The ticket felt heavier than lead in Aric's coat pocket. A torn slip of paper, nothing more. But his sister had died carrying its weight.
Back in his office, he laid it beside the matchbox and the half-burned folder. Three objects, three riddles. Together, they hummed like pieces of a puzzle too dangerous to finish.
Sector Thirteen.
Official maps showed nothing but a crater. Government reports claimed it was "completely annihilated in the final bombing." People whispered it was cursed—whole squads who entered never returned.
But archives? That was different. Archives meant records. And records meant truth.
When Aric returned to the Circle's hideout, the debate had already begun.
"We can't go there," the thief scoffed, flipping his coin. "Thirteen's a grave. Best place to vanish if you want to stay vanished."
Mira slammed her fist against the crate they used as a table. "That's exactly why we have to go! They hide things in shadows. If Liora thought the truth was there, then that's where we go."
The veteran stayed quiet, whetstone scraping his blade in slow rhythm.
Aric leaned in. "It's not just about my sister. If they erased whole camps, whole people, then the records are the only proof left. Without them, we're nothing but whispers. With them…" He let the words hang.
The thief snorted. "Proof doesn't matter if you're dead."
"Funny," Aric said coldly, "my sister died so that proof would matter."
The warehouse went silent. Even the thief stopped spinning his coin.
Finally, the woman who had first found Aric broke the silence. "Sector Thirteen isn't just dangerous. It's watched. If we move, the Eyes will know."
Aric pictured the enforcers' gas masks glowing in the fog. The Eyes. Always searching. Always one step behind.
He exhaled smoke, crushing the cigarette under his boot. "Then we make sure we get there before they do."
For the first time since the war ended, Aric felt the weight of direction—not survival, not grief, but purpose.
The path forward wasn't safe. It wasn't clean. But it was finally clear.
Sector Thirteen waited.