The wind howled outside the mountain outpost, but inside, the atmosphere was colder than ice.
Nam sat at the briefing table, a datapad clutched in his hand. The file they had retrieved from Kai's hideout—the one he'd guarded with his life—was finally decrypted. And what it contained made his blood run cold.
Shun leaned over his shoulder. "That… that's not possible."
Lan stepped forward, voice tight. "The entire Ghost Unit project—it was a cover. We were never meant to survive."
Nam nodded grimly. "According to this… the missions were tests. Psychological thresholds. Combat limits. Every loss we suffered was… intentional."
The datapad displayed a list of names—all familiar. All marked as "Terminated – Project Complete."
Except one: Nam.
"They isolated me," he muttered. "Studied my reactions… my loyalty."
Shun looked shaken. "Why? Why go that far?"
"Because I'm the prototype," Nam said, rising slowly. "The one who passed every trial. They wanted to build an army. Emotionless. Obedient. But I kept fighting for my team. For you."
Lan whispered, "They didn't want a soldier. They wanted a weapon."
A beep interrupted them. An encrypted signal—origin unknown—lit up on the screen. Nam pressed the receiver.
A distorted voice spoke: "You were never supposed to see that file, Nam. But now that you have… it's time you remember who you really are."
The line went dead.
Nam stood there, fists clenched, eyes dark.
"No more running," he said quietly. "We expose everything. We burn them down."
Lan nodded. "Then we find Kai's body."
Shun added, "If there is a body."
Nam looked out the window into the swirling snow. Something told him… the fall hadn't killed Kai.
The real war had only just begun.