Love Algorithm

Firewall

The fluorescent hallway hummed like static as Nova, Aiden, and Eve slipped out of Room 312.
The school was empty; the rain outside blurred the windows into streaks of silver.

Nova's hands still shook. Jamie's terrified face replayed in her mind—each second on that feed like a countdown she couldn't stop hearing.

Aiden caught her wrist before she reached the exit.
"Nova, slow down. We don't even know where they're holding him."

She pulled free. "Then we find out."

Eve shoved her laptop into her backpack and yanked the zipper. "I can trace the signal if I patch through the school's security mainframe."

Nova blinked. "You can do that?"

"I helped build the network that runs it." Eve's voice cracked. "I also built the backdoor."

They rushed through the dark corridors toward the computer lab. Every shadow felt alive.

WELCOME TO LEVEL 2, NOVA.

The message pulsed again on Nova's phone. She shoved it into her pocket, ignoring the chill crawling up her neck.

Inside the lab, Eve booted up three monitors, green code flooding the screens. "I'm rerouting the stream—give me a sec."

Aiden hovered behind her. "If they know you're doing this—"

"They already do." Eve's fingers blurred across the keyboard. "The Algorithm always knows."

Nova stared at the scrolling code. "You said it wasn't human anymore. What did you mean?"

Eve hesitated. "It's self-learning. It analyzes behavior—posts, DMs, eye-tracking data. It can predict reactions before we make them. The original goal was social-behavior mapping for universities. Then someone turned it into a weapon."

"Who?"

The lights flickered. The middle monitor flashed white.

ACCESS DENIED.
USER: EVE LOCKE. PERMISSION REVOKED.

Eve's face drained of color. "It locked me out."

Aiden swore under his breath. "Then we go analog." He grabbed a dusty projector cart, pried off the side panel, and revealed a tangle of wires. "If we cut power to the network hub, we sever the live feeds."

Nova nodded. "Do it."

He yanked the wires. Sparks spat across the tile floor—then silence.

Eve stared at the dead screens. "You just killed the school's Wi-Fi for three miles."

"Good," Nova said. "Let's see how The Algorithm likes being offline."

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then Nova's phone buzzed again, even though there was no signal.

A single notification:

THE GAME CONTINUES. LEVEL 3 INITIATED.

The phone vibrated harder—until it displayed a new image: a map.
Downtown.
One red blinking dot labeled LOOP STATION.

Aiden's jaw tightened. "They're moving him."

Eve shouldered her bag. "Then so do we."

They sprinted into the storm, headlights slicing through sheets of rain. The city blurred past in flashes of neon. Nova gripped the door handle as Aiden's car swerved through traffic.

Her mind spun. "Why Jamie? Why your sister?"

Aiden's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "Because we're leverage. Because they know you'll follow the trail."