Ethan stepped away from his newly assembled PC, walked over to his bedroom balcony, and pushed the sliding glass door open. He leaned against the railing, inhaling the crisp, frigid air. The city below was completely dead, wrapped in a heavy, unsettling silence.
Where exactly should I begin? Ethan thought, his mind calculating his next moves.
Shaking off the cold, he headed back inside, clicked off the lights, and went to sleep.
The night passed into a quiet, foggy morning. When Ethan woke up and stretched, his eyes immediately locked onto the desk where his new high-performance computer sat. Right next to the keyboard lay a pristine, white envelope.
Another letter? Ethan thought.
He walked over and picked it up. As he unfolded the paper, the sharp typography burned into his vision:
"Go to the Capital."
The Capital? Ethan mused, staring at the short command. Is it referring to Ottawa?
He slid the letter into his pocket and headed outside for breakfast. The moment he finished eating, he returned to his room and booted up his high-performance PC.
His fingers flew across the keyboard as he ran a secure search on Ottawa, mapping out the geography, routes, and local security networks.
It's close enough to my current position, Ethan thought, his eyes reflecting the blue light of the monitor. I can get there and back without any problem.
Shutting down the system, Ethan changed into his athletic gear and headed out into the cool morning air for his daily conditioning run, his rhythmic breathing cutting through the fog.
As Ethan maintained a steady pace down the asphalt road, he spotted a familiar silhouette pacing ahead of him.
It was Allen. He was jogging, but his posture was completely rigid—he looked profoundly distracted, his mind clearly a million miles away.
"Allen," Ethan called out, pulling up beside him.
Allen snapped out of his trance, turning his head in surprise. "Hey, Ethan."
Ethan adjusted his stride, matching Allen's pace exactly so they moved forward in unison. "You run in the mornings now? I've never seen you out here before," Ethan asked, his voice entirely calm and measured.
Allen shook his head, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "No. Today is actually my first day. I needed to clear my head."
Ethan nodded, waiting for him to continue.
Allen let out a heavy breath. "To be honest, Ethan... we have a problem."
"What is it?"
"Madison. She's demanding that I teach her how to fight," Allen revealed, his tone laced with stress.
Ethan didn't break his stride. "Why?"
"Because she wants to confront you-know-who," Allen said grimly.
Ethan went quiet for a moment.
"To be perfectly honest, Allen, I don't think Jake is a fighter. I could be wrong—maybe he's hiding his abilities—but from what I've observed, he doesn't carry himself like one."
Allen nodded, his expression dark. "A while ago, she actually tracked Jake to an abandoned facility. It's a building that was completely sealed and declared forbidden for everyone—including Madison herself. But she saw him enter." Allen paused, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the road ahead.
"It looks like Mr. Murphy and Jake have some kind of deep, twisted connection."
Ethan frowned, his gaze sharpening. "What do you mean by that?"
"They are both impossible to read, they are both men of few words, and they radiate the exact same terrifying aura," Allen explained.
Ethan kept his eyes forward. "Either way, you need to convince Madison to stay out of this. It's too dangerous."
"She won't listen to me," Allen sighed. "I think this goes beyond Jake now. She's looking for answers about her late mother and whatever happened to her in the past."
Allen cut a sharp look toward Ethan. "I actually heard something from Mr. Murphy. He mentioned that you were raised by Madison's mother. If that's true... you must know what happened to her."
Ethan slowed his pace slightly and after thinking for a moment. Ethan spoke,
"At first, I had no idea she was Madison's mother. When I first arrived in Canada, I noticed a striking resemblance, but their last names didn't match, so I brushed it off as a bizarre coincidence. But Madison's grandfather explicitly confirmed it to me later. She was her daughter."
"Then what happened to her?" Allen pressed, leaning in.
"I don't know," Ethan said flatly.
Allen stopped running completely, staring at him in disbelief. "How is that even possible? You were there."
Ethan walked a few paces ahead, then stopped and turned around to face Allen. The morning light caught the absolute, hollow coldness in Ethan's eyes. When he spoke, his words sent a visceral shiver down Allen's spine.
"One day, I left the compound," Ethan whispered, his voice completely devoid of emotion. "I don't even remember why I went out. But when I returned..."
Ethan took a slow, trembling breath, the memory threatening to fracture his cold composure.
"...when I returned, everything was entirely reduced to ash. The orphanage, the grounds, the other children... everyone. All I could see was a sea of roaring fire. And inside that fire, there were people clad entirely in black, being eaten alive by the fire."
Suddenly, a wave of intense vertigo hit Ethan. His head began to spin violently as the suppressed trauma flared up. He stumbled, but Allen instantly sprang forward, catching Ethan by the shoulders and helping him stabilize his weight.
They sat down on the curb, Ethan resting his elbows on his knees. "That is the absolute last thing I remember from that day," Ethan muttered, staring blankly at the asphalt. "I think the sheer horror of the sight caused my mind to completely shut down. I fainted right there."
Allen nodded slowly, completely stunned into silence by the sheer scale of the tragedy.