Free Web NovelChapter 39: The Director’s Summon.
『"The truth will set you free, but first it’ll get you in trouble."』
The five of them stood silently in front of the elevator, still processing everything the Book had said.
Nobody looked at each other, because acknowledging what the Book had said meant acknowledging the truths they’d all been avoiding.
Finally, Sophia spoke without looking up. "I say we don’t talk about what just happened. Any of it. To anyone."
"That thing knew things it shouldn’t know," Hiro said quietly, staring at the floor.
"It’s a repository of forbidden knowledge," Ethan said. "Of course it knows things."
"Doesn’t make it hurt less," Raj muttered.
Amara wanted to say something comforting, something leader-like, but she couldn’t. The Book had been right about her too, and she didn’t know what to do about that.
When the elevator doors finally opened, they stepped inside without a word. The descent to the Director’s office was filled with tension.
After a few seconds of heavy silence, Hiro spoke up. "Can I just say... that book sucks?"
A chorus of murmured agreement filled the small space.
Following that, Raj grunted from the back. "Creepy bastard had no right digging around in our heads like that."
More murmurs of agreement followed.
Then Sophia leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "So... do we tell the Director about the Book?" She asked.
"Of course we tell him," Ethan said immediately. "We have to."
"All of it?" Hiro asked nervously. "Even the... personal stuff?"
Ethan hesitated. "The mission-critical information, yes. The Malice warning. The deal it offered. That it can escape containment."
"And the other stuff?" Raj asked quietly.
"That’s ours," Ethan said firmly. "What the Book said about us personally... that doesn’t affect Institute security."
Amara glanced at him. "You sure about that line?"
"No," Ethan admitted. "But I’m drawing it anyway. Some things doesn’t need to be in official reports."
Sophia cleared her throat. "So if he doesn’t ask..." she tightened her fists. "We don’t need to tell him anything?"
Ethan studied her for a moment then sighed. "Yeah."
The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival.
As they walked down the corridor toward the Director’s office, Hiro muttered nervously, "He definitely knows what we did. He knows everything. I mean, did you read the message?"
"Calm down," Ethan said quietly. "You never assume someone knows something until they reveal irrefutable proof, without a shadow of a doubt, that they do."
He turned to Amara, meeting her eyes. "And you... don’t say anything. You wouldn’t be able to help yourself."
Amara narrowed her eyes as her voice dropped to a whisper, defensive, "I know how to be cool!"
"That’s exactly what someone who can’t be cool would say," Sophia muttered.
They reached the Director’s office doors, which was made of heavy wood, reinforced with what looked like steel plating, and Ethan raised his hand to knock.
"Come in," the Director’s voice called before his knuckles made contact.
They exchanged glances, then stepped inside.
***
The man was seated behind his large desk, eyes fixed on his monitor.
"Director," Ethan greeted.
The Director didn’t look up immediately. His hand moved, gesturing to five chairs that had been arranged in front of his desk. "Have a seat."
They sat. Amara’s hands folded in her lap, her posture straight. Next to her, she could feel Hiro fidgeting as he played with his thumbs.
Once they were seated, he finally looked up from his monitor, leaned back and asked, "I’m guessing you all know why you’re here?"
The responses came at the same time as they spoke over each other immediately:
"No, not really—" Sophia started.
"Why does anyone go anywhere, really?" Hiro said, which made absolutely no sense.
"I don’t even know why you’re here," Raj added.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
"What?" Raj said defensively. "It’s a valid question."
Through all of this, Amara remained quiet. She could feel the Director’s gaze shift to her, noting her silence and her heart rate picked up slightly.
"An unauthorized use of a clearance card was flagged in Section 7," the Director said, his voice even. "Which, as you know, is a restricted zone. And this card just so happens to belong to the medical agent who handled your recovery, Ethan."
Ethan’s expression didn’t change. "Wow. Must be rough, losing your clearance card. If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know."
The Director sighed deeply and rubbed his face with one hand. Without saying another word, he turned his monitor around to face them.
The screen showed clear footage of them using the stolen keycard to enter the Library with a timestamp in the corner. The video then cut to them inside, switching to the interior cameras.
There were multiple angles of them wandering the stacks, touching books and discussing titles, including the moment Raj accidentally tore a page from a book.
In the feed, he pulled down a particularly old tome about alchemy and a page stuck to his finger when he tried to turn it. He tugged and the page tore with an audible rip that carried through the footage.
Raj’s head swiveled left and right, checking if anyone was watching. Then he carefully tucked the torn page back into the book and shoved it onto the shelf like nothing had happened.
"It was a really sticky book." Raj, who watched himself on the screen muttered, shifting in his seat.
Hiro leaned over to Ethan and whispered, "Yeah... that looks like irrefutable proof."
Meanwhile, Amara stayed silent, her jaw clenched, fighting every instinct to just confess everything and get it over with.
The Director leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled in front of him. "But that’s not why you’re here."
Raj’s eyebrow raised, and he smiled slightly. "It’s not?"
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "The Book."
"Precisely," The Director said. "The Book is a compendium of knowledge and stories with a nature we are yet to truly understand. But for decades, it has been unresponsive to our questioning and probing."
He paused, then added with deliberate emphasis: "Until today."
The Director tapped a key on his keyboard, pulling up additional files. "I had a feeling you five might get it talking. And you did."
Hiro crossed one leg over the other, trying to look relaxed. "In other words, you already knew we were going to the Library?"
The Director simply smiled and Hiro quickly uncrossed his leg, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"Wait," Sophia said slowly. "You wanted us to break in?"
"I wouldn’t say ’wanted,’" the Director replied. "But I knew about the stolen keycard within minutes of it being swapped. And I made a calculated decision to let you proceed."
"Hmmm," Ethan grunted.
"As you can see," the Director continued, pointing at the screen, "the feed cuts off right here. What I’d like to know is... what happened after that?"
Hiro couldn’t help himself. "I mean, if the Book can mess with your feeds and containment systems, why is it still here? Why not just... leave?"
"It’s a book," the Director replied, his tone suggesting the answer should be obvious. "Where would it go? And my guess is it’s right where it needs to be. At least until the Institute can find a proper containment method." He leaned forward slightly. "But let’s not digress."
Ethan folded his arms, his expression carefully neutral. "Nothing important was said."
The Director’s gaze narrowed. He looked at Ethan’s face, then moved to Raj. To Hiro. To Sophia. And finally, to Amara.
The moment their eyes met, Amara felt something crack inside her.
"Amara," the Director said, his voice gentle but firm. "What did the Book discuss with you five?"
"It said some things," Amara managed, her voice smaller than she intended.
"Some hurtful things," Raj added quietly.
The Director’s eyes narrowed. "What things in particular?"
Amara stayed quiet for a few seconds, feeling the weight of everyone’s attention. Ethan had told her not to say anything. They’d agreed to keep it quiet.
But the Director was looking at her with those knowing eyes, and suddenly all the words came out in a rush.
"It wanted to make a deal," she said, speaking faster with each sentence. "Trade information for music or a story, which is weird, right? But more importantly... it warned us that the Malices currently in stasis may emerge from their rifts sooner than we think. And that we’ll be overwhelmed when it happens."
She stopped, breathing hard, then turned to the rest of the group, her expression softening. "Sorry," she said weakly.
Sophia shrugged. "It’s fine. I was gonna crack in like thirty seconds anyway."
The Director’s expression had grown progressively more serious throughout Amara’s confession. Now he sat forward, elbows on his desk, looking at Ethan specifically.
"I know your intention was not to worry me," he said. "But every piece of information you five get, no matter how trivial it seems, could be the difference between life and death. Do you understand?"
Hiro let out a nervous laugh. "When you put it that way..."
"You’re all dismissed," the Director said, and they stood up, relief flooding through the group like a wave.
Then Ethan paused halfway to the door. "We aren’t getting reprimanded?"
"Your training will be intensified," The Director replied. "If there’s any truth to what the Book said, we need to be ready. And you five need to be more than ready."
They turned to leave, already processing what "intensified training" might mean when the Director suddenly raised his hand.
"Wait."
They froze, turning back.
"I almost forgot," he said. "In three weeks, you will be deployed to Tokyo."
Hiro’s eyes widened. "Tokyo?"
He nodded. "The Darkness Malice that was eradicated by Unit 11-B left behind some... complications."
The Director pulled up footage on his screen, and on it was a dark underground chamber filled with dozens of pulsing, black eggs. Each one roughly human-sized and covered in what looked like black miasma.
"Eggs," he said. "Spawn. Call them whatever you want. Point is, they’re hatching soon."
"How soon?" Ethan asked.
The Director cleared his throat. "Three weeks. Maybe four. The Institute’s containment teams have been monitoring them, but the eggs are starting to show increased activity."
Raj raised his hand. "Um. Why not just destroy the eggs before they hatch?"
"We’ve tried." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Conventional weapons don’t work. Fire doesn’t work. Whatever these things are, they’re designed to be indestructible until they’re ready to hatch."
"And I’m guessing it won’t be baby birds popping out when they do." Sophia said flatly.
"Lesser Darkness entities. Maybe fifty of them. Individually weaker than the parent Malice, but still deadly. And if even one escapes into Tokyo’s population..." He didn’t need to finish, but they all understood.
Mass casualties. Civilian deaths. Potential infection spreading through the city.
"So we’re going in as backup for Unit 11-B?" Amara asked.
"You’re going in with Unit 11-B," the Director corrected.
He met each of their eyes in turn. "This is your first real deployment. Not training. Not simulation. Real combat against real threats." His voice was firm. "You have three weeks to prepare. So I suggest you make them count."
"One more thing," the Director said as they stood to leave. "Ethan."
Ethan turned back.
"The medical staff member whose keycard you stole? She’s been suspended pending investigation into the security breach."
Ethan’s expression faltered. "Sir, she didn’t—"
"I know she didn’t give it to you willingly," the Director interrupted. "Which is why the suspension is temporary. But actions have consequences. Even when they work out in our favor."
He leaned back in his chair. "Consider this part of your education. Leadership means accepting responsibility for how your choices affect others."
Ethan nodded slowly. "Yes, sir."
"Now," the Director said with finality, "you’re dismissed."
***
As they left the Director’s office, the reality of the situation began to sink in. They were going on a real operation in just three weeks.
The moment the door closed behind them, the group erupted into chatter.
"Tokyo!" Hiro said with excitement. "It’s been a while. And in three weeks!"
"That’s not a lot of time to prepare," Raj pointed out, but he was grinning anyway.
"Intensified training," Sophia said, shaking her head. "Great. Just what I needed... more reasons to be sore every morning."
Amara walked slightly behind the others, her fists clenched tightly at her sides as the conversation around her felt distant, barely hearing them.
Ethan slowed his pace until he was walking beside her. "Hey... you okay? You’ve been quiet."
Amara looked up at him and forced a small smile. "Yeah... I’m good. Just thinking."
"About?" He asked.
"Everything." She managed a small smile. "It’s a lot to process."
Ethan returned the smile, warm and reassuring. "It’s gonna be fine."
Ahead of them, Hiro was making exaggerated martial arts movements, demonstrating what he planned to do to any darkness spawn that crossed his path.
She felt something settle in her chest and she nodded, her resolve hardening. "Yes, it will. Let’s make these next three weeks count."
The rest of the group turned around ahead of them, all nodding in agreement as they prepared themselves for the intense training that was about to begin.
