This is part of an original serialized fiction project written and edited by the author. All story elements and characters are fictional.

Leo stood with his arms crossed, eyes still locked on the pedestal. He gave a slow nod.

“We can hide the entrance. But Méndez...” He trailed off for a moment, searching for the right words. “He knows too much.”

“And he’s not working alone,” Lucía added quietly. “He said his foundation’s also after this.”

Teodora nodded, her face set with quiet resolve.

“We can’t stop them completely. But we can make it harder for them.”

She began moving around the chamber, examining the edges of the room, tapping lightly against the walls.

“If we seal this entrance and destroy the key systems, it won’t matter if they find their way back in. They won’t be able to activate anything.”

Leo glanced at Lucía and caught the unease in her expression.

“What is it, Lu?”

She hesitated, biting her lower lip. “I just... I don’t know. Méndez was wrong about a lot, but not about this. We don’t fully understand what this place is either.”

“That’s exactly why we have to protect it,” Teodora said, cutting in. Her tone was firm, absolute. “Ignorance is dangerous—but it’s not as dangerous as unrestrained ambition.”

With that, they got to work. Teodora pulled a few old tools from her bag and began disabling parts of the pedestal, carefully dismantling components. Leo and Lucía gathered debris and heavy wooden beams to barricade the entrance.

“You think this’ll hold?” Leo asked, wedging a cracked support beam against the doorframe.

“It’ll slow them down,” Teodora replied. “I’ll reinforce it later once we’re sure no one’s watching.”

Lucía found an old cloth in the hallway and gently draped it over the pedestal, almost like she was covering something sacred. She turned to her brother.

“What if Méndez has another way in? He said that device of his could track things.”

Leo paused, considering. “We can hide this place physically... but if he’s using tech to find it, we might need to give him something else to find.”

Teodora looked up from the pedestal, curious. “You have an idea?”

Leo nodded. “There’s a room in the basement—it looks like a hidden passage, but it’s just a dead end. We could leave signs, something that makes it look like that’s where the trail leads.”

Lucía frowned. “You think he’ll fall for it?”

“If it buys us a few days—or even a few hours—it’s worth it.”

Teodora studied him for a beat, then gave a small nod. “It’s risky. But clever. Let’s do it.”

Before they left the chamber, Lucía paused in front of the pedestal. Her hand hovered just above the cloth, her eyes drawn to the carvings beneath.

“Do you think... anyone ever used this for something good?” she asked softly, not taking her eyes off the symbols.

Teodora stepped beside her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Maybe. But even the purest intentions can be twisted by power.”

Lucía nodded, though a shadow of doubt lingered in her expression.

“So what do we do with truths that no one will ever know?”

Teodora looked at her, and for a moment, her features softened—half pride, half sorrow.

“We carry them. And we make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands. That’s also protecting the truth.”

Back in the lobby of the Esmeralda Building, they stopped at the windows and peered out into the empty streets. There was no sign of Méndez. No sign of anyone.

“For now,” Leo said, “we’re safe.”

His voice carried no real comfort.

Teodora placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.

“You’ve done more tonight than most people do in a lifetime. Don’t forget that.”

Lucía slumped into one of the old armchairs, exhaustion pulling at her limbs, though her resolve remained.

“So what now?” she asked.

Teodora glanced toward the stairs—toward the basement, and all the rooms they hadn’t yet explored.

“We move forward. We fortify the building. And we search for more answers. This place still has stories left to tell.”

Leo looked at his sister, then back at Teodora.

“This isn’t going to end soon, is it?”

“No,” Teodora said. “But as long as we stay together, we have a chance.”

At that moment, the lobby lights flickered—just for a second. Barely noticeable. But enough.

As if the building itself were reminding them:
Its secrets are still alive.
Waiting to be discovered.
Or to be protected.