Chapter 83 - File Zero
The index cabinet contained numbered drawers from One through Nine Hundred.
None were labeled Zero.
Samuel examined the frame carefully.
"There should be another compartment."
Daniel remembered the countless hidden mechanisms throughout the investigation.
He looked toward the clocks.
Exactly twelve surrounded the room.
One displayed midnight.
Another noon.
One showed sunrise.
One sunset.
Then he noticed the smallest clock.
Its hands pointed to zero.
Not twelve.
Zero.
Daniel gently rotated its bezel.
Click.
A hidden panel opened beneath the cabinet.
Inside rested one black archive box.
No family name.
No inventory label.
Only a silver plaque.
FILE ZERO
Daniel lifted the lid.
The box contained no papers.
No photographs.
No recordings.
Only a sealed envelope and an old cassette tape.
Across the envelope, written in elegant handwriting, were the words:
To the First Carter Who Chooses Truth Over Inheritance
Daniel looked at Lily.
Then at Samuel.
Finally he broke the seal.
The first page inside began with a sentence that made the room feel suddenly smaller.
> If you have reached File Zero, then everything you've uncovered so far has been only the introduction.
Before Daniel could turn the second page, every clock in the room chimed simultaneously.
The lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then the electronic security system throughout the white corridor switched into emergency mode.
A calm computerized voice echoed through hidden speakers.
Unauthorized access detected beyond Level Four.
Elias' expression changed instantly.
He looked toward the corridor.
May you like
"They've found us."
For the first time since Daniel entered the underground complex, the old man sounded genuinely afraid.
