see, the Government has betrayed us, left them here to die and offed those of us who were involved in this grand scheme.”

“To clean up their mess…” I mumbled. I placed my chin between my thumb and index finger after dragging my hand across my face to wipe away the sweat.

“The Government is preparing for the conversion of the prison while at the same time is planning to destroy it?”

“What’s the motive?” I crunched my brows from confusion. “So many lives will be lost. There will be outrage, pain… there will be chaos.”

“Yes,” Norman interrupts, “And then total and complete submission.”

He took one step closer to me then said with a chilling voice, “They have made blueprints for the future, and I am afraid that this is only the beginning.”