We made it back to the church headquarters by sunset.
Marcus had three broken ribs and a punctured lung. The medical team rushed him into surgery the moment we arrived. Jin had claw marks across her shoulder that would need stitches. Elena was limping from a twisted ankle I hadn't even noticed during the fight.
I was covered in gray blood that wasn't mine.
"Decontamination room," Elena said, pointing down a hallway. "Rifter blood is toxic. You need to wash it off completely. There's spare clothes in the lockers."
I followed the signs to a white-tiled room with industrial showers. Stripped off my gear and stood under water hot enough to hurt. The gray blood washed away in streams, leaving my skin red but clean.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
I kept seeing the Rifter's face. No eyes. Too many teeth. The way it moved. The happy sounds it made while eating.
The three workers who'd gone to work that morning and never came home.
I dried off, put on the spare clothes—basic black shirt and pants—and walked back to the main command center.
The holographic Earth was still rotating. More red dots had appeared while we were gone.
Detroit. Miami. São Paulo again. Tokyo. London.
Elena found me staring at the display. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"
"Five new rifts in the last hour," she said. "We have teams responding. But we're spread thin. We only have forty-three active field heroes worldwide. The rifts are happening faster than we can respond."
"Forty-three heroes for the entire planet?"
"Most are Level 8 or higher. Veterans. But we're losing people." She pulled up a list on her tablet. "Three heroes killed in action last month. Two retired from injuries. One went missing in Berlin—we think the Rifter dragged him through a rift before it closed."
I felt sick. "What happens if we can't keep up?"
"Then the rifts start staying open longer. Rifters reach population centers. People see them. Panic starts. Society breaks down." She closed the tablet. "We prevent that. No matter the cost."
"Even if it kills us?"
"Especially if it kills us." She looked at me hard. "This is what you signed up for, Kane. This is what being a hero really means. Not glory. Not fame. Just fighting and dying so normal people can keep living normal lives."
My phone buzzed. A message from Mom:
Mom: How's the project going? You sound stressed lately. Want me to send care package?
I stared at the text. At the simple love from someone who thought her son was just a stressed college student.
"I can't tell her," I said quietly.
"No," Elena agreed. "You can't. That's part of the cost. You save their lives but they'll never know. Never thank you. Never understand why you're distant or tired or wake up screaming from nightmares."
"How do you deal with it?"
"I don't." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I just keep fighting. Because the alternative is letting them die. And I'd rather carry the weight than let them carry the bodies."
The Architect appeared from nowhere. "Kane. Medical check, then debriefing. You too, Elena. Get that ankle looked at."
"It's fine—"
"That's an order, not a request."
We followed her to the medical wing. A doctor checked me over—bruises, minor cuts, nothing serious. Then we went to a small office where The Architect was waiting with Diana.
"Sit," The Architect said.
We sat.
"First field mission," she began. "One Rifter eliminated. Zero civilian casualties prevented—they were dead before you arrived. One hero seriously injured. Two heroes minorly injured." She looked at me. "Your performance exceeded expectations. The killing shot was clean. Professional. How did it feel?"
"Terrible," I said honestly.
"Good. The day it feels good is the day you become a monster." She pulled up my stats on the screen. "Level 6 after one encounter. That's fast. Your Combat Awareness skill activated under pressure—exactly what we hoped for. You're adapting."
"Three people died," I said.
"Three people died before you got there," Diana corrected. "You prevented more deaths. The Rifter would have left that factory eventually. Would have found more people. You stopped that."
"Doesn't make me feel better."
"It's not supposed to." The Architect leaned forward. "Here's what happens next. You train for three days. Combat drills, weapon practice, Rifter behavior studies. Then you go back out. And again. And again. Until either the invasion stops or you die trying to stop it."
"That's it? That's the plan?"
"That's the reality." She stood. "You have two choices, Kane. Accept this life—the fighting, the death, the secrecy, the cost. Or walk away now. Take the memory wipe. Go back to failing economics and eating ramen."
I thought about the Rifter's face. The three workers. The red dots spreading across the map. Six months until full invasion.
I thought about Marcus in surgery. Jin getting stitches. Elena limping on a twisted ankle but refusing to stop.
I thought about forty-three heroes fighting for eight billion people.
"I'm not walking away," I said.
The Architect nodded. "Then get some rest. Training starts at 0600 tomorrow. And Kane?" She paused at the door. "You did well today. Better than most on their first hunt. Be proud of that. Then let it go and prepare for the next one."
She left. Diana followed.
Elena and I sat in silence for a moment.
"Want to know something funny?" she said finally.
"Sure."
"I almost walked away. After my first Rifter. After I saw what they do to people. I stood in front of The Architect and asked for the memory wipe." She smiled sadly. "She told me to sleep on it. Decide in the morning with a clear head."
"What changed your mind?"
"I woke up and saw the news. A 'gas leak' had killed fifteen people in Moscow. Except I knew better. I'd seen the reports. It was a Rifter. And because we didn't have enough heroes in Europe, it reached a residential building before anyone could stop it." She looked at her hands. "Fifteen people. Including a six-year-old girl named Anna."
"I'm sorry."
"Me too. But it made me realize something. If I walked away, if I chose ignorance and comfort, then the next Anna would die because I wasn't there to fight. And I couldn't live with that." She stood up. "So I stayed. And I keep staying. Every day I choose to carry this weight so they don't have to."
She limped toward the door, then looked back. "Welcome to the hardest job in the world, Kane. The one nobody knows exists."
She left me alone in the office.
I pulled out my phone. Typed a reply to Mom:
Me: Project's going okay. Stressful but important. Don't worry about care package. I love you.
Mom: I love you too, baby. So proud of you. Whatever you're working on, I know you'll do great.
I closed my eyes and let the tears come.
Not for me. For her. For every mom who thought their kid was just studying hard. For every family that would never know their loved ones died saving the world.
For the three workers in Chicago. For Anna in Moscow. For all the people who would die before this was over.
And for the forty-three heroes trying to stop it.
I sat there until the tears stopped. Then I stood up, wiped my face, and walked to the training room.
0600 was only eleven hours away.
And somewhere in the world, another rift was opening.