Morning drills begin before sunrise. In the steel heart of Hunter HQ, Aiden moves through the motions like a ghost in flesh—gun raised, breath steady, decisions cold. Each simulation ends with a confirmed kill. Every shot perfect.
Perfection is expected. Mistakes are punished.
After drills, a memo blinks on his HUD: "You're being reassigned to Team Theta. Target priority updated."
His new squad is leaner. Meaner. Veterans. Killers. No room for sentiment. Among them is Cyra, a sharp-eyed operative with no past and no patience. She greets Aiden with a single nod, her eyes scanning him like a predator.
"We're tracking three rogues. They're forming a faction. Calling themselves the Remnants," she says. "We eliminate them before they spread."
Later that day, inside the command chamber, a meeting unfolds behind encrypted glass. Commander Vale watches silent footage of Aiden's last mission—specifically the three-second glitch.
"Aiden's file shows no deviation," says a technician. "But that delay was not accidental."
Vale doesn't blink. "He remembers."
"Should we erase him?"
"Not yet. Sometimes... broken players reveal hidden threads."
Back in the field, Aiden stands on the rooftop of a flooded district, eyes on a burning warehouse below—Rogue territory. The Remnants are gathering.
Cyra moves beside him. "Don't hesitate this time. We go loud. We go fast."
But inside, Aiden isn't thinking about orders. He's thinking about Wraith.
About choices.
The squad drops in. Gunfire bursts. Screams echo. Aiden moves fast, clearing rooms like muscle memory. But then he hears it—a voice from his past.
"Help!"
He kicks down the next door.
Inside, a teenager cowers behind a desk. No older than fifteen. Wearing a bracelet—Player-issued. Her eyes widen at the Hunter gear.
"I'm not one of them!" she says. "I just want to live!"
Cyra shouts from behind, "Clear the room! What's the hold up?!"
Aiden's finger trembles over the trigger.
She's not armed. Just scared.
He fires—at the wall. Then turns. "Room's empty!"
Cyra storms in, scanning the space. She frowns but says nothing.
The girl stays hidden, heart pounding.
Later that night, Aiden returns to his quarters. He looks at his reflection in the mirror. The Hunter mask stares back.
A small red dot blinks behind him.
He's being watched.
And somewhere deep in the underground, the girl whispers into a communicator.
"He spared me. Just like Wraith said he would."
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