The Recall Trials
Chapter 66: What They Did to Him, I’ll Do to Them

Chapter 66: What They Did to Him, I’ll Do to Them

"This place...it’s not just a game, Zaara. It’s a goddamn experiment house."

I froze. The bandage slipped from my fingers.

"...What?"

Jojo nodded. "That’s what they don’t tell us. The Recall Trials... sure, they brand it as a competition, survival of the fittest, win the prize money, buy your way into Sector A. But that’s just the surface. It’s all recorded. Not just for the elites to watch. But for something bigger."

I blinked, trying to process it. "But I thought the Trials were just... some sick bloodsport fetish obsession for the rich."

Her expression darkened. "That’s what they want us to think. That’s the bait. But behind the cameras, behind the Aetherion masks....this whole game is a recruiting process."

I leaned back, my hands frozen over the medical kit. "Recruiting... for what?"

Her gaze didn’t waver. "For them. The Aetherions. They’re not born. They’re made. Right here. In this nightmare."

"They’re studying us like lab rats," Jojo said, and her voice cracked. "Like obsessed scientists."

"They study every action. Every breakdown. Every betrayal. They don’t want perfect people...they want survivors."

I could barely breathe.

Jojo added softly, "They manipulate our memories, weaponize them against us. Feed us hallucinations, fears, anything to push us to the edge. Whoever survives with their humanity torn apart...wins. Someone cold enough to lead future Trials."

My chest tightened. It felt like the walls around us were closing in.

My heart thudded in my chest. "You mean... one of us would join them to lead the game?"

Jojo nodded grimly. "Only one gets chosen. The one who plays by their rules... or breaks everyone else’s."

I couldn’t speak. I just stared.

She looked away. "The last person they chose... about three years ago? He lasted a few months after being initiated."

"What happened to him?" I whispered.

Jojo stared at the ceiling. "He killed himself. Said the voices wouldn’t stop. That his past and present blurred so much, he didn’t know who he was anymore. The Aetherions... they erased him. Wiped him clean like he never existed."

My throat closed up.

Silence.

I backed away from her slightly, trying to process it all. "So... this whole time, we’ve been rats in a maze."

She nodded.

She met my eyes again. "That’s what this is. Not just a game. It’s a machine. It swallows people whole and spits out something... inhuman."

I stood up slowly, the first aid box still clutched in my hand. My knees felt weak.

"And Vincent..." I whispered. "He wasn’t just thrown in to survive."

"No," Jojo said. "He was sent here to be reshaped."

I looked down at my bloodied hands. The boy I once cared for had been swallowed whole by something I didn’t understand.

"Do you think..." I swallowed hard. "Do you think they’ve already chosen him?"

Jojo didn’t answer right away.

Instead, she stared at the cracked ceiling above us.

Then finally, she said, "...Yes."

A high-pitched ringing filled my ears. Not the

sound of alarms or voices.

Just that truth sinking in.

So... that was it.

It made sense now.....the mask, the eyes that didn’t blink, the way he moved like a ghost who’d forgotten how to feel. That wasn’t Vincent.

That was what was left.

"I saw their pictures. Most of them. Pictures of the past contestants... the ones who made it. The ones who didn’t. The ones who disappeared."

I sat back down slowly, folding my knees. "How do you know so much?"

She nodded. "There are files... files on all of us. That’s how I found out the truth. That’s how I knew everything.."

Jojo looked at me. Her face was pale, bruised, exhausted.

"I’m only telling you this so you understand," she said. "Understand why Vincent is the way he is now."

She coughed again, blood bubbling up at the corner of her lips. Still, she didn’t stop.

I stared at her, stunned.

She whispered, "They should’ve killed me when I got escaped. I broke their rules, and I know too much. I was supposed to be dead."

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

"But... he saved me."

I blinked. "Who?"

Jojo’s voice turned distant, fragile. "Vincent. He saved me. That’s why I can’t let go. That’s why I’m not ready to give up on him yet."

I could hear it in her tone....this wasn’t pity. It was guilt. A memory that kept her up at night.

We’re in a simulation, Zaara," she went on, "but it doesn’t feel like one. That’s what they want. They’re gaslighting us into madness."

I pressed a hand against my chest, trying to ground myself. "You’re saying... they’re breaking us. One by one."

She nodded.

"When I got arrested... after my failed escape... everything’s a blur. But I remember this one thing clearly. Vincent was there. Trying to reach me. Saying something to them. Something desperate. I think he made a deal."

"A deal?"

My breath caught.

Jojo’s lips trembled. "He told them they could do whatever they wanted to him... if they promised not to kill me or hurt anyone."

For a moment, the world stopped.

"But now, he’s the monster," I said folding my arms. "He killed Asha."

"I’ll kill him for that," I whispered. "I don’t care if I once loved him. I’ll kill him for that."

My voice broke.

Jojo reached out, her fingers trembling as she gripped my wrist.

"Zaara... please. Let’s help him fight it."

I stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

"Help him?" I hissed. "After what he’s done?"

She nodded slowly. "Because if we don’t, no one else will. He’s already drowning. If we walk away... he’ll never come back."

I stared at her.

"You still believe he can come back from this?"

She held my gaze. "He didn’t let me die. I owe him that much."

She was clinging to hope. To something impossible.

I glanced at Jojo’s shoulder....blood was already seeping through the bandage I’d just wrapped. The fabric was soaked, deep red.

"What if he’s too far gone?" I whispered, afraid of the answer.

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