The first thing I felt was a dull, aching hum radiating through my body. Not pain exactly, but something just shy of it—a discomfort that tugged at the edges of my consciousness. My eyelids were heavy, and my head felt stuffed with cotton. I groaned, forcing myself to sit up.

The room was dimly lit and unfamiliar. Wooden beams lined the ceiling, and the faint smell of antiseptic hung in the air. A fire crackled in a stone hearth on the far side of the room, casting dancing shadows across the walls.

“Easy,” a familiar voice said. “You’re not fully recovered yet.”

I turned my head slowly, finding Dr. Meyers sitting at a small desk cluttered with wires, monitors, and a laptop that glowed faintly in the dim light. He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes, his hair messier than usual.

“Where are we?” I croaked, my voice raspy.

“Safe house,” he replied without looking away from the screen. His fingers danced over the keyboard, pausing occasionally to adjust a small device connected to his laptop. “About sixty miles from the farm. ALPHA guided us here after the detonation.”

The detonation. The memory of the EMP flickered in my mind—the searing light, the thunderous pulse, the way it had scrambled my systems, and left me vulnerable.

“What happened to me?” I asked, touching the side of my head.

“You were too close to the EMP,” Meyers said, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Some of your systems overloaded. ALPHA managed to stabilize you, but... well, let’s just say you’re not at 100% right now.”

I flexed my fingers, testing the connection between thought and movement. Everything felt sluggish, like wading through molasses.

“You’ll heal,” Meyers reassured me, turning back to his work. “But it’ll take time. For now, try to rest.”

I wasn’t sure I could, not with the way my mind churned. I swung my legs over the side of the cot, ignoring the wave of dizziness that followed. “What are you working on?”

“Trying to hack into The Consortium’s systems,” he said. “We need to know their next move. Samuel’s visit wasn’t random—they’re testing us, probing for weaknesses.”

“And?”

“And... they’ve beefed up their security since I last had access.” Meyers frowned at the screen, his fingers slowing as if deep in thought. “But I’ll get in. It’s just a matter of time.”

I watched him work for a moment, noting the tension in his shoulders, the tight set of his jaw. Something was weighing on him, more than just the mission.

“Doc,” I said softly, drawing his attention. He looked up, his eyes tired but attentive. “Why did you really join The Consortium?”

He hesitated, his hands hovering over the keyboard. “You already know why. I wanted to change the world, to help people.”

“But that’s not the whole truth, is it?” I pressed.

Dr. Meyers leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Jacob and I... we started out with the same vision. We were idealists, both of us. But somewhere along the way, he changed. He became... ambitious, ruthless. He started seeing people as tools, not lives to save.”

“And you?”

“I stayed because I thought I could fix it. That I could rein him in.” Meyers gave a bitter laugh. “I was wrong. By the time I realized what he was turning The Consortium into, it was too late. He’d already taken everything—my research, my patents, my reputation.”

His words hung in the air, heavy with regret.

“Was there anything else?” I asked quietly, sensing there was more.

Dr. Meyers hesitated, his gaze flicking to me and then away. “Jacob and I... we disagreed about the ACE program from the start. I wanted to focus on healing and rehabilitation. He wanted soldiers. Weapons.”

He paused, his jaw tightening. “And then there was you.”

The room seemed to grow colder, the crackle of the fire fading into the background.

“What about me?”

Dr. Meyers looked at me then, his expression unreadable. “You don’t remember, but you were part of the original program. You volunteered. I didn’t want you to, but Jacob... he convinced you. Said it was the only way to save you.”

“Save me from what?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t know,” Meyers admitted. “Or maybe I didn’t want to know. But something about the way he pushed you into it never sat right with me.”

I stared at him, the weight of his words settling over me like a shroud. Fragments of memories flickered at the edges of my mind—faces, voices, emotions I couldn’t quite place.

“Doc,” I said, my voice shaking, “was Jacob, my husband?”

He didn’t answer right away, his gaze dropping to the floor. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, almost pained. “Yes.”

The word hit me like a punch to the gut.

“And you?” I asked, my voice trembling. “What were you to me?”

Dr. Meyers didn’t look at me, his silence speaking volumes.

I turned away, my mind racing. The man who had betrayed me, who had turned me into this... he wasn’t just an enemy. He was someone I’d once trusted, once loved.

The room felt suffocating, the walls closing in. I needed answers, but for now, all I had were questions.

Dr. Meyers exhaled deeply, breaking the silence. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, avoiding my gaze.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this,” he said, his voice quiet, heavy. “But yes, Jacob was your husband. You chose him. And I...”

I blinked, waiting for him to continue, feeling the weight of his hesitation like a storm about to break.

“And I was jealous,” Meyers admitted finally, the words tumbling out like a confession. “I’ve always been jealous.” He met my gaze then, his eyes raw with emotion. “I loved you, Alex. From the moment I met you, I was drawn to you. But you never saw me the way I saw you. You were so... captivated by Jacob. His charm, his ambition. I thought if I worked harder, if I proved myself, maybe you’d notice me.”

His voice faltered, and he looked away. “But you didn’t. And then, when you chose him, I told myself it didn’t matter. That I’d get over it. But seeing the way he treated you... how he manipulated you into volunteering for the program...”

His fists clenched, and his voice hardened. “I should have fought harder for you. I should have done something to stop him. Instead, I let my own insecurities keep me silent. I let you walk into this nightmare because I couldn’t tell you how I felt.”

I stared at him, stunned. The truth in his voice was undeniable, and it hit me like a tidal wave. The man who had risked everything to save me now had another layer to his motivations—a love he’d harbored in silence while I’d been blind to it.

“Doc...” I started, unsure of what to say, unsure of how I even felt about this revelation.

Before I could finish, his laptop let out a sharp beep. He snapped upright, his attention snapping to the screen.

“I’m in,” he said, his tone shifting from vulnerable to focused.

I blinked, trying to process the sudden change. “What?”

“I’ve breached The Consortium’s firewall,” Dr. Meyers said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “ALPHA, pull all relevant data on their operations and project timelines. Prioritize anything related to future deployments.”

“Processing,” ALPHA replied.

I stood there, the whirlwind of Dr. Meyers’ confession colliding with the immediate urgency of our mission. “What are you looking for?”

“Anything that tells us their next move,” he said, his voice clipped. “They’ve accelerated their plans."

The tension in the room shifted again, my frustration bubbling to the surface. “You can’t just drop something like that on me and then act like nothing happened!”

Dr. Meyers paused for a fraction of a second, his hands hovering over the keyboard. He didn’t look at me, but his voice softened. “We’ll talk about it later, Alex. Right now, this takes priority.”

“Convenient,” I muttered under my breath, but I didn’t press further. He was right—this wasn’t the time for personal revelations.

The screen filled with rows of text and schematics, ALPHA’s voice providing summaries of key findings. Dr. Meyers’ eyes darted across the data, his expression growing darker with each passing second.

“The investors are coming,” Dr. Meyers replied. “They’re planning to show off a new prototype.”

I clenched my fists, the fire of determination reigniting. “Then we’ll stop them before they get the chance.”

Dr. Meyers looked at me, his expression a mixture of admiration and fear. “We’ll need a plan. A good one.”

I nodded, pushing aside the swirling storm of emotions from his confession. For now, the mission was all that mattered. The Consortium needed to be stopped, and we’d be ready.