Echoes Of Deception

No One To Trust

Nick’s boots crunched the frosted gravel as he followed Leah through a narrow trail behind her cabin. The wind bit through his jacket, but his focus stayed sharp, heart pounding with the weight of unanswered questions. His mind was still a blur, but instincts whispered things—how to track, how to move silently, how to kill.

Leah glanced back, eyes darting. “You’re sure no one followed you last night?”

“I didn’t hear anyone,” Nick said. “But I wasn’t exactly at full capacity.”

She stopped and knelt beside a tree. “We’re not safe here anymore. I saw tire tracks this morning. Deep ones and Fresh.”

Nick crouched next to her, studying the faint indentations in the snow. “Military-grade. SUV. Four passengers. Too heavy for just one or two.”

Leah blinked. “You’re not just some random guy with memory loss, are you?”

Nick stood slowly. “I don’t know who I am. But I know I am not helpless.”

Leah looked down at the snow, fidgeting with her sleeves. “That chip under your skin… we need answers. And I know someone who might help. But he’s not exactly a friend.”

They moved quickly, crossing into the edge of a wooded stretch where an abandoned ranger’s outpost sat half-collapsed. Leah kicked in the side panel of a loose floorboard and pulled out a metal case.

Nick raised a brow. “Buried treasure?”

“Backup gear,” she said. “My brother used to stash things. He thought someone was watching him before he died. That’s when he started investigating the program that probably involved you.”

Nick froze. “He was killed for digging too deep?”

Leah nodded grimly. “He was a software engineer. The kind who hacked for fun, until he discovered something about an AI project linked to a private defense contractor called Veratech.”

Nick’s pulse thudded. That name scraped something loose in his mind. A red logo. A dark room. Screaming.

“I’ve heard of them,” he muttered. “Or… maybe I worked for them.”

Leah passed him a small tablet from the case. “There’s encrypted files here. We couldn’t open them. But now, I think you’re the key. Literally.”

Nick took the tablet, and as his fingers touched the screen, the device lit up. Lines of code cascaded, unlocking a hidden interface. Leah gasped.

“That’s not normal.”

“I don’t think I am either,” Nick said softly.

Suddenly, static blared from the woods—a burst of radio chatter from someone too close.

“They found us,” Leah whispered.

Nick grabbed her hand. “Run.”

They bolted through the trees, dodging low branches and frozen roots. Gunshots cracked behind them. Bark exploded beside Nick’s shoulder. He pulled Leah down and led her along a rocky slope into a gulley.

“We can’t outrun them forever!” she hissed.

“We don’t have to,” Nick replied. “Just get me close to one of their comms. I need to hear what they’re saying.”

They crawled through brush until they spotted one of the masked men pacing near a black vehicle. Nick gestured for Leah to stay put and circled wide. With remarkable disguise, he approached the man from behind, put him in a tight grip and silently pulled him to the ground.

He stripped the man’s earpiece and shoved it in his own ear.

“Target has fled east—repeat, east. Maintain visual but do not engage until backup confirms. High-priority asset must be recovered intact.”

Nick’s hands clenched.

They weren’t just hunting him. They needed him.

He dragged the unconscious man into the bushes and returned to Leah. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

By sunset, they reached a rundown auto garage on the outskirts of a quiet town. Leah’s contact, an ex-hacker named Remy, agreed to meet under the pretense of an emergency repair.

The garage was dim, reeking of oil and rust. Remy, a wiry man with nicotine-stained fingers, stared hard at Nick.

“You’re the one from the leaks,” Remy said. “The experiment.”

Nick flinched. “What leaks?”

Remy sat, fingers flying across his keyboard. “There was a whisper about a project—Project Echo. Veratech’s brainchild. Neural modification. Behavioral override. Weaponizing human minds.”

Leah leaned forward. “My brother found those files. Before they killed him.”

Remy looked grim. “They were trying to create soldiers who wouldn’t question orders. But something went wrong. One test subject broke the conditioning. Killed a handler. Disappeared.”

Nick’s head spun. “That was me, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Remy said. “Or maybe you’re worse.”

Silence fell heavy between them.

Nick stood, staring at his reflection in a cracked mirror. “I’m not a weapon,” he said, voice low. “I’m not theirs.”

Leah’s voice was quiet behind him. “Then let’s prove it.” She said.