Note: This chapter is written in Gabriel pov so it may look confusing but it is still the same novel.
VEGA PROTOCOL — Episode 18 (Gabriel POV )
Rain didn't fall in Maladiaville.
It lingered.
Like the sky couldn't decide whether to leave or stay angry.
Gabriel stood near the edge of the broken street, collar half-raised, watching people scatter away from the Brooks residence like the ground itself had started remembering things it shouldn't.
He had come here for earthquakes.
That was the official reason.
Gabriel had come to Maladiaville for something simple.
At least, it had been simple on paper.
Unusual seismic activity. Intermittent tremors. Reports of strange memory gaps among residents.
Nothing that should've led to this.
He remembered standing in a clean office weeks ago, files neatly stacked, being told:
"Just observe. Document patterns. Report back."
No one mentioned underground crime networks.
No one mentioned missing people who apparently "never existed" until they suddenly did again.
No one mentioned Laspa.
Now he stood in the rain.
Same town.
Nothing about it felt like the report anymore.
Earthquakes.
Not conversations about stolen reality-breaking devices.
Not underground crime networks.
Not people standing in the rain talking like the world had ten hidden layers beneath it.
Sam was speaking again.
Gabriel caught fragments.
"ISS routes…"
"…underground…"
"…motel…"
He blinked.
Motel?
He leaned slightly toward Sarah.
"So just to confirm," he said quietly, "we are currently investigating seismic activity and now planning a hotel break-in involving a criminal overlord and a mysterious object called… whatever that word was?"
Sarah didn't look at him.
"Yes."
Gabriel paused.
"…That was fast."
Amanda said a name.
"Jace."
The air changed.
Not visibly.
But Gabriel felt it anyway.
Like pressure dropping before a storm decides whether to become real.
Sandra stopped pacing.
Sarah went still.
Sam didn't react—but her silence sharpened.
Gabriel frowned.
"…Is this a name I'm supposed to recognize?"
Nobody answered immediately.
That was the answer.
Amanda finally spoke.
"He can help."
Gabriel tilted his head.
"Help with what, exactly? The earthquakes? The underground system? The emotional instability of everyone here?"
Sandra muttered: "All of the above."
Gabriel exhaled.
"…Right."
Then Amanda called.
Too quickly.
Like she had already expected the call to happen before it did.
The phone rang once.
Gabriel leaned slightly forward despite himself.
Twice.
Then—
A voice answered.
Calm.
Almost bored.
"Took you long enough."
Gabriel frowned.
That voice didn't sound like someone answering a call.
It sounded like someone accepting confirmation.
Amanda's expression tightened.
"Jace."
A pause.
Then a soft chuckle.
"Still alive then."
Gabriel blinked.
"…That's not a normal greeting," he muttered.
Sarah whispered: "You'll get used to it."
Gabriel immediately replied: "I don't want to."
Sandra started speaking again.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Security loops, blind spots, east hallway entry, cleaning disguise, twelve-second window—"
Gabriel raised a hand slightly.
"Okay, I need to stop you there."
No one stopped.
So he continued anyway.
"I want to clarify something before we proceed."
He looked at Sam.
Then Amanda.
Then Sandra.
Then the street.
"…Why does this feel like a plan people only survive in movies where the main characters are meant to suffer?"
Silence.
Amanda answered quietly: "That's not far off."
Gabriel nodded slowly.
"…Good."
That was not good.
They moved.
Of course they moved.
Because apparently stopping was not a concept anyone respected anymore.
The motel appeared later like it had been waiting for them to notice it existed.
Flickering sign.
Vacancy blinking like a tired eye.
Gabriel stared at it.
"…That looks like a bad decision wearing a building."
Sarah almost smiled.
"Accurate."
Sam took the cart.
Gabriel watched her.
She didn't look like someone going into danger.
She looked like someone going into a conclusion.
That bothered him more than anything else.
Sandra checked the timing.
Jace spoke in their ears.
"Camera loop starts… now."
Gabriel frowned.
"Why does he sound like he's narrating our failure in advance?"
No one answered.
Of course.
Sam disappeared into the hallway.
And something in Gabriel shifted.
Not understanding.
Recognition of pattern absence.
When someone disappears in a situation like this…
it means the system has already accepted the outcome.
He didn't like that thought.
Static hit.
Hard.
Too hard.
Sam's voice broke halfway.
Then—
Nothing.
Gabriel looked at the others.
"…That's not normal silence," he said quietly.
Sandra was already moving.
Sarah was already panicking.
Amanda was already staring at the motel like it had changed shape.
Gabriel stayed still.
For the first time, he wasn't asking questions.
He was counting seconds.
Inside the motel—
Sam was gone.
Outside—
Gabriel realized something slowly.
He had come here to observe earthquakes.
But nothing here was natural.
Not the people.
Not the silence.
Not the way everyone already seemed to know what would happen next.
And somewhere inside the motel—
a man named Laspa was still calm enough to wait for the correct version of events to arrive.
Gabriel swallowed.
"…I think I chose the wrong field," he muttered.
No one laughed.
Because laughter required certainty.
And nobody here had any left.