Aiden's boots crunch on the broken glass of Sector 14's ruins, ash swirling in the morning haze. A patrol. A punishment.
After the incident with the rogue girl, Cyra hasn't said a word. But the silence between them crackles with tension. Every glance feels like a test.
The world around them is hollowed out—burnt houses, scorched vehicles, bloodstains erased by the rain. The Reckoning left no mercy here. And now, the Hunters patrol what's left, ghosts policing the wreckage they helped create.
Aiden's HUD pings. A red mark flashes on the map.
"Hostile signal detected. Moving target. Armed."
Cyra signals silently. She raises her rifle, aiming through the scope.
Aiden sees the figure first—hooded, limping, carrying a sack.
A rogue?
Cyra prepares to shoot.
"No," Aiden mutters.
He steps forward without warning. "Let me take point."
Cyra hisses. "What are you doing?"
"Protocol: live capture. Could lead us to the faction."
She lowers her weapon, suspicious, but allows it.
Aiden approaches the figure carefully. The rogue freezes.
Then bolts.
A chase begins—through shattered buildings, down broken alleyways. Aiden's breath stays steady, but he isn't running just to catch. He's running to warn.
He corners the rogue near a collapsed diner.
"It's okay," Aiden says, voice low. "I'm not here to kill you."
The hood drops.
It's not the girl.
It's a boy. Thin. Frightened. Around seventeen.
"You're one of them," the boy says. "But you didn't shoot my sister yesterday."
Aiden's chest tightens.
"She told me," the boy adds. "We've heard of you. The Hunter who hesitates."
Aiden's voice drops further. "You shouldn't be talking to me. They're watching everything."
The boy reaches into his coat. Aiden flinches—then relaxes when it's just a data drive.
"This is what you're looking for. The Remnants' location. Just… don't kill everyone. Please."
Footsteps echo nearby.
Cyra's close.
"Go!" Aiden hisses.
The boy vanishes into the rubble.
Aiden hides the drive in his glove, turns just as Cyra arrives.
"Lost him," he says.
She narrows her eyes. "Convenient."
Later that night, in his quarters, Aiden plugs the drive into a cracked terminal, rerouting through a hidden proxy.
The screen lights up:
RE: PROJECT GHOST
Remnant Uplink Detected.
Initiating handshake...
A message appears.
"Welcome back, Wraith."
Aiden leans back in his chair.
It's begun.
---