The Radius of Truth

Jessica walked back into the hotel room balancing a tray of coffee and a paper bag of bagels, the scent of fresh bread and caffeine cutting through the stale air of too many late nights and unanswered questions. Olivia looked up from her laptop, eyes heavy from lack of sleep, while Leanna sat cross-legged on the bed, flipping through notes with the intense focus of someone piecing together a puzzle with missing pieces.

“Did we get upgraded to room service?” Olivia quipped, stretching as Jessica set the bag down on the small table.

“Figured we could use something real for breakfast,” Jessica said, handing out the coffee. “Besides, we have work to do.”

Leanna raised an eyebrow. “You sound like someone who had a revelation over a cup of terrible motel coffee.”

Jessica took a sip from her own cup before answering. “I talked to Sam. Told him everything.”

Leanna and Olivia both stilled, processing that. Jessica let the weight of it settle before continuing.

“He told me to stop chasing memories and start chasing evidence. And he’s right. We need to find the lab.”

Leanna set her notebook aside. “That was over ten years ago, Jess. If it even still exists…”

“It’s still out there,” Jessica interrupted. “And we can narrow it down. Based on what I remember, it has to be within an hour of campus. Any further, and they wouldn’t have had time to transfer me, erase Jason, and put me in his dorm room before people started asking questions.”

Olivia leaned forward, rubbing her temple. “So, we’re looking for what… a research facility? A black site? A private clinic with connections to Vanguard?”

“Something off the books,” Jessica said. “Maybe a facility that was operational for a short period, then disappeared.”

Leanna exhaled through her nose, already scrolling through her mental map of the area. “That’s still a hell of a lot of ground to cover.”

Jessica nodded. “I know. But we start with property records, medical research centers, and anything that had security clearance tied to classified programs. Vanguard wasn’t working alone. They had shell companies, front operations. Somewhere in that mess, there’s a footprint.”

Olivia cracked her knuckles, already turning back to her laptop. “Alright. Let’s see what ghosts we can dig up.”

Leanna rubbed a hand over her face. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Jessica took another sip of coffee, staring out the window at the city beyond. She had a bad feeling, too.

But they were out of time for second-guessing. It was time to find the place where she had been made.