Chapter 22 THE WITNESS

Chapter 22 THE WITNESS
CHAPTER 22: THE WITNESS
The meeting place was not in the busy city. It wasn't lost off the map either.
It was an old, abandoned chapel, built from gray, weathered stones, nestled in land once dreamed to be a resettlement area but now just desolate. No bell rung. Just thick, heavy walls, swallowing all radio waves and sounds, like a weighty silence.
“She chose this place?”

Kade whispered, turning off the car engine, his voice mixed with admiration and worry. “Smart move.”
“Or just desperate,” Niko replied softly, his eyes scanning the darkness.
Raven stepped out first. A cold wind bit at her neck, carrying the scent of damp earth mixed with wild weeds, making her shiver.

Her hand didn't touch her gun, but her fingers were already in their familiar position where survival instinct overrides all rational thought.
The chapel door creaked open slightly, like an invitation from the shadows.
Inside, it was pitch black, with only a tiny candle flickering on a cracked stone altar.
Doctor Lina stood there, no longer in a pristine white lab coat, no professional name tag. Just a worn-out woman, hair hastily tied up, her trembling hand gently placing the candle down, as if afraid to drop the last bit of light.
“Thank you... for coming,” she whispered, her voice hoarse with fear and exhaustion.

“I... I don't know how much time I have left.”
Raven moved forward, her gaze locked on Lina, unblinking.
“Tell what you want to say,” Raven responded, her voice calm but her heart pounding.
Lina took a deep breath, trembling, as if pulling all her courage from the depths of her soul.
“I worked at the Medical Unit for eight years,” she began, her voice choked. “I signed reports I wasn't allowed to read fully. I injected things they called ‘stabilizers’... I witnessed cases... that never woke up again.”
Lucas stood behind Raven, his face drained of color, his fists clenched white.
“Severance calls it ‘optimization’,” Lina continued, her eyes redrimmed. “But the Quiet Basin... it's not data erasure. It erases people. Erases their very souls.”
Niko tightened his backpack strap, his knuckles cracking.
“Where's the proof?” Kade asked, his voice urgent but restrained.
Lina nodded weakly, her hand fumbling in her pocket for a tiny device an old bio memory stick, its security layer peeling like a scar.
“On-l call logs,” she whispered. “Not complete, but enough to prove... They ‘drain’ living memories. Make patients forget their names, forget why they breathe. Then they sign ‘transfer’ papers.”
“Transfer to whom?” Raven asked, her voice sharp as a knife.
Lina swallowed hard, her throat dry. “To the system. To Severance.”
The space suddenly fell silent, as if all air had been sucked out, leaving only the rapid thumping of hearts.
Lucas whispered, his voice shaky: “Have you... ever met Evelyn Voss?”
Lina looked straight at him, her eyes glistening but firm.

“Yes. Only once, after she was taken to the outskirts. They marked her as ‘uncooperative’. But she... she wasn't broken. She was still alive.”
Raven's heart sank, a sharp pang like being squeezed. “What did she say?”
Lina closed her eyes, her voice trembling as she recalled:

“She asked my name. Then she said: ‘When they force you to forget your name... remember that you once saved someone’.”
Niko let out a stifled sob.
“Why are you only saying this now?” Kade asked, his voice tinged with suspicion and pity.
Lina smiled sadly, a twisted smile like a crack in stone. “Because today... for the first time, I saw Severance scared. They froze everything. Erased history. Cleaned up their tracks. A fearful system... will turn back and bite the very ones who fed it.”
Raven held out her hand, palm open. “Give me the device. Then go, now.”
Lina placed the memory stick in Raven's hand, hesitating, her eyes brimming with tears. “They'll hunt me... And if they find...”
“No,” Raven cut her off, her voice firm, her eyes looking deep into Lina's as if to impart strength. “They'll hu nt me first. You did the right thing. From now on... you're not alone.”
Lina nodded, tears streaming down but she wiped them away quickly, not letting them fall.
They left the chapel in two different directions, swallowed by the night.
The car drove back, the atmosphere heavy as lead.
Kade broke the silence: “Another witness. But also another bait.”
“No,” Raven replied, clutching the memory stick in her hand, her voice full of determination. “This is a story... that cannot be erased.”
Lucas leaned over, eyes worried: “What do you plan to do with it?”
Raven looked up, her gaze cold but burning. “Not release it immediately. We wait.”
“Wait for what?” Niko asked, his voice trembling.
“Wait for Severance to make a mistake,” Raven whispered. “When they touch Lina... or anyone like her... we will show the whole city the truth.”
The device vibrated urgently emergency message: LOCKDOWN UPGRADED – INFORMATION CONTROL.
Kade growled, his face dark: “They're starting to muzzle us.”
Raven nodded, her lips pressed tightly. “Then we'll open another mouth.”
She plugged the memory stick into the Quiet Core. A symbol flashed authentication successful.
Lucas whispered, astonished: “The Quiet Basin... can't swallow this.”
“Yeah,” Raven replied, her voice deep. “Because this isn't data. This is a vow.”

That night, at the new safe base, Raven didn't sleep.
She stood by the window, watching the rain patter against the glass droplets whispering like a mournful lullaby.
The water had told its story. Now it was the humans' turn.
The device vibrated again – public channel.
A brief statement spread everywhere:
“WITNESSES ARE PROTECTED. ALL INTERVENTIONS WILL BE RECORDED.”
No signature. But everyone understood.
Raven softly closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of rain.
\---
The rain intensified, tearing through the night with an urgent news flash:
“MEDICAL UNIT DOCTOR MISSING SEVERANCE DENIES INVOLVEMENT.”
Raven opened her eyes, a cold smile gracing her lips.
They had chosen the wrong person to erase.