The tunnel smelled of damp concrete and wet iron, the air thick with the sharp tang of machinery. My boots scuffed softly over puddles, careful not to announce myself.
drip… drip… drip…
hum…
clatter…
Voices. Low, hurried, careful. I froze mid-step, letting the shadows swallow me. Two Syndicate messengers, one tall, one wiry huddled over a crate, whispering.
"…if we frame the Red Faction, Jonas takes the fall. No one will suspect him."
"…exactly. The bullet has a name already. Clean, quiet, done."
I stifled a laugh, dry and tight. Subtle. Perfect. They thought I was nowhere. They thought the Veins were theirs to speak freely in. Amateur.
clatter…
A loose pipe rattled above, and both heads flicked toward the sound, voices trailing off. I stayed still. Patience wasn't just a virtue here. It was survival.
Step by careful step, I cataloged every detail: the wiry one's finger tapping the crate lid, the tilt of the tall one's head, the cadence of their words. Every motion a tell, every hesitation a crack in their armor. I could bend this without ever touching it.
plink…
I let a small pebble slip from my pocket, faint enough to sound like nothing, deliberate enough to make them glance again. Suspicion flared immediately between them. The wiry one muttered something under his breath, but the words were lost under a fresh drip… drip… drip… from above. I smiled faintly. Let them squirm. Let them worry. Let them see shadows where there were none.
By the time I left the small chamber, a subtle game had been set in motion. Jonas, already fragile under scrutiny, would feel the ripple before long. Misplaced guilt, whispered doubt, the tiniest seed of chaos. And all without a single word directed at him.
drip… hum… clatter…
I muttered softly, dry and careful, almost swallowed by the tunnel: "Every man for himself? Maybe. But every shadow can be a weapon too."
The messengers' whispers echoed behind me, swallowed by distance and concrete, while I melted into the dark. The web was tighter now, and I was threading it with every careful, silent step.