Chapter 38: The Hidden Frequency
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The city woke to another headline.
MYSTERIOUS TREMOR BENEATH DOWNTOWN.
Officials blamed aging subway tunnels.
Engineers blamed unstable foundations.
Helix blamed faulty infrastructure.
Only four people knew the truth.
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Rasheed sat quietly in physics class.
The teacher’s voice faded into the background.
His notebook remained open.
Instead of equations…
He had drawn seven circles.
One was crossed out.
Vault One.
Another was circled.
Vault Two.
The remaining five…
Question marks.
A shadow fell across his desk.
Adesewa.
“You’ve been drawing that for ten minutes.”
He quickly closed the notebook.
“It’s nothing.”
She smiled.
“You’ve become a terrible liar.”
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After school…
The Librarian called.
Not by phone.
By letter.
A folded envelope rested inside the workshop mailbox.
No stamp.
No address.
Only one sentence.
Come alone.
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The bookstore was empty.
The old man locked the front door behind Rasheed.
“I have something your father left.”
He disappeared upstairs.
When he returned…
He carried an old portable radio.
The paint had peeled away.
The antenna was bent.
Rasheed frowned.
“…A radio?”
“It isn’t a radio.”
“It only looks like one.”
The Librarian placed it on the counter.
“Your father built it after the accident.”
“What does it do?”
“It listens.”
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“To what?”
The old man slowly turned the tuning dial.
Static filled the room.
Nothing unusual.
Then…
A strange rhythmic pulse emerged.
Not music.
Not speech.
A heartbeat.
Steady.
Crimson light flickered inside the device.
Rasheed’s Pulse Core glowed in response.
His eyes widened.
“They’re connected.”
The Librarian nodded.
“Chronal energy leaves echoes.”
“This device hears them.”
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Suddenly…
The pulse changed.
Fast.
Uneven.
Urgent.
The Librarian immediately became serious.
“That’s impossible…”
“What?”
He looked toward the eastern window.
“Another Vault.”
“It just woke up.”
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Across the city…
Mr. Vale stood inside an abandoned observatory.
The bronze compass rested on a stone table.
Around it…
Ancient maps covered every wall.
One of his operatives entered.
“Sir.”
“We’ve confirmed Helix has deployed additional surveillance.”
Vale didn’t look up.
“They’re afraid.”
“Should we proceed?”
“No.”
He smiled faintly.
“They’re coming to us.”
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Helix Dynamics…
Deep beneath the research tower…
The Director stood before a secure vault.
Only he possessed clearance.
A retinal scan.
A voice scan.
A Chrona signature scan.
The final lock disengaged.
Inside…
Resting on a black pedestal…
Was another object from Project Chrona.
A silver ring.
Smooth.
Featureless.
Except for one engraved sentence.
Only Together.
The Director stared at it.
“So…”
“It’s beginning again.”
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That evening…
Rasheed and Adesewa walked home in silence.
She finally broke it.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You just did.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She laughed despite herself.
Then became quiet again.
“Do you ever feel…”
“…like something is waiting for you?”
Rasheed’s smile disappeared.
Every day.
But he couldn’t say that.
Instead…
“I think everyone feels that sometimes.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“I mean…”
“…like your future already knows your name.”
Rasheed stopped walking.
Those words…
They sounded strangely familiar.
Almost like something his father would’ve written.
Before he could answer—
The portable radio inside his backpack crackled violently.
Static screamed through the speaker.
Then…
A voice.
Broken.
Distant.
Fighting through impossible interference.
“…Rasheed…”
He froze.
Adesewa looked at him.
“Did that thing just—”
The voice returned.
Clearer this time.
“…if you can hear me…”
“…don’t trust—”
The transmission cut off.
Silence.
The radio died.
Rasheed’s breathing became uneven.
That voice…
He knew it.
He had heard it in recordings his entire life.
His father.
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Miles away…
Inside the Chronal Zone…
David Adewale held a damaged communication beacon in trembling hands.
The light faded.
“No…”
He struck it once.
Nothing.
“I was so close.”
Behind him…
The crimson storm intensified.
The footprints he’d found earlier…
Were no longer alone.
Someone else was following him.
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