The helicopter descended through smoke and dust, its rotors scattering debris across the cracked tarmac. Below them, the old industrial outpost looked half-dead, a labyrinth of collapsed hangars, rusted cranes, and the skeletons of trucks long abandoned.
Adrian scanned the perimeter through the open hatch. "Doesn't look friendly."
Selene smirked. "It isn't. That's why we're safe."
They touched down on the edge of the main courtyard. The pilot cut the engines, and the sudden silence after the roar of flight was almost jarring. The trio jumped down, boots crunching on gravel and glass.
Elena coughed through the settling dust. "How long has this place been dead?"
"Eight years," Selene said, heading toward a corroded blast door. "It used to move black-market weapons under the syndicate's radar. When the purge started, we shut it down."
She keyed a sequence into a rusted terminal. The locks groaned, gears shifting somewhere deep inside, and the door slid open just enough for them to squeeze through.
Inside, the air was stale and metallic. Rows of empty crates lined the walls, and old cables hung from the ceiling like vines.
Adrian's instincts prickled. "You're sure your contact still controls this?"
Selene didn't answer immediately. Then a shadow moved at the far end of the room, a man in a patched leather jacket, face half-hidden under a hood.
"Welcome back, Selene," he said, voice calm but edged.
She exhaled softly. "You still breathing, Mason. Good."
Mason's eyes flicked over Adrian and Elena. "You brought company. You don't usually do that."
"They're my team," she said simply.
He raised a brow. "You don't have teams. You have debts."
Adrian stepped forward, unflinching. "We're here for information, not history."
Mason smirked faintly. "Spoken like a man who doesn't know how expensive information gets."
Selene's tone turned sharp. "We saved your life once. That's your payment."
He studied her for a long moment, then nodded toward a corner where dim lights flickered over an old console. "The syndicate's network is active again. Same encryption patterns, but heavier firewalls. They're running something big, and it's moving through the city grid."
Adrian leaned over the console, scanning the lines of data. "What are they after?"
Mason shook his head. "Not sure. But whatever it is, they're scared of you finding it first."
Elena frowned. "Could it be the AI chain you mentioned earlier? The one Selene said they lost control of?"
Selene's silence was answer enough.
Adrian turned to her slowly. "You knew this was about the AI."
She met his stare without flinching. "It's not just an AI. It's a system designed to erase identities, to rewrite digital existence. Once they activate it, no one will remember who we were."
Elena's breath caught. "They're not just hunting us. They're deleting us."
Adrian stepped back, the weight of it sinking in. "Then we stop them before they turn the key."
Selene looked between them, something fierce flickering behind her calm. "There's one way in. The control hub under the city. But it's suicide without backup."
Adrian holstered his weapon. "Then we'll need more than backup."
He turned to Mason. "You still have access to the old network?"
Mason smiled faintly. "You want ghosts to fight ghosts. I like that."
He tapped the console, bringing dead screens to life. "I'll see what I can wake."
Selene watched him work, her expression unreadable. Behind her, Adrian and Elena exchanged a glance, trust still fragile, but purpose finally solid.
Outside, thunder rolled across the horizon. The storm was coming again. But this time, they wouldn't just run.
This time, they'd strike back.
(Quiet Fire)
Night settled slowly over the ruins.
Rain fell in thin, steady threads, tapping softly against the metal roof of the outpost. Inside, a few flickering lanterns threw golden circles of light across the walls, turning the cold space almost gentle.
Elena sat near one of the old crates, wrapping bandages around Adrian's forearm where shrapnel had grazed him. His skin was warm beneath her fingers, the pulse steady. He didn't move, just watched her with that quiet focus that always made her heartbeat stumble.
"You should've told me you were hit," she murmured.
"It's nothing."
"You always say that."
He smiled faintly. "Because it's always true."
She tied the bandage off, smoothing the edge with her thumb. "You're impossible."
"Maybe." He caught her hand before she could pull it away. "But you're the reason I'm still breathing."
The words hung there, simple, but charged. Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
For a long time neither of them moved. The world beyond the walls had narrowed to the warmth between their hands, the rain's rhythm, and the low hum of the generator in the next room.
Elena broke the silence first. "You think Selene's telling the truth?"
"Probably not all of it."
"Then why trust her?"
He looked at her for a long moment. "Because right now, she's the only one who understands what we're up against. And because…", his voice softened, "…you deserve a chance to make it out of this alive."
Elena's eyes searched his. "You talk like you don't plan to."
He didn't answer. But the silence said enough.
Without thinking, she leaned forward. The distance between them closed until her forehead rested lightly against his. His breath brushed her lips, uneasy, tender.
"You're not dying on me, Adrian," she whispered. "Not after everything."
His hand slid up, cupping the back of her neck, steady and careful. "Then don't let me."
For a moment, the war outside ceased to exist. The rain softened, the light dimmed, and the small room seemed to fold around them, two people who had lost too much and still somehow found each other in the wreckage.
When Selene's footsteps finally echoed from the far corridor, they drew apart, the spell unbroken but hidden away again. Adrian rose, straightening his jacket.
"We move at dawn," he said quietly.
Elena nodded, though her heart was still racing. "I'll be ready."
As she turned away, he glanced once more toward her, the faintest hint of a smile ghosting across his face. It wasn't a promise, not yet.
But it was something close.