Nighttime, Riverside Residential Community...
A figure moved along the edge of the community, barely disturbing the night. His steps were slow and deliberate, placed where grass softened sound and shadows swallowed his motions.
He paused often, counting seconds between patrols, watching the rhythm of distant guards until it became predictable.
He advanced only when the cameras could not see him, slipping forward as walls, hedges, and thick vegetation broke their gaze.
When light brushed too close, he sank into stillness, becoming another dark shape among leaves and stone. Each movement was timed to something else: a guard turning a corner, a breeze stirring branches, the faint echo of a radio crackle.
Reaching higher ground, he settled into cover without a sound, his body aligning naturally with the slope as if it belonged there.
