The air in the abandoned bell tower storage room was thick with dust and dread. It was their new meeting place. Paranoia was now their primary curriculum.
“The data converges on an inescapable conclusion,” Niles said, his voice a flat monotone that couldn’t mask the horror beneath. He proceeded to tick off the evidence like a prosecutor. 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamYyhJ0aU9
“One: Targeted recruitment of isolated ‘anomalies.’ Two: Psychological profiles with designated ‘control variables’ and ‘leverage points.’ Three: The ‘Absolved’ is a terminal status. Four: An architectural blueprint showing a circulatory system feeding a central ‘Heart.’” 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lHv5yyOEK
He looked at them, his eyes dark. “We are not students. We are feedstock. Our cognitive and perceptual talents are the resource. ‘Absolution’ is the harvest.”
The hypothesis was a cold, logical monster. It gave a horrifying, efficient purpose to every cruelty of Blackwood.
“But to what end?” Leon asked, his voice tight. “What is the ‘Heart’? A weapon? A generator? What could possibly require…”
He was cut off by the sound of three pairs of measured footsteps on the stone stairs below. Not the brisk march of a prefect, but the deliberate, scholarly tread of the professors. They fell silent, pressing against the cold wall.
The footsteps passed their door and continued up, toward the rarely-used observatory level. A moment later, three figures emerged, with one being held brutally by the other two.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzX3tWcKKw
Exchanging a glance, they quietly slipped out. Curiosity, now fused with terror, propelled them. They crept up the spiral stairs, finding a vantage point where they could see into the observatory’s anteroom through a crack in the door.
The scene inside was a tableau of quiet brutality.
Professor Crawford stood, his hands clasped behind his back, a model of cold authority, while Professor Draven stood next to him. In front of them was Mr. Henderson, his face was a mess of fresh bruises, one eye swollen shut, his lip split. His clothes were torn at the shoulder. He wasn’t being held, but he looked utterly broken.
“Sentimentality is a flaw in an academic, Henderson,” Professor Draven said, his voice like a razor wrapped in silk. “You were tasked with observation, not intervention. You introduced variables into a controlled experiment.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxuoYypnfk
Mr. Henderson mumbled something unintelligible, blood spotting his chin.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtT1UI0Z7l4
“Your attempt to ‘guide’ these specimens has contaminated the sample,” Professor Crawford continued, pacing a slow circle around the broken man. “Their awareness is now a statistical anomaly. You haven’t granted them any insight; you have accelerated their timeline towards resolution.” He stopped in front of him, his gaze boring into the poor man. “A resolution you understand all too well.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtnO6DMnLp
The two stepped closer. “The infirmary will provide the necessary… recalibration. A period of enforced quiet to purge this rebellious data.” 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmvpc2TLkP
Professor Crawford placed his hand on Mr. Henderson’s trembling shoulder. The injured man immediately flinched as if branded. 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTfWmu6786
“Let this be the final lesson you record: action provokes consequence. For the subject. And for the misguided observer.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWfPE1hZPY
The two's head turned slightly. Their gaze didn’t find them in the crack, but it seemed to look directly at the idea, the image of them, somewhere peeking in the darkness.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRG1tr7umwk
“Some roots are meant to stay buried,” Professor Draven added, his words now clearly meant to carry, “lest they be exposed to a light that withers, not nurtures.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETJ2ioCnpn
The two looked at Mr. Henderson one last time before moving. Professor Crawford lingered a moment longer, his eyes scanning the empty darkness where they hid, before turning to follow.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHIUVvNqxD
The silence after their footsteps faded was absolute, broken only by the ragged, wet sound of Mr. Henderson’s breathing. For a long moment, the trio remained frozen behind the door, the professors’ final words echoing in the hollow of their skulls.
Some roots are meant to stay buried.
Slowly, as if moving through deep water, they pushed the door open and stepped into the anteroom. The smell of dust was now undercut by the coppery tang of blood.
“Mr. Henderson… are you okay...” Alice breathed, rushing forward but stopping short, unsure where to touch him that wouldn’t cause more pain.
He flinched at her voice, his one good eye blinking open with immense effort. It took a moment for his gaze to find them, to focus. A flicker of something—dismay, apology, fear—crossed his battered face.
“Alice... dear Alice... you… you shouldn’t be here,” he rasped, each word a struggle. “You heard. You saw.”
“We’re getting you out of here,” Leon said, his voice tight with a fury he couldn’t act upon. He moved to offer a shoulder for support.
“Leon, don't!” The force of the word made Mr. Henderson cough hard, a spatter of red hitting the dusty floor. He held up a trembling hand. “No. That is… precisely what they want. A reason to escalate. To move you from ‘anomalies’ to ‘active contaminants.’”
He sagged against the wall, his energy spent. “They will take me to the infirmary. It is where I need to be for now.”
“There is a high chance that they’ll hurt you more, the probability is more than 85%,” Niles stated, the logic of it cold and unacceptable.
“They will administer… silence,” Mr. Henderson corrected, his good eye holding Niles’s. “A chemical quiet. It is preferable to the alternative. To ‘Absolution.’” He let the word hang, giving it the weight they now understood. 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpWwKEM1aj
“While I am… quiet, you three must become silent.”
He drew a shuddering breath, mustering the last of his strength to be clear. “You must step back. Now. No more sneaking. No more midnight meetings. Go to your classes. Study for your examinations. Be model, forgettable students.”
“We can’t just do nothing! We have to stop them!” Alice pleaded, tears of frustration welling in her eyes.
“You are not doing nothing, Alice,” Mr. Henderson whispered fiercely, his tone left no doubt. “You are surviving. The most radical act in this place is to persist, unseen, until the moment is right. The roots they warned you about… you must grow them deeper in secret. But for now, you must be still. Let them think their lesson took. Let them think you are… cowed.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XhgilmHCQ
Footsteps sounded on the stairs again—softer, quicker. The white-clad orderlies from the infirmary.
Mr. Henderson’s gaze swept over them one last time, a desperate, paternal intensity in his bruised face. “Focus on your exams. Be boring. Be small. Stay down. Go!”
The orderlies entered, their expressions professionally blank. They took Mr. Henderson’s arms with gentle, impersonal efficiency and led him away. He did not look back.
The trio was left alone in the empty observatory, the ghosts of violence and threat clinging to the air. The path forward was not a charge into the darkness, but a retreat into the light. 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nR5QAKTvk
They had to become perfect students, to hide their burning knowledge behind a facade of mundane worry about grades and lectures.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu46ETCD66w
It felt like a surrender. But as they descended the bell tower stairs, not speaking, Niles knew Mr. Henderson was right. I14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiGQaDFjwV
t was a tactical withdrawal. 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDfpAUI4z1
The map was still folded in his pocket. The drawing of the Triad was seared into their minds. The ‘Heart’ still beat in the darkness below.
They were not stopping. They were learning a new, more dangerous skill: how to disappear in plain sight.
ns216.73.216.33da2
and then Add to home screen.