Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine

Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine
Evelyn's POV
The test subjects we'd rescued were in bad shape. Neural damage from forced timeline manipulation. One woman couldn't stop crying. A man kept phasing between different versions of himself. The third was catatonic.
Victoria worked with them for days. Repairing damage. Stabilizing their fractured consciousnesses. It was slow, painful work.
"They'll never be normal," she told me privately. "The procedures damaged them permanently. They'll see multiple timelines for the rest of their lives."
"Can they control it?"
"With training. With help. But they'll never be what they were before Prometheus."
More victims. More broken people. And somewhere, whoever funded this was planning their next move.
"We need to find the Restoration leader," I said to Dante. "The one bankrolling Prometheus."
"Marcus is tracking financial records. Following the money."
"How long?"
"He says weeks. Maybe months. These people are careful."
"We don't have months. They're building more facilities. Creating more manipulators. Every day we wait, more people suffer."
"I know. But rushing in blindly won't help."
He was right. But patience had never been my strong suit.
Grey called two days later. "Found something. A name kept appearing in Prometheus's financial records. Dr. Richard Castellan."
"Who is he?"
"Former Restoration scientist. Disappeared after their collapse. Presumed dead."
"Clearly not dead."
"No. And according to Marcus's research, he's brilliant. Published papers on consciousness transfer. Neural manipulation. Reality theory."
"He's the one creating artificial manipulators."
"Probably. But we don't know where he is. Guy's a ghost."
"Then we find him. Use whatever resources we have."
Over the following week, we pieced together Castellan's trail. He'd been moving constantly. Setting up temporary labs. Running experiments. Always staying ahead of anyone tracking him.
"He's paranoid," Marcus observed. "Never stays anywhere longer than two months. Uses different names. Different facilities."
"But he needs equipment. Specialized equipment." I studied the data. "Neural scanners. Timeline resonance detectors. That stuff isn't easy to acquire."
"You're right. And there are only a handful of suppliers who deal in that technology." Marcus pulled up a list. "Five companies globally. I can monitor their sales records."
"Do it. If Castellan's buying equipment, we'll know."
Three days later, Marcus got a hit. "Purchase order. Neural scanner. High-grade. Shipped to a facility in Colorado."
"That's him." Dante was already mobilizing. "We move tonight."
"Wait." Victoria held up a hand. "If we rush in again, he'll just destroy everything and escape. We need to be smarter."
"What do you suggest?"
"We let him think he's safe. Let him continue his work. But we infiltrate his operation. Get someone inside."
"Who?" I asked.
"Me." Sarah stepped forward. She'd been listening quietly. "I'm a timeline manipulator. If I pretended to be unstable, seeking help, he'd take me in. Study me."
"Absolutely not," I said immediately. "Too dangerous."
"It's the only way. You can't infiltrate because you're too well-known. But me? I'm just a victim. Someone he'd see as an opportunity."
She had a point. But the risk was enormous.
"If he discovers you're a plant—" Dante started.
"He won't. I'll play the role perfectly. Desperate. Broken. Exactly what he'd expect from an unstable manipulator."
We debated for hours. Eventually, we agreed. Sarah would infiltrate. We'd monitor her remotely. Be ready to extract if things went wrong.
"You're sure about this?" I asked her privately.
"No. I'm terrified. But someone has to stop Castellan before he creates an army of broken manipulators." She met my eyes. "You saved me from the Restoration. Let me return the favor."
We prepared carefully. Created a false identity for Sarah. Made her appear desperate and unstable. Planted information where Castellan would find it.
Two days later, she was contacted. Invited to a "consultation" at a facility in Colorado. Exactly where Marcus had tracked the equipment.
"I'm in," she told us over a hidden mic. "The facility is small. Maybe twenty people. But heavily secured."
"What about Castellan?" Dante asked.
"I haven't seen him yet. But I'm meeting with someone called Dr. Chen tomorrow. Probably his second-in-command."
Dr. Chen. The same name from the clinical trials. It was all connected.
"Be careful," I said. "These people are dangerous."
"I know. But so am I."
Over the next week, Sarah fed us information. The facility's layout. Security protocols. Research focus. Castellan was definitely there, though he stayed in isolation.
"He's paranoid about being discovered," Sarah reported. "Only meets with core staff. Everyone else deals with Dr. Chen."
"Can you get access to his research?" Victoria asked.
"Maybe. They're preparing for a major experiment. Something about forced synchronization. All staff will be involved."
"Forced synchronization?" Victoria's voice was sharp. "That's attempting to link multiple timeline manipulators' abilities. Create a collective consciousness."
"Why would they do that?"
"To amplify power. Ten manipulators working together could theoretically reshape major events. Prevent disasters. Or cause them."
"That's insane."
"That's Castellan. Brilliant but completely unethical."
"When's this experiment?" Dante asked.
"Three days. They're bringing in test subjects. Forcing artificial manipulation on them, then trying to synchronize their abilities."
"We hit them during the experiment," I decided. "When they're distracted. Focused on the synchronization."
"Agreed," Dante said. "Sarah, can you sabotage the experiment from inside?"
"I think so. If I can access the main computer during the procedure."
"Do it. We'll breach from outside. Coordinate the assault with your sabotage."
We had three days to prepare. Three days before we faced Castellan and ended Prometheus for good.
Or died trying.
But sitting still while innocent people were experimented on wasn't an option.
We'd learned that the hard way.
So we prepared for war. Again.
And hoped this time would be the last time.