8:20 AM – Abandoned Subway Line, Sector 12
Three people walked through the dark, rotting tunnels beneath the city — no lights, no signals, just silence and memory.
Silas led the way, flashlight clipped to his shoulder, scanning for old traps.
"This place was shut down after the '07 purge," he muttered. "Back when the Organization realized some of their own were leaking intel to the public. Guess what they did?"
"They buried it," Kairo said flatly.
"Bingo. Concrete. Lies. And fire."
Behind them, Alicia kept quiet, her hand near the Glock Silas had handed her that morning. It felt heavy, but necessary.
"Where are we even going?" she asked.
"To the Black Archive," Silas replied. "Old site. Not on the grid anymore. Before Crowe digitized everything, this was where the skeletons were kept."
"And you think there's something about him in there?" Kairo asked.
Silas stopped. "Not just him."
He pointed forward.
"About you too."
9:04 AM – Black Archive Vault
They cracked open the rusted vault door after bypassing the ancient biometric lock. Kairo's fingerprints still worked — a sign the Organization hadn't purged him entirely yet.
The inside was a graveyard of secrets: analog files, burn-damaged hard drives, old maps, mission journals, and surveillance photos.
Alicia turned in a slow circle. "This looks like the CIA's nightmare closet."
Silas moved with purpose, pulling a box from a high shelf marked OP-ARCHIVE: KAIRO V.
Below it, a second label: SUBJECT 731.
Kairo took the box and opened it.
Inside were photos. Of him.
But not just recent ones — baby pictures. Hospital records. Vaccination logs. All with a logo stamped in the corner:
"Project Echo – Human Behavioral Conditioning Division"
His hands trembled. "What the hell is this?"
Silas looked grim.
"You weren't just recruited, kid. You were engineered."
9:47 AM – Alicia's Discovery
While Kairo and Silas dug through more files, Alicia found an old laptop — scorched but still bootable. It took her ten minutes to crack it.
Inside were documents tagged with a name she hadn't heard in years:
Morgan, Elias — Asset-Contact: TANG OPS.
Her father.
She clicked the file.
"Elias Morgan provided logistical support for Operation Gatehouse — Tang's initial trafficking pipeline out of Eastern Europe. Was compensated through offshore accounts. Ceased involvement in 2009."
She stared at the screen, chest tight.
He wasn't just some contractor.
He was part of it.
Meanwhile – Organization HQ
Crowe stood in front of a private monitor, watching live satellite footage.
A deep voice came through the encrypted line.
"You sure you want to launch Ghost Protocol? That wipes everything. All assets. All covers. All history."
Crowe didn't flinch.
"That's the point."
The voice paused.
"You're not doing this just to kill him, are you?"
Crowe exhaled slowly.
"He was never supposed to exist. And now he's remembering things he shouldn't."
He turned the monitor off.
"Burn it all."
11:03 AM – Black Archive, Exit Route
Kairo shoved files into his bag, face pale.
"They tracked me before I was even born," he said. "My mother's records are in here. Behavioral tests. DNA conditioning. They weren't recruiting assassins — they were building them."
Silas nodded slowly. "Project Echo. You were the last generation. Then the rest of us killed the program."
"And Crowe?"
"He ran it," Silas said. "He was the architect."
Suddenly, the walls trembled.
A low hum, then a muffled boom echoed through the tunnels.
Kairo spun. "They're collapsing the tunnel."
Silas grabbed Alicia's arm. "Ghost Protocol. They're wiping every trace of you, Kairo — including this place."
"We need to move," Kairo growled.
As the ceiling began to fall behind them, the three of them sprinted down the dark hallway, smoke and dust chasing their heels.
11:20 AM – Surface Level, Safe Zone 9
They emerged into daylight, coughing, bloodied, but alive.
The Archive — and every piece of physical evidence inside — was gone.
But the flash drives they carried weren't.
Alicia turned to Kairo. "They tried to erase you."
"They failed," he said. "And now I know who I am."
Silas lit a cigarette, hands shaking slightly.
"You ready to break the rules now?"
Kairo's jaw tightened. He looked out over the city, knowing every drone, every camera, every eye could be watching.
"No more running," he said.
"We go loud."