The corridors were too quiet.
Dian sat cross-legged on her bed, the faint hum of base electricity crawling along the walls like static. König and the team had left hours ago-some off-site mission, routine, supposedly-but the moment the transport departed, something shifted.
It wasn't anything obvious. No flashing alarms. No mysterious messages.
Just... silence.
Dian was used to silence. She had grown up in it-slept in it, bled in it, screamed into it-but this felt different. This was the silence of something waiting.
Her fingers twitched restlessly against the blanket. The rabbit charm König had given her sat beside her pillow. She hadn't touched it since he left. Somehow, even looking at it made her chest feel too tight.
She hadn't told him about the dreams. The visions.
The ones where Zero One stood in the corner of her room without speaking.
The ones where he looked at her with eyes that knew too much.
And now? She could feel it again. That awful pressure under her skin-like the walls of her mind were beginning to peel.
She rose from the bed, slow and cautious, then crossed the room and opened her locker. Hidden behind layers of gear and spare ammunition was a battered transmitter-one she wasn't supposed to have. König had disabled the main lines weeks ago after a false ping triggered a panic. But she'd secretly rerouted one. Just in case.
Tonight, it blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then solid green.
Her heart dropped.
She leaned forward slowly, her breath fogging the cold glass of the device's screen. One line of text waited for her.
> Dian. It's me. They're letting me out. I need you.
She stared. Motionless.
It wasn't possible.
Zero One was in KorTac custody. Under lockdown, monitored, restrained. König had seen to it personally. There was no way-no way-this was real.
But what if it was?
Her hand hovered over the screen. Trembling. She knew better. Knew better. This could be another glitch. A psychological lapse. A memory fragment clawing its way out from her subconscious.
Still, she tapped the screen.
The message refreshed.
> Third hallway. South wing. Behind the storage vault. Don't tell them. Please.
Her skin crawled.
Don't tell them.
Her instincts screamed trap, but that voice-the phrasing-felt real. It sounded like him. It read like him.
Her legs moved before her brain gave permission. She slipped on her jacket, strapped a knife to her thigh, tucked another inside her sleeve, and then shoved the transmitter into her pocket. The rabbit charm remained on the bed, untouched.
She left her room quietly. No alarms. No movement. Not a single guard in sight.
Her boots made no sound against the concrete floor as she took the back corridors. Every turn of the hallway felt longer than the last, the shadows stretching unnaturally like they were watching her.
The south wing had been decommissioned months ago. Damaged during a breach, König said. But Dian had never believed that story. Too neat. Too convenient.
She found the vault door. Old. Rusted. Slightly ajar.
A single light flickered above it.
Her hand hovered over the handle. Then she heard it.
Footsteps behind her.
Dian whirled, knife in hand-
-Nothing.
Just the hum of the failing light.
Her grip tightened.
You're losing it again.
But before she could turn back toward the vault-
A voice.
"You came."
Dian spun.
He was there.
Zero One stood at the end of the corridor. No guards. No restraints. No weapons. Just his combat boots, the same uniform from the facility, and that haunting black mask with its thin vertical eye slit.
It had to be a hallucination.
She took a shaky step forward. "No. You're not real."
He tilted his head-just like he always had. "You said that last time."
"Last time I was dreaming," she hissed.
Zero One took a slow step toward her. "Maybe you still are."
Dian backed away. Her heartbeat was a war drum in her ears. The hallway suddenly felt too long behind her. Too far to run.
Then she heard it-more footsteps. But not just one set. Several.
She turned-and saw them.
Three figures emerged from the shadows. Silent. Precise.
They wore KorTac uniforms, but they weren't König's men. They moved like wolves. Predatory. Efficient.
Dian's hand went to her knife again, but it was too late.
One grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms. Another lunged and drove a gloved fist into her ribs, knocking the breath from her lungs. The knife clattered to the floor.
She kicked, thrashed, bit down hard on the hand that tried to clamp over her mouth-
-but they were trained. Trained for her.
She tried to scream.
A thick cloth was shoved into her mouth. Tied. Gagged.
Then-straps around her wrists. A zip-tie biting into her skin. Another around her ankles.
"GET OFF ME!" she tried to scream, but it was muffled.
Then he was in front of her. Zero One. Towering. Watching.
"I told you not to tell anyone," he said softly. "You always had a problem with obedience."
Tears burned at the corners of her eyes-not from pain, but rage. This was real.
This wasn't her mind playing tricks.
They were here.
Her heart thundered as she saw the needle appear. Thin. Silver. Full of something clear.
She tried to shake her head.
One of them held her jaw.
"Easy now," Zero One whispered. "We just need you calm. You'll understand soon enough."
The needle slid into her neck.
Cold fire bloomed through her veins.
The edges of the world began to tilt.
Her breath slowed. Vision blurred.
The last thing she saw was Zero One crouching beside her, tilting his head like a curious child.
"Don't worry. You're going home."
Darkness swallowed her whole.
YOU ARE READING
She Was Just A Child (PART 2)
Fanfiction⭐[DISCLAIMER: I DO THIS JUST FOR FUN!!! I GOT THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY FROM C.AI AND USED CHAT GPT TO HELP ME CREATE A FULL STORY!!!]⭐ Dian's world spirals further into chaos as she unexpectedly encounters a mysterious soldier named Zero One. Emergin...
