My name is Vlad.
I was born and raised in Viremont, a city in the country of Luthen. People called it a city of progress. Glass towers. Bright streets. Powerful companies.
I used to believe it was a good place.
I lived in a small house on the edge of the city with my wife and my daughter. She was only one year old. She had my eyes and her mother's smile.
They were my entire world.
I worked as a data analyst for Helixis Corporation. My job was simple. Review internal reports. Check for errors. Organize data.
I wasn't supposed to ask questions.
But one night, I found something I wasn't meant to see.
Hidden files.
Encrypted.
Buried deep where no normal employee would look.
I opened them.
I wish I hadn't.
They weren't medical reports.
They were experiment logs.
Human experiments.
Subjects without names. Only numbers.
Most of them were marked as failures.
Some were marked as disposed.
I stared at the screen for hours, hoping I misunderstood.
I didn't.
They weren't trying to save lives.
They were using them.
I copied everything.
I told myself I was doing the right thing.
I told myself the truth would protect my family.
I was wrong.
They came three nights later.
It was late. My daughter was asleep. My wife was in the living room.
I heard the door break.
Not knock.
Break.
Four men walked inside.
No uniforms. No hesitation.
My wife screamed.
I ran toward her.
One of them hit me before I could reach her.
Pain exploded in my head. I fell to the floor.
I tried to stand.
Another hit came. Then another.
They didn't rush.
They didn't need to.
I saw my wife on the floor.
She wasn't moving.
I called her name.
She didn't answer.
One of the men grabbed me by the collar and forced me to look at her.
"Let this be a lesson," he said.
His voice was calm.
Like this was nothing.
Like she was nothing.
They threw me down.
My body wouldn't listen to me anymore.
Everything hurt.
Then I heard it.
My daughter crying.
One of the men turned toward her room.
He walked slowly.
I tried to crawl.
My arms shook.
I couldn't reach him.
He stood over her crib.
She cried louder.
He pulled out his gun.
"No…" I whispered.
My voice was weak.
Useless.
He raised the gun.
And then—
Everything became quiet.
Not normal quiet.
Heavy quiet.
The man stopped moving.
The others didn't move either.
It was like the world was holding its breath.
The shadows in the corner of the room grew darker.
From that darkness, something appeared.
A hand.
Black. Unnatural.
A deep voice spoke.
"You have lost everything."
I couldn't speak.
"You wanted justice."
The hand moved closer.
"You were given suffering."
I looked at my daughter.
She was still frozen in place. Her small hands in the air.
The voice spoke again.
"I can let you live."
My heart pounded.
"You will kill the wicked."
"You will expose their crimes."
"You will not refuse."
I didn't care about the cost.
I didn't care about myself.
If I died, she would die too.
"I accept," I said.
The hand touched my chest.
Cold spread through my entire body.
My heart stopped.
Then it started again.
Stronger.