My hand shook as I pulled my phone from my pocket. Aura was a quiet hum, a comforting presence in my mind. "User Balen. You must contact Agent Alex. The data package you carry is a high-priority asset."
I knew that. I knew it in my bones. But a new voice in my head, a cold, worried whisper, was telling me to wait. I looked at the name on the screen from the data. The man from Alex's own company. The man who had been at the top of Cerberus Robotics. My world had turned upside down in an instant. The friend who had given me a birthday, a home, and a second chance... could he be part of this? Could he be the one who had sent me to my death?
I took a deep breath. My fingers, still holding the small data drive, felt like stone. I had to know. I had to hear his voice. I hit the call button.
It rang only once. "Balen? Where are you? What happened?" His voice was full of a sharp worry that I knew was real.
"I'm fine," I said, my voice low and quiet. "I was ambushed. They were professionals. They were after the package."
A long silence. I heard a sound like a chair being pushed back. "Ambushed? Who? Where are you? I'll send a team to get you. You have to come back to the office, now."
"No." The word came out before I could stop it. "I can't. I'm not going back to the office."
"What? Balen, what are you talking about? It's the safest place for you. We need to analyze that data. We need to figure out who is doing this."
His voice was firm. It sounded like the Alex I knew. But the cold whisper in my mind reminded me of the name on the screen. A name I had to keep a secret. For now.
"I have the data," I said. "And I have a safe place to hide. I'll be in contact."
"Balen, listen to me," he said, his voice more urgent now. "This isn't a game. You are in danger. Don't go anywhere alone."
"I am alone," I said. It was the truth. "I have to be. I'll call you soon."
I ended the call. My hand was shaking again, but this time it was from the truth. I had chosen to walk alone. I had chosen to trust myself. I had to follow the path Elen had walked. He had trusted the wrong people, and it had killed him. I was not going to make the same mistake.
I looked down at the data drive. It was not just a package. It was a map. A map of a secret war, and it showed me the one person I could truly trust: me. I was no longer an agent. I was not a spy. I was a son trying to finish his father's war. The path back to Eden Academy was full of ghosts. The path to the truth was a new journey, and this time, I was walking it alone.