A Pact with Sofia

Elias paced in the cramped motel room, hands trembling as the clock neared midnight. Behind him, Lucy dozed fitfully on the single bed, her sweater’s sleeves too short for her newly lengthened arms. In the dim light of a flickering desk lamp, he noticed the sheen of sweat on her face—feverish, as though her body was wrestling with time itself. The battered comm device pressed into his palm felt like a lifeline.

He remembered Dr. Vera’s words:
“At midnight, call and ask for ‘Aurora.’ Mention my name. You’ll be guided to Sofia.”

He glanced at Lucy; she stirred, hugging her small plush turtle. For a moment, her gaze flickered open.

“Dad? Why aren’t you sleeping?” she mumbled.

Elias forced a reassuring smile.
“I’m working on something that might help you, sweet pea. Close your eyes.”

She nodded, exhaustion tugging her under again. His heart pounded harder as he checked the time: 11:59 p.m. Barely a minute to go. He inhaled, steeling himself, and dialed. The ring seemed endless.

Finally, a clipped voice answered:
“Who is this?”

“I was told to ask for Aurora,” Elias managed, voice unsteady.
“Reference?”
“Vera.”

A pause crackled on the line, long enough for his pulse to throb in his ears. Then:
“Be at the intersection of Grand and Halley in thirty minutes. A vehicle will flash its headlights three times. Get in.”

Click.

Elias swallowed, then turned to Lucy.
“We’re leaving soon,” he whispered, voice thick with both hope and dread.
He prayed this was the miracle they needed.

Thirty minutes later, they stood beneath a flickering streetlamp at the deserted corner of Grand and Halley. The asphalt was cracked, walls dripped with graffiti, and the wind rustled dead posters advertising “Hope Through Chronos Innovation.” Lucy held her plush turtle in one hand, the other locked onto Elias’s jacket. She tried to steady her trembling, unsure if the shakes came from cold, fear, or the relentless changes in her body.

Headlights blinked three times. A battered van pulled up and its door slid open, revealing a hooded driver.
“In,” came the curt command.

Elias guided Lucy into the van. The door slammed shut, and the driver sped away down labyrinthine alleys. Lucy pressed close to her father, eyes darting anxiously around the dim interior. Another passenger—an older woman with cropped hair—worked a small console, tapping frantic commands to jam surveillance signals. After a tense ride, they stopped behind a corroded warehouse.

“Follow me,” the woman said. She led them through a dented metal door, down a corridor piled with abandoned mechanical parts. Dim light bulbs hummed overhead. At the end, she pushed open a reinforced hatch that revealed a steep staircase.

“Sofia’s waiting below,” she said quietly.

Lucy clutched her turtle tighter and bravely nodded at Elias. Together, they descended into the subterranean depths.

They emerged into a cavernous bunker lit by flickering fluorescent tubes. Crates labeled “Bio-Sample” and “Chrono-Containment” lined the walls, and half-assembled electronic devices formed a chaotic maze of wires and steel. It felt both futuristic and desolate, as though cobbled together from remnants of a shattered dream.

“Through here,” the woman instructed, pulling aside a makeshift partition.
Elias stopped short.

A figure in a stained lab coat bent over a cluttered workstation. Her dark hair was pinned in a loose bun, and fatigue carved shadows beneath her eyes. Yet those eyes gleamed with fierce determination as she studied a swirling holographic display.

Sofia.

She turned to them, her gaze snapping first to Lucy—now in an awkward teenage body but still clutching a child’s plush—and then to Elias.
“Elias, right? And Lucy,” she said softly.

Lucy stepped closer to her father, her voice trembling with vulnerable hope:
“Are you… the one who can help me?”

Sofia exhaled, guilt flickering across her features.
“I’ll do my best. I can’t promise a perfect cure,” she said, “but I won’t turn you away.”

Relief flooded Elias, and he dipped his head in gratitude.
“Thank you.”

Sofia nodded, then led Lucy to a corner partition where a diagnostic rig stood. She powered up spidery scanning arms that emanated a soft violet light over Lucy. As Lucy lay still, hugging her turtle, Elias noticed Sofia’s faint wince. Pain contorted her face for a second before she masked it.

“Accelerated cell division,” Sofia murmured, studying the holographic readouts. “A localized hyper-time effect. Chronos was behind this technology—military advantage at any cost.” She shut her eyes briefly. “They didn’t care who got hurt.”

Lucy’s voice wavered:
“How do we fix it?”

Sofia’s expression revealed a deep-seated remorse, as though she carried the weight of countless tragedies.
“We may need a stabilizer device,” she said. “But the parts—quantum regulators, high-intensity power cells—are secured by General Ivanov under top security. We’ll have to steal them.”

Elias felt a chill at the name Ivanov, a man rumored to thrive on fear and exploitation.
“Tell me what to do,” he said, voice laced with determination. “I’ll get whatever Lucy needs.”

Sofia’s shoulders sagged. She cast a look at Lucy, then back to Elias.
“You need to understand—Ivanov sees anomalies as weapons. I once worked on Project Chronos, thinking we’d advance science. Then I saw children—innocents—being forced into accelerated aging experiments.” She swallowed hard, her voice trembling. “I tried to stop it and lost everything…including my sister.”

A hush fell. Lucy’s eyes widened with sympathy.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Sofia pressed a trembling hand against her ribs.
“Now I’m in hiding, helping those I can. But this research left me with a degenerative condition. Too much exposure to unshielded anomaly fields.” Her mouth tightened in pain. “I won’t just watch another child suffer.”

Elias clasped Lucy’s hand, seeing the silent plea in her eyes.
“We’ll do whatever it takes,” he said softly.

Sofia nodded grimly and closed Lucy’s scan.
“Her condition is serious, but there’s a small window before it becomes irreversible. A prototype harness could stabilize her at her current age—stop the aging from spiraling.” She paused, glancing at Lucy’s trembling lips. “It won’t reverse what’s happened, but it will buy you time.”

Lucy’s voice caught.
“So…I’d still be stuck looking older… but I wouldn’t get any worse?”

Sofia’s gaze softened.
“You’d be safe. And alive.”

They moved back to the main chamber, weaving around half-labeled canisters and battered monitors. Sofia displayed a schematic on a battered tablet: a ring-like frame around a human silhouette.
“This is the harness prototype,” she explained. “Ivanov has the missing regulators. We’ll need a careful plan to get them.”

Lucy watched, cheeks pale.
“I don’t want Dad to get hurt,” she whispered.

Elias gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“I have to do this for you, Lucy. I promised your mom—” He stopped himself, voice wavering, then turned to Sofia. “We’ll plan every detail. But we’re in. No matter the risk.”

Sofia extended her hand, as though sealing an unspoken oath.
“Then we form a pact,” she said, “to save Lucy.”

Elias took her hand. Lucy, watching with wide eyes, clutched her turtle so hard her knuckles whitened.
“Thank you… for helping me,” she murmured.

They talked strategy for hours. Occasionally, Lucy dozed in a corner, roused by aches that signaled another surge of aging. Each time she woke, Sofia quietly checked her vitals. She worked with careful efficiency despite her own ragged breathing and the pain that etched lines into her face.

Finally, deep into the night, Sofia guided them to a cramped sleeping nook.
“You should rest,” she said. “I’ll refine the harness designs and watch the sensors.”

Elias noticed the exhaustion dragging on her features.
“You need rest too,” he said gently.

She offered a faint, rueful smile.
“Pain doesn’t let me sleep much. Besides, we have to stay vigilant.”

Lucy lingered, hugging her plush turtle, her gaze flitting between Elias and Sofia.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “For…caring about me.”

Sofia swallowed hard.
“You shouldn’t have to grow up so fast, Lucy. We’ll do everything to spare you from that fate.”

Lucy nodded, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, then curled up on the cot. Despite her elongated frame, she still looked so small. Elias sat on the adjacent bunk, heart heavy, mind racing with the enormity of what lay ahead.

He woke just as a pale glow seeped through the vents. Lucy blinked awake, hugging her turtle. She rubbed her arms, unsettled by the strange proportions of her own body.
“Morning, Dad,” she whispered, voice still trembling with childlike uncertainty.

Sofia joined them, coughing softly. She forced a reassuring smile.
“I’ve run a few more calculations,” she said, pressing a key to shut down the flickering holograms. “We can’t delay. The sooner we get Ivanov’s components, the better Lucy’s chances.”

Elias wrapped an arm around his daughter, feeling her lean into him for warmth.
“We’ll be ready,” he said, voice steeled with resolve.

Lucy’s eyes darted between them.
“I’m scared,” she admitted. “But I don’t want to keep… changing.”

Sofia laid a gentle hand on Lucy’s shoulder.
“I understand,” she said, her voice husky with empathy. “And I promise—I won’t let you face this alone.”

Elias stood, exhaling slowly. He could sense Lucy’s fear like a pulse echoing in his own chest, but there was no turning back.

“We’ll plan carefully,” he said, “and when the time comes, we’ll stop at nothing to save her.”

Sofia nodded, her determination shining through the fatigue.
“Then we have our pact,” she said softly. “All of us.”

For a moment, they stood in silence beneath the humming lights, the bunker’s walls seeming both claustrophobic and strangely protective. Outside, the city was rife with danger, and Ivanov’s fortress loomed. Yet in that small pocket of hope—where guilt and love converged—they formed a fragile alliance. Together, they would gamble everything for Lucy’s life.