Tokyo — Late Night
The hum of the engine was steady. Outside, the city bled past the windows — a blur of streetlights, drones, and glowing billboards scrolling kanji and English.
Kael sat by the window, arms crossed, watching the Tokyo night drift by. Neon signs blinked over late-night ramen shops and empty train stations. His own reflection stared back at him in the glass.
Alex was slumped in the backseat, eyes shut, seemingly asleep.
Raegal drove one-handed, a cigarette dangling from his lips. The ash clung long and fragile, untouched by the wind from the cracked window. In the passenger seat, Nila's face was lit by the flickering blue glow of her laptop screen, silent as a ghost.
No one spoke.
Then:
"You sold her… Raegal?"
Kael's voice was calm. Tired. But something in it cracked faintly at the end.
Raegal didn't flinch. His eyes stayed fixed on the road.
"You think I'm that type of man, Kael?"
Kael didn't even look at him.
"You kill without blinking. You used to run an assassination firm. You've got an M16 and five loaded mags in the trunk."
There was a pause.
Raegal exhaled smoke slowly through his nose.
"…Good point."
Nila spoke up, voice flat but urgent. "Raegal. You gotta see this."
She turned the laptop toward him, the screen glowing in the dark car.
SUBJECT: LILY
Status: Escaped
Containment Level: RED
Hostility Index: 90%
Threat to Human Stability: 96%
Clearance Note: "DO NOT APPROACH."
Kael leaned forward, reading it with a quiet fury building behind his eyes.
"She escaped the lab. So why the hell would she try to kill us?"
Raegal's voice came soft, almost inaudible.
"Because she THINKS I sold her."
No edge. No anger. Just tired regret.
"I was driving. A black truck came out of nowhere — hit us full-force. They came out instantly. Playing dead was the only card I had."
There was a beat of silence.
Then, from the backseat—
"So you let her go."
Alex's eyes were open now. He hadn't been sleeping.
Raegal's hands tightened around the wheel.
The tires screamed as the car jerked to a sudden stop. Everyone lurched forward, caught by their seatbelts.
"I HAD NO CHOICE, OKAY?!" Raegal shouted. "IF YOU WERE THERE YOU WOULD'VE DONE THE SAME GODDAMN THING!"
The engine ticked in the silence that followed. Cooling. Breathing.
Raegal's jaw was locked. His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.
"…Sorry."
He slammed the gas. The tires spun once on the slick road before catching. The car surged forward.
Back to the road.
Back to silence.
A minute passed. Maybe more.
Alex spoke, flat and hollow.
"You're selfish."
Raegal didn't argue.
"You're right."
---
TOKYO — 47 Floors Above Street Level
Somewhere between dusk and neon
Lily sat under the broken overhang of a collapsed rooftop. The wind bit at her skin — sharp and metallic — carrying the electric tang of ozone, rust, and distant smoke.
Below her, Tokyo flickered like a dying motherboard. Skyscrapers stretched upward, jagged and bone-like, veined with rails and neon. Drones zipped between buildings like fireflies on speed.
She pulled her knees up to her chest.
Her legs were shaking.
Not from cold. Not fear.
Exhaustion.
The serum always worked. Until it didn't. The crash after each use came worse than before — like her blood was on fire, her muscles bound with wire, her body unraveling from the inside out.
"I knew Japanese, Kael.
You never did get past hello."
A thin trickle of blood slid from her nose. She wiped it with the back of her hand, smearing it dark across her wrist.
Her breath came slower now. Controlled.
Her fingers curled around the edge of the rooftop. Rust flaked under her nails.
Far below, a siren wailed. Or maybe it was a drone. Hard to tell anymore.
She leaned back against the concrete wall, shut her eyes, and let the wind howl through the bones of Tokyo.
--
Kael blinked.
"Look at the mirror."
A voice.
Something flashed in the rearview mirror — a red light. No sound. No shape.
Just—
Black.