Chapter 26

The evening air was still, a faint breeze rustling through the leaves as Lockey made his way to the secluded garden where he had arranged to meet Lee. The moonlight cast long shadows, but the quiet of the place didn't ease the tension building in Lockey's chest. His mind was set, and tonight, he would put the plan in motion.Lee was already there, leaning against the stone bench, his arms crossed as if he was trying to make sense of why Lockey had called him out here at such a late hour. As Lockey approached, Lee stood straighter, his expression curious but wary."Lockey?" Lee's voice carried a note of surprise. He didn't get called out for secret meetings in the garden often, especially not at this hour. "What's up?"Lockey got straight to the point, not one for small talk. "I need to get into Site 22."Silence stretched on the other end. Lee's confusion and hesitation were palpable even through the phone."Site 22? Where did you even hear about that? Lockey, no one talks about Site 22. Hell, most WCM agents don't even know it exists," Lee responded, his voice low, as though speaking about it might draw unwanted attention.Lockey leaned back, his eyes narrowing at the darkness in front of him. "I know enough. And it's where I need to go. The Beta Vault is connected to that place."Lee exhaled, a long, frustrated sound. "I don't know anything about Site 22. All I've heard is that it's nearly impossible to access and that only a handful of people in the organization even have clearance to enter. You're risking everything for this.""That's why I need to make a move soon," Lockey said coolly. "Emma's the key."There was another pause, longer this time. "What do you mean, Emma's the key?" Lee asked, his voice cautious."She's too close," Lockey explained, his tone clinical. "If she finds out anything more, I'm done for. She either needs to disappear or be killed."Lee's breath caught. "Disappear or…be killed?"Lockey didn't flinch at the shock in his friend's voice. "Exactly. She's been following me for weeks. You know that if she's gone, her investigation goes with her. It's the only way I can make a clean break and get them to send me to Site 22."There was a deep silence on the other end, and when Lee spoke again, his voice was strained. "Are you sure this is the only way? I mean…killing her? There's no turning back from something like this."Lockey's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. "I've already decided, Lee. She needs to be eliminated."Lee sighed, the weight of what they were about to do hanging between them. "Alright. I'll help. But…this isn't easy for me."Lockey's eyes darkened as he spoke his final words before hanging up. "It's not supposed to be easy."The frustration had been building inside Emma for days. Every lead she'd followed on Lockey turned up nothing. No connections to any underground Beta Vaults, no proof he was involved in anything beyond being a powerful anomaly. But something didn't sit right with her.That night, in her small home office, she sifted through a pile of documents, her eyes burning from hours of research. Lockey was good at hiding his tracks, but Emma was determined.Suddenly, a file caught her attention. She clicked through digital records on her screen. Juvenile detention.Lockey had been sent away as a child for killing five classmates. Emma felt a chill crawl up her spine. That was the moment his powers first manifested—when he became a Cypher. But what made her stomach turn was the second incident.She scrolled further, diving deeper into the layers of Lockey's past. The next headline made her hands tremble:Lockey had killed them, too. But what struck her most was the mention of a younger brother—a sibling who had vanished without a trace. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any record of him."Where are you?" she whispered, her mind racing. Why had all traces of the boy been erased? Why was Lockey still free?The unanswered questions gnawed at her, and she knew she was getting closer to the truth. But there was still so much she didn't know.The next morning, Emma received a direct order to skip school and report to WCM Headquarters. Her stomach was tight with nerves as she prepared her findings. She hadn't been able to crack everything open, but she had enough to raise alarms.In the sparsely decorated meeting room, she sat across from Yuri, a high-ranking WCM operative who always gave off an air of authority and cold precision. She slid the file across the table."Everything I've found on Lockey," she said, her voice steady. "He was sent to juvenile detention for killing five classmates, and later, he killed his parents. I couldn't find anything about the Beta Vault in connection with him, but…""But?" Yuri leaned forward, eyes locked on her."He might be a Universal Cypher," Emma said slowly. "The energy he emits…it's unusual. He fits the profile. But again, no concrete proof. Just theories based on what I could gather."Yuri was silent for a moment, flipping through the file. "If he's a Universal, that changes things. We can't let him roam freely. Keep digging, Emma. We need more than guesses and old files."Emma nodded, feeling the pressure build. "Understood."As she left the room, a weight settled in her chest. Her investigation was coming to an end, but something told her it wasn't over—not by a long shot.