Sam leaned against the window, the city lights casting a faint glow on her face. She turned toward Mia, her expression unreadable.
“I want to show you something,” she said, voice quiet but firm.
Mia, sprawled across the couch, barely looked up from her phone. “If it’s another one of your deep-dive conspiracy theories, I swear—”
“It’s not.”
Something in Sam’s tone made Mia pause. She sat up, watching as Sam grabbed her tablet from the table and turned the screen toward her.
“Read this.”
Mia squinted, scanning the words. As she reached the end, her posture stiffened.
Subject: A New Challenge Awaits
Sender: Unknown
You’ve inspired more than you know. But are you ready to truly change the game?
Time and place will be revealed once you accept. No further communication will follow.
Mia exhaled sharply. “Okay. Let’s talk about this.”
Sam leaned back, arms crossed. “What’s there to talk about?”
Mia shot her a look. “Seriously? An anonymous email, no sender, no details—just some vague promise of a ‘challenge’? That doesn’t set off any alarms for you?”
Sam smirked, but there was an edge to it. “It raises every alarm possible. That’s why I want to go.”
Mia shook her head. “You want to walk into something that could be dangerous?”
Sam tapped the table lightly. “Everything worth knowing has a cost. What’s more dangerous—walking away from the unknown, or knowing that something big is happening and never finding out what it is?”
Mia hesitated. “So you think this is… what, some secret society?”
Sam’s gaze flickered. “It’s not a scam. Whoever sent this knows exactly who I am. They know I think outside the system. And if they went through the trouble to find me, it means they think I can change something.”
Mia sighed. “I get that. I do. But you don’t know what they actually want from you.”
Sam tilted her head. “That’s the point.”
Mia scoffed. “Come on, you can’t just be that reckless.”
Sam arched a brow. “Why not?”
Mia let out a frustrated laugh. “Because people don’t just invite you into world-changing things for free! There’s always a catch. What if it’s some crazy tech firm looking to exploit you? What if it’s a trap?”
Sam’s fingers drummed on the table. “What if it’s real?”
Mia leaned back with an exasperated groan. “You always do this.”
Sam smirked. “Do what?”
“Run toward the impossible without even flinching.”
Sam’s smile faded slightly. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Mia sighed, shaking her head. “No. I say that like it scares the hell out of me.”
A silence stretched between them.
Sam reached for the tablet, staring at the glowing button. “Mia… if there’s even a one percent chance that this leads to something bigger—something that explains why the world works the way it does, something that could pull back the curtain—I have to take it.”
Mia studied her, then spoke softly. “Because you need to know.”
Sam nodded, voice quieter. “Because I’ve spent my whole life looking at the world and knowing there’s something underneath. Something people don’t see. I’ve found loopholes, patterns, systems that shouldn’t exist but do. If this is a chance to finally understand—to change something—I won’t let fear stop me.”
Mia leaned forward, elbows on the table. “And if we go and it’s not that? If it’s just another rich, powerful group wanting to play god with people’s minds?”
Sam met her gaze. “Then we expose them.”
Mia considered this. “And if it’s worse?”
Sam’s expression was unreadable. “Then we survive.”
Mia let out a breath. Then, slowly, she smirked. “You’re insane, you know that?”
Sam grinned. “You say that like you’re not coming with me.”
Mia groaned, rubbing her temples. “I hate that I am.”
Sam turned the tablet back toward them. Her finger hovered over the button. “Last chance. We walk away, and we’ll never know what we just turned down.”
Mia swallowed hard, then exhaled. “Screw it.”
Sam pressed Accept.
The screen flickered. A new message appeared.
Coordinates received.
Be at Hangar 7. One-way trip.
Mia let out a sharp laugh, running a hand down her face. “Oh, we’re definitely going to regret this.”
Sam simply smiled. “Or we’re about to find out exactly how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
Burning Beneath 
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