Kai Langford - September 2120
"Don't do anything stupid, okay? Or reckless. Or try to be a hero. Or-" Ethan keeps going, fussing as his hands hover uselessly near my gear.
"Ethan," I cut in gently. "It's fine. It's a quick snatch and go. I've done this plenty of times."
I mean it to calm him, but it only seems to make him more on edge.
We're standing beside Ray's truck, the back doors open as we get ready to leave. I'm trying to secure the harness and knives they've kept for me, but Ethan keeps tugging lightly at the straps, as if he can slow time, or stop me, by holding on.
I rest my hands over his, patting them slowly.
"Just… if it gets dangerous," he says quietly, voice unsteady, "leave. Come back. It's fine. This isn't the facility. Failing here doesn't mean anything."
I look at him properly then. His eyes are shaking.
I know what he means. I know that here, failure doesn't come with isolation cells or punishment rooms or pain meant to teach obedience. But that fear is carved too deeply into me now. I can't fail and I won't.
I lift his hand and press a quick kiss to his knuckles. "Don't worry, Ethan. I'll come back quickly."
He flushes immediately and looks away.
"That better be a promise." he mutters, pouting slightly.
"It's a promise." I say, a small smile breaking through.
"Are you two done yet?" Ray calls from the driver's seat.
I squeeze Ethan's hand once more before letting go. "I should go."
I'm halfway around the truck when Ethan grabs my arm again. He bites his lip, like he wants to say something but can't find the words. Instead, he steps in close, wraps his arms around my neck, and pulls me into a brief kiss. It's short, but warm, grounding.
"Stay safe" he murmurs.
I nod, then climb into the passenger seat.
Ray starts the engine, and we pull away from the school. I glance in the mirror and see Ethan still standing there, watching us leave. Something in my chest aches sharply.
"I didn't think we'd ever get out of there" Ray laughs.
"I didn't think he'd be that nervous about me leaving" I admit quietly. "These kind of missions aren't new for me."
The truck rolls through the forest, music playing softly on the radio. It feels strangely calm, too calm, compared to the missions I'm used to.
"Well," Ray says easily, "we all know Ethan's can be too kind for his own good."
I turn to look at him.
"And now that he's a lovesick puppy," Ray adds with a grin, "he's even worse."
Lovesick puppy.
The words hit harder than they should. I turn back to the window, watching the trees blur past.
It's stupid how much I already miss him.
Is this what Ray meant? Is this what it feels like, to be the one who can't stop thinking about the person you left behind?
________________________________
"So, according to our intel, Christopher should arrive any minute now," Ray says, glancing between his tablet and the building across the road.
The warehouse sits alone near the old fishing docks, squat and unremarkable. It's dark out, the only light coming from the harsh glow spilling through the warehouse windows and the city lights reflecting weakly off the water in the distance.
"Why would he be here?" I ask, frowning.
There's no reason a GeneX board member should be anywhere like this. It doesn't fit.
"From what we can tell, he's trying to make a deal," Ray replies. "With who, or about what, we're not sure."
I study the warehouse again. Something about it makes my skin prickle. From everything I've seen in the intel, Christopher is rarely alone. He's always surrounded by guards, assistants, witnesses.
But this is our only real chance to take him.
"You don't think this is a trap, do you?" I ask carefully.
"There's no reason for them to think we're coming after him" Ray says calmly.
He's right. If we'd wanted to move against him, we would've done it back at the club. GeneX would assume we missed our chance or never intended to take it at all.
Movement catches my eye in the distance, but we stay still, watching. Without 009 abilities to speed things along, the waiting feels heavier, slower.
My thoughts drift despite myself. I hope he and 016 are doing okay. Maybe one day I'll be able to get them out of the facility too.
"Let's go," Ray says, snapping me back to the present.
I nod and push the car door open.
We move fast once we're out of the car. Ray leads the way across the cracked tarmac, keeping close to the stacked shipping crates that line the edge of the dock. The air smells like salt and rust, thick and stale in my lungs.
I let my power stretch quietly, shadows peeling away from the corners of the warehouse and pooling around my feet like living things. They cling to the ground, thin and obedient, dulling the sound of our steps.
Ray glances back at me once, a quick nod. Even with his strength, he knows subtlety matters here.
We reach the side of the building. A single security light buzzes above a steel door, throwing harsh white light over the concrete. Two guards stand nearby, bored, weapons slung loosely at their sides.
I raise a hand slightly and the shadows respond. The light above them flickers before the bulbs breaks. Darkness crashes down like a held breath finally released.
"What-" one of the guards starts to say.
Ray is already moving.
He crosses the distance in a blur, grabbing the first guard by the collar and slamming him into the wall. The metal shudders but doesn't break. The second guard barely has time to turn before Ray's fist connects with his chest. I hear the crack before I see the body crumple.
I push the shadows forward, wrapping them around the fallen guards, binding their arms and legs, muffling any sound. They won't be waking up anytime soon.
"That was smooth" Ray murmurs.
We slip through the door.
Inside, the warehouse is vast. Stacks of crates form narrow corridors, and the hum of generators echoes through the space. Voices drift from somewhere deeper inside.
I let the shadows stretch further now, creeping along the walls and ceiling, feeding me fragments of movement and heat. Three more guards near the centre. One elevated walkway. I can't see a clear line of sight to Christopher yet.
"Two on the left, one above," I whisper.
Ray cracks his neck quietly. "Okay lad, on your mark."
I draw the shadows upward, letting them thicken, darkening the space until the guards' silhouettes blur. One of them lifts his head, confused.
"Now."
Ray launches himself forward, leaping up to the walkway in a single bound. Metal groans under his landing as he grabs the guard there and hurls him down into a pile of crates below.
At the same time, I send the shadows surging across the floor. They snare the remaining guards' legs, yanking them off balance. Before they can shout, Ray is there, fast, brutal and efficient. He knocks them all out with ease.
The warehouse falls silent again.
I take a slow breath, steadying myself. My shadows recoil slightly, restless but under control.
"He must be over there" I say. "Theres a back room. It must be an office space."
Ray grins faintly. "Then let's go say hello."
We move deeper into the warehouse, the air thick with oil and salt and rust. My shadows stretch along the floor ahead of us, thin and quiet, mapping every gap between crates, every broken beam overhead. The glass-walled office glows at the far end like a beacon.
Christopher Oswald is inside. Pacing while talking. Arrogant and unaware what's just happened out here.
Then as we step closer the lights flicker.
A sharp crack splits the air, followed by the hiss of electricity.
I stop.
A figure steps out from beside a steel support pillar, sparks dancing lazily across his knuckles, lighting his face in brief flashes. Tall. Controlled. Dangerous in the way professionals always are.
"So" he says calmly. "We meet again"
Christopher's security guard. The same one from the club. Lightning snaps from his hand without warning.
I react on instinct. Shadows surge up, forming a wall just as the electricity slams into it. The impact rattles through my bones, white-hot pain streaking down my arms as the charge bleeds through the darkness.
I stagger back a step but stay upright.
Ray doesn't wait.
"Go," I mutter.
He explodes forward, boots hammering against concrete as he charges past us towards the office.
The guard snarls and whips around, electricity arcing towards Ray, but I slam my shadows into his arm, dragging it down. The bolt misfires, blasting a hole through a stack of crates instead.
Wood erupts into splinters.
His attention snaps back to me, eyes glowing faintly. "You're slower than the stories say, 004."
"Try me," I mutter.
He thrusts both hands forward.
Lightning floods the space between us, filling the warehouse with blinding white light and deafening cracks. I throw myself sideways, shadows twisting under my feet to propel me clear as the bolt scorches the floor where I stood.
Pain blooms across my shoulder as I land. That was too close.
I grit my teeth and send my shadows forward like spears. They strike his chest, his arms, wrapping tight.
He laughs.
Electricity detonates outward from his body.
The shadows disintegrate in a burst of heat and light.
"Is that all?" he taunts, sparks crawling up his neck now, power rising. "You just got luckly last time"
Overhead lights begin to explode one by one, unable to handle the surge. Glass rains down as darkness spreads.
Good.
I pull the shadows from the ceiling beams, the corners, the spaces between broken boards. They gather thick and heavy around me, clinging to my skin like armour.
He senses the shift and fires again, rapid bursts of lightning tearing through the darkness. Each hit sends pain lancing through me, my vision blurring at the edges, but I keep moving, ducking, weaving, letting the shadows absorb what they can.
I close the distance.
He swings, electricity coating his fist. I block with a shadowed forearm. The impact is brutal, bone-jarring, nerve-searing, but I twist, using the momentum to wrap darkness around his wrist and yank him forward.
I drive my knee into his stomach.
He gasps but retaliates instantly, discharging point-blank. Lightning tears through my chest, my heart stuttering as pain overwhelms everything. I scream, shadows flaring wildly as I'm thrown back.
For a moment, I can't breathe.
I force air into my lungs and push myself up, hands shaking.
I've felt this before. Worse than this.
He advances, slower now, breathing heavier. "You should've stayed hidden," he says. "Shadows don't belong in the light."
I bare my teeth. "Then it's a good thing you broke all the lights."
I slam both hands into the floor.
The shadows answer.
They surge up from everywhere at once, walls, ceiling, floor swallowing his legs, his arms, dragging him down. He roars and unleashes everything he has, electricity exploding outward in violent arcs that light the warehouse like a storm.
The shadows burn.
But I don't let go.
I push through the pain, forcing the darkness tighter, denser, choking off his movement. His lightning sputters, erratic now, cutting in and out as his focus breaks.
Behind me, glass shatters.
Ray.
I glance back just in time to see Ray hauling Christopher Oswald out of the office, one hand around his mouth, and the other clamped around a briefcase. Christopher's eyes are wide with terror, his voice muffled as he struggles uselessly.
The guard sees it too.
He lets out a furious shout and tries one last surge.
I drop everything I have left onto him.
The shadows slam him into the floor, pinning him completely. His electricity flickers once, twice, then dies as his head cracks against the concrete and his body goes limp.
I stand there for a second, chest heaving, blood buzzing in my ears.
"Time to go," Ray calls.
I release the shadows and sprint after him trying to keep my balance.
Who would have thought those shock collars would ever be good for something. My nerves are still screaming, my chest tight, but I'm on my feet. I'm still moving.
"Are you alright?" Ray asks, his eyes flicking to me for only a second as we push towards the exit.
"Yeah," I manage, though my breathing is heavy and uneven. Every inhale burns. "I'm fine."
He nods once. "You did good back there."
I don't answer. Praise never sits right with me. I just follow, boots slapping against concrete as the night air creeps closer.
Then there is sudden movement and instinct takes over.
I throw my arm out and shadows surge upward just as an explosion detonates where my head would have been. The impact rattles through the wall of darkness, heat bleeding through, but it holds.
The blast fades but the smoke curls.
I drop the shadows, already bracing to strike,
And freeze.
She stands there in the half-light, sparks snapping around her hands, eyes bright with fury. Familiar in a way that twists something deep in my chest.
"016?" The name slips out before I can stop it.
Her jaw tightens. Sparks flare brighter.
"004," she snarls. "You bastard."
The word hits harder than the blast ever could.