The Recall Trials
Chapter 69: From Pawn to Puppet Master

Chapter 69: From Pawn to Puppet Master

Zaara’s POV

"Vincent killed Kai," Dinesh said again, like the words physically hurt to say.

Then he added, "And Asha."

Theo froze mid-step. "He... killed Kid?" he asked.

Kai. Sweet, wide-eyed Kai. We all called him Kid...not to belittle him, but because he was the youngest. He probably just turned nineteen or twenty, still thinking we could survive this nightmare.

"He killed Aaron too," someone murmured from the shadows, like it physically pained them to say it.

"And Ella," another muttered, this time with a tremor in their voice.

Every name spoken was like another nail hammered into a coffin we were all already standing inside.

Theo ran a hand down his face slowly. "So that means..."

"So that means..." he muttered, "We’re down to what? Eighty? Really... eighty?"

Someone in the back of the room counted silently, fingers trembling.

"...Kinda. Eighty two of us left."

"Eighty two out of a hundred?" Luca said under his breath. "And one of those eighty... is the devil in disguise."

Theo let out a bitter laugh, but there was nothing funny about it. It was hollow. A sound made by a man who’d seen too much and trusted too little.

"I fucking told you," he muttered, pacing and shaking his head with disbelief. "Didn’t I say this would happen? I told you something was off. But nobody listened. You were all too busy playing pretend. Holding on to whatever fantasy you built around him.

"Worshipping your pretty boy. Too busy idolizing him like he was some kind of savior."

Then he turned.

And he looked at me.

Dead in the eye.

That long, hard stare.

Like he was accusing me without saying it directly.

Like I was guilty of believing too.

I couldn’t hold his gaze.

I looked away.

But his voice only grew darker. "You wanna know who he really is?"

Nomi’s eyes widened. She moved quickly, elbowing Theo in the ribs. "Theo, stop. Don’t do this..."

"Theo," she said again, firmer this time. "Not now. Don’t."

But he shrugged her off like her words were background noise.

He turned back to the group...no, to the stage. Because in that moment, he wasn’t just talking. He was performing. Pulling the final veil from the lie we’d all been living under.

And he wanted us to bleed for believing in it.

"Well, here’s the truth. Your precious Vincent," he said, "is from Sector A."

Every head in the room turned.

"What...?" someone whispered like it physically didn’t compute.

Someone cursed under their breath. Jojo sat up straighter. Even Dinesh’s mouth parted slightly.

I sighed.

But Theo wasn’t finished. Not even close.

"Yeah. Sector fucking A. His full name?" He paused, letting the suspense hit. "Vincent Aston. Ring a bell?"

A ripple of shock passed through the room. A wave of confusion, betrayal, rage.

And then he said it.

"The only son of Reynold Aston."

Luca staggered back like someone had punched him in the gut.

Silence.

Not the stunned kind...but the heavy, sinking kind. Like the whole building had just dropped ten feet underground.

Dinesh’s jaw dropped. "Wait...he’s really one of them?"

"I heard it straight from one of the masked guards. They didn’t even bother hiding it anymore."

He laughed, almost choking on it. "They think we’re stupid."

"Reynold Aston. CEO of Aston Technologies. One of the most powerful men in sector A. A man who practically funds this damn place. The guy who owns half the skyline in Sector A and controls the rest from behind closed doors."

"And Vincent... Vincent is his fucking heir."

Theo smirked, but there was no humor in it. Just venom.

"You know the skyscrapers with the lightning logos on top?" Theo asked coldly. "That’s Aston Tech."

The floor dropped out from under me.

My ears were ringing. I didn’t know whether it was from grief, rage, or the sound of my own heartbeat cracking.

Theo kept going.

Jojo’s lips parted. "What are you saying?"

"I’m saying Vincent Aston isn’t just a player in this game," Theo said slowly. "He’s part of the team that built it."

He was relentless now. "The golden boy. The legacy son. The elite who was never supposed to be part of this game."

His voice cracked.

"We were never meant to compete with him. Because he was never competing. He was studying us. Playing us. Or maybe his father volunteered him to ’prove a point.’ Who knows?"

He looked straight at Vincent’s unconscious body and hissed his teeth.

Luca had sat down on the floor and was silently shaking his head.

Dinesh was still frozen in place, as if this final truth hurt worse than anything Vincent had done physically.

My throat tightened.

I wanted to speak. I wanted to say something. Anything.

But I couldn’t.

I just... stood there.

Because even if I tried, I wouldn’t know whose side I was speaking from.

Jojo suddenly pushed herself forward, her bandaged shoulder trembling as she stepped into the eye of the storm.

"Enough!" she snapped.

Her voice was firm.

"Vincent needs help just as much as the rest of us!"

Everyone turned to her in disbelief.

Theo laughed bitterly. "You think he deserves help? After what he’s done?"

"He’s not the same person anymore," Jojo shot back. "They’ve broken him. You said it yourself....he was their golden boy. Which means he was the one they broke first."

Luca blinked at her, confused. "You’re defending him?"

"No," she said quietly. "I’m trying to remind you that this game...this experiment, it was made to tear us apart. And it’s working. Because right now, we’re doing their job for them."

Silence.

"She’s right," I heard myself say.

Everyone looked at me.

"He might be a monster now... but he wasn’t always," I murmured. "Something... someone turned him into this. We don’t have to let them win."

Theo shook his head. "So what? We forgive him?"

Jojo raised her eyes and shook her head.

"No. We hold him accountable. But we don’t become monsters ourselves."

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