Chapter 9: The Chamber of Voter Rolls

👉 Previous Decision: You chose to attempt to break into Sub-Level 4 immediately.

I swiveled past the main elevator shafts, ignoring the security cameras that wouldn’t recognize my analog keycard. I descended the emergency concrete stairs, the air growing colder and heavier with each flight. The migraine pulsed, a constant drumbeat behind my eyes.

On Sub-Level 4, the heavy magnetic lock hissed open as I slid Evelyn’s keycard through the reader. The thick steel door swung inward, revealing not the server rack array I expected, but a massive subterranean auditorium.

My eyes struggled to adjust to the dim, blue-lit space. Dozens of severed quantitative analysts sat in rows of glowing cubicles, their faces illuminated by the screens. They were not analyzing data. They were actively modifying digital swing-state voter registries in real-time.

On the central wall display, a grim tally stood out: 3,400 voter dossiers were flagged for deliberate deletion ahead of the upcoming municipal elections. Names, addresses, political affiliations — all being erased with a few keystrokes.

My breath hitched. My focus sharpened through the haze of the receding migraine.

Then I stopped cold. At terminal 14, tucked away in a corner, sat a gaunt figure I recognized instantly. Evelyn’s twin brother, Thomas. He stared vacantly at his screen, his fingers moving with a disturbing, automatic rhythm. His eyes held no recognition, no spark of life, only the dull, glazed over look of someone under deep, sustained trance.

➡️ Read CHAPTER 10 to continue the story.