Alex was in his office, his face all hard lines and shadows from the light. He looked at me, then at the tablet, his eyes full of a worry I hadn't seen before. "Be careful, Balen. This is just an escort, but my father's company and this Cerberus Robotics... they're not playing games."
I just nodded, my hand already on my new watch. My heart felt cold, like ice. This wasn't a mission. It was a message. A message from Elen's past. I thought back to his tired face on the video chip. He had died on this path. I had to walk it. For him.
The monocar dropped me off at a long, dark alley. The air was cold and smelled of rust and wet concrete. Aura hummed in my ear, a quiet hum that was both a comfort and a warning. "User Balen, I am scanning the area. There are ten different security cameras on this alley. All of them are old, but active. The signal is weak."
My jacket was my only armor. I walked, my steps quiet. I was a ghost again, but this time I wasn't running. I was hunting. At the end of the alley, a woman was standing under a flickering light. She was tall, with sharp eyes that moved all the time. She didn't look like a spy. She looked like a student, but her eyes were too old.
She saw me. She walked toward me. Her face was a mask. "You're the escort?" she asked, her voice low. "You're a kid."
I didn't answer. I just held out my hand. She looked at me for a long moment, then pulled a small, silver box from her coat. She put it in my hand. It was warm. I felt the weight of it, the power of it. She leaned in close, her eyes looking deep into mine. "The signal is too strong. He's here."
Before I could even ask who "he" was, the world went crazy. A flash of light exploded at the mouth of the alley. Alarms started to scream, and a car with no lights drove straight at us. The woman, Agent Icarus, cursed under her breath and ran.
I ran too. My mind was screaming, but my body just moved. Aura was a sudden, sharp voice in my head. "Warning, User Balen. Three targets approaching. They are armed. They are not company."
The men in black coats came out of the shadows. They moved like snakes, silent and fast. They weren't from a company. They were from the wilderness. I knew their moves. I knew their fighting style. Elen had trained me for this.
The first man came at me, his hand a blade. I didn't think. I dodged to the side. The second man tried to grab me. I spun away, his clothes ripping in my hand. Aura was trying to give me answers, but I just shut it down. My brain was on fire. I didn't need data. I needed instinct.
"Balen, they are using a special fighting style. I can't find a weakness..."
Shut up, I thought. I got this.
I moved like a river, my body wild and fast. I hit the first man in the stomach, hard. He fell. I used the momentum to hit the second man, using a move Elen had taught me. The man stumbled. I saw his face. His eyes were not human. They were like the men from the first mission, but worse. These were not just guards. They were killers.
The last man was the boss. He was bigger than the others, his face covered. He looked at me, a cold fury in his eyes. He knew I was the one who had taken the package. He was faster than I thought. He was on me in a second, his hand on my neck. My air was gone. I was back in the wilderness. I was a child again, and I was going to die.
But then, I remembered the lessons. I remembered Elen's voice. I remembered Sky's happy squawk. I remembered Alex's smile. I was not the scared child anymore. I was a man. I kicked his leg, a move that only worked with my new strength. He yelled and let go. I ran, faster than I had ever run before. I was holding the data package tight. The echo of Elen's past was in my hand, and I had just walked into the middle of a war.