Greenland was colder than Marek expected.
Not just the air—the silence. Like the continent itself didn't want to be found.
The coordinates led to an old NATO listening post. Supposedly decommissioned in 2003. But Marek knew the truth:
Nothing ever really turns off. It just waits.
He made his way in through a cracked ventilation shaft, thermal vision on, Glock ready.
Empty halls. No motion. Lights flickering.
Too easy.
And then—A hum.
A door.
A voice.
"Welcome home, Marek."
Lights exploded to life. Floodlamps. Steel shutters. A dozen rifles locked onto his chest from hidden ports in the walls.
They'd been waiting.
Flashback – The Alps, Two Months Earlier
Kodi had gone completely dark.
Living off the grid in a repurposed fiber-relay station in the Alps, he was a ghost with no name, no ID, no footprint. Eden was contained, fed only what Kodi allowed. Every signal in or out was funneled through dead satellites and gutted weather buoys. No IP traffic. No voice calls. No metadata.
He had learned from his mistakes.
But not all of them.
Because no matter how deep he buried himself, one line still connected him to the world:
His mother.
Kodi hadn't spoken to her in over a year, not directly. Not since the townhouse was secured under false names and the crypto wallet he set up auto-paid the bills each month.
He thought it was safe.
Every transaction scrubbed. Every wallet ghosted.
But one day, she tried to call him.
From a landline. In town.
She left a message.
"I don't know if you'll ever hear this. I just wanted to say thank you. You saved us. I love you."
The call didn't reach Kodi.
But it reached someone else.
Two weeks later, Kodi was surrounded in his sleep.
Drones blacked out the valley. EMPs fried his systems. They didn't send a kill team.
They sent collectors.
Back to Present – Greenland
Dragged down a freight elevator rattling like bones, through vault doors and sterile white corridors, Marek finally saw him.
Kodi Grey.
Beaten. Gaunt. Shackled at the wrists, but eyes burning like gunpowder.
Marek froze. Shock hit first. Then confusion. Then fury.
"You said you were dead."
Kodi smiled weakly.
"Didn't say I stayed that way."
A Rothschild agent stepped between them. Sharp suit. Scar across one eye.
"Mr. Grey has been… cooperative. But difficult."
He turned to Marek.
"You have a choice."
A small case opened in his hands. Inside:A black keycard.A flash drive.A contract.
Full immunity. Unlimited resources.Control of Eden's remains.A seat at the table.
All Marek had to do was sign.
Kodi's voice broke through the static.
"Marek… don't."
But the old man was right behind him now, whispering like poison in his ear.
"He left you behind. Trained you like a dog. Used your hands to pull the trigger, while he stayed underground playing god.
We see your potential.
This is your moment."
Marek looked at the drive. Then at Kodi.
Friendship…Or power.
The room held its breath.
And Marek reached for—