Chapter 10 - THE INJECTION RYAN DIDN’T REMEMBER
Ryan remembered visiting the veterans’ center two weeks before Maya’s attack.
Ward told him he qualified for a free treatment to reduce headaches caused by his military service.
A nurse took blood.
Dr. Lang attached sensors to his arm.
Then someone injected what they described as a vitamin solution.
Ryan woke nearly two hours later.
Ward said he had experienced a panic attack.
For days afterward, Ryan suffered hand tremors and gaps in his memory.
He told no one.
He feared the symptoms might end his engineering internship.
The Phase Nine file showed Ryan had received the strongest dosage used on any living subject.
His neurological reaction matched Jordan’s final scan.
Why had Ryan survived?
The treatment log contained one answer.
MAYA COLLINS TERMINATED SESSION.
Ryan looked toward Maya.
She typed slowly.
I FOUND YOU UNCONSCIOUS.
Maya had entered the laboratory during Ryan’s test.
She saw his oxygen level falling and disconnected the stimulation device.
Lang yelled at her.
Ward ordered her to leave.
Later, they told her Ryan had consented to the procedure and suffered an unrelated anxiety response.
Maya had not believed them.
That was the moment she began searching the records.
Ryan’s identity became useful in two ways.
If he suffered long-term damage, the university could claim his military history caused it.
If Maya exposed the trial, Ward could accuse Ryan of attacking her in a confused or violent state.
Ryan’s stolen hoodie, phone, and blood inside the truck had been designed to complete the story.
“They were going to say the experiment made me unstable,” he whispered.
Ortiz nodded.
“And that you attacked the student who discovered it.”
Frank stood near the window.
Ward had once praised Ryan publicly as proof that veterans could rebuild their lives through education.
Privately, he had treated him as disposable.
Maya reached toward Ryan.
He took her hand carefully.
“You saved me before I even knew I needed saving.”
She typed:
YOU CAME WHEN I CALLED.
“I didn’t make it.”
YOU TRIED.
Frank watched them.
The attack had been constructed from their loyalties.
Ryan’s loyalty to Maya brought him to the roadside ambush.
Maya’s loyalty to the research subjects sent her into the dark building.
Frank’s loyalty to Ward was supposed to protect the mastermind.
Ortiz’s phone rang.
Professor Lang’s attorney had contacted prosecutors.
Lang was willing to cooperate.
His condition was immunity from any charge connected to Jordan Ellis’s death.
Teresa’s face hardened.
“No.”
Ortiz ended the call.
“He says Ward controlled the project and ordered the attack.”
Frank did not feel relief.
May you like
Men who traded truth only after being caught rarely gave all of it.
👉 Lang was finally willing to name Ward, but his demand for immunity suggested he was hiding a decision even Ward had not ordered.
