episode 5: The Mapmaker's Glitch

File #006: CODE // NEURAL TRACE

INT. INAYA'S APARTMENT – MORNING

Wali woke up sideways on the couch, arm dangling off the side and face half-stuck to a chip bag.

Wali (half-asleep):

"I taste cardboard and betrayal."

He sat up, rubbing his eyes at three USB drives now printed on his hoodie-like badges of honor.

On the other side of the room, Inaya sat cross-legged on the floor, her laptop still glowing in the blue-gray morning light. Red eyes. Exhausted. Focused.

Wali (stretching):

"Do you even have eyelids, or are you now legally part machine?"

Inaya (without lifting her eyes):

"Try caffeine before jokes."

Wali:

"Already running on blind hope and cornflakes, thanks."

He sauntered over with a dramatic limp and peered over her shoulder.

Wali:

"Okay, display the doom files. Did we capture an alien AI, a possessed brainwave, or simply the auris government's most bizarre science fair?"

She said nothing.

He glared at her. Actually stared.

There was a shiver behind her standard control—something troubled.

Wali (whispering):

"Are you okay?"

She said nothing.

And then pointed to the screen.

Inaya:

"Look at this. The 'NeuroTrace' wasn't just mapping out a brain. It was mapping an interface. A transfer protocol. They were building a system to duplicate a person's mental architecture."

Wali:

"You mean like. Download a human mind?"

Inaya:

"Or duplicate it. Remotely. By using hosts."

Wali (slowly):

"That's either brilliance… or every bad horror movie ever."

Inaya:

"There's more. The lab camera—it wasn't down. It was streaming."

She pulled up the screen. A corrupted playback loaded: static, faint outlines, timestamped one day before they found it.

At first, it was just darkness. Then—a flicker of someone moving.

A figure. Human-shaped. But the motion was glitchy. Unnatural.

Wali (quietly):

“I’ve seen that walk. In the alley last night. That’s it. The thing that was following us.”

Inaya:

“Subject 003. According to VITRA’s files, it was a test case. A successful one.”

Wali (half-joking):

"Define 'successful' in the most gruesome way possible."

She closed the window and leaned back. Her face inscrutable.

Wali sat beside her—clumsy but tender.

Wali:

"Listen, I know I'm not Miss Secret Agent Hacker with seventeen contingency plans. But I'm not useless either. Let me help."

Inaya (brought down):

"You don't get it. This is not school paper or joke hacking. This is something someone wanted hidden."

Wali (calmly):

"yeah. And yet here you are. Digging."

She skirted his eyes, but the hardness of her tone did mellow.

Inaya:

"Why are you actually doing this, Wali?"

He bristled. Then shrugged and acted cool with a grin that didn't quite reach.

Wali:

"Because chaos twins don't leave each other. Duh."

Beat.

Inaya (still not peering up):

"You can walk away, you know."

Wali:

"Yeah, well. I could also beat a toaster in a dance battle, but some things aren't meant to happen."

She smiled. Barely. But sincerely.

The end.

INT. HACKING HUB – LATER THAT DAY

The two of them collaborated. Inaya's fingers flew over the keyboard, breaking through old firewalls. Wali stood behind, screening out files and decoding partial logs. Occasionally his shoulder brushed against hers—but she didn't step back.

A file opened.

> PROJECT: ECHO // STAGE 3

LIVE TEST SUBJECT LOGS – NEURAL TRACE 003

SYSTEM REPORT: MAPMAKER ONLINE. IDENTITY FIXED.

Inaya (reading):

"'Mapmaker'…?"

She typed rapidly. Keywords cross-referenced against one another. A side folder flashed open—encrypted using the old GOV layers.

Wali:

"That's a codename. Or a program."

Inaya (whispering):

"Or a controller."

The decrypted file displayed lines of logs—names, test markers, digital breadcrumbs. She marked an unusual word:

> "CORE TRACE MATCH CONFIRMED: INAYA Rael"

She hung.

Wali:

"mentor? That's—your name."

Her heart pulsed harder. She gazed at the screen as if it would erase itself.

Inaya (low):

"They scanned me. Without my permission.".

"Exactly what does that mean? Are you. in the system?"

She did not answer.

Unseen, outside the window, one red dot beat once.

Then again.

Surveillance: ACTIVE

Subject: LOCKED

Mapmaker: ONLINE

EXT. SIDE STREET – EVENING

Inaya and Wali burst out of the door, moving fast. The sun was going down. The streets were all but empty.

Wali (half-jokingly):

"So, on a scale of 1 to the Secret Government Clone of Doom… how worried should I be?"

Inaya (brusquely):

"If what I've learned is true… then I'm not the one we should examine"

Wali:

"Great, great. I love it when life becomes a techno-thriller on us."

Wali froze abruptly. Kneeling down, he picked up something from the drain under their knees.

A tiny black data chip. Bore the familiar code.

> ECHO.TRACE.KEY.017

Wali:

"Uh. I think we just found half the brain."

INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT

Back inside. Wali loaded the chip into Inaya’s secure reader. Her laptop hummed. A signal pulsed.

Suddenly, data flowed. Rapid. Clear. And buried within it—a final message.

> “CORE TRACE BACKUP // SUBJECT 001 – CONFIRMED // MAPMAKER IDENTITY: ACTIVE HOST”

Then a photo.

Inaya’s face.

Below it, is another line:

> ACTIVE HOST LOCATED. LOCATION: UNKNOWN.

Inaya (whispering):

“There’s another me.”

Wali (gently):

“We’ll find them. Together.”

Inaya (soft):

“You don’t even know what that means.”

Wali:

No. I know you. That's all right."

Outside the window, behind them—

The red light flashed again.

Then it was gone.

TO BE CONTINUED.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***