Paris pulsed beneath a hazy morning sky as if holding its breath.
Selene stood at the edge of SeraphTech's rooftop once more, the city sprawling like a map of promises and dangers beneath her boots. She watched the golden light slide across the glass towers, illuminating truths that had long been buried under shadows. Something had changed.
Not in the skyline.
In her.
Two days ago, she'd been an assassin with a simple mission: get close, kill clean, vanish without a trace. Now, Selene was still close—but her blade remained sheathed. And she was starting to wonder if it ever would leave its resting place.
She had infiltrated dozens of targets in her time—kings, warlords, tech moguls. But none of them had ever looked at her the way Alexander Voss did. None had made her question her loyalty, her identity, or her cause.
And no one—not even Orchid's Fang—had ever made her feel afraid to succeed.
The wind curled around her. The Parisian chill kissed her cheeks. Her earpiece remained silent—no word from the Handler. Not yet. But the silence screamed louder than any order.
She was out of time.
And still... she hadn't touched her knife.
---
Downstairs, in SeraphTech's high-security R&D wing, Selene stepped into a chamber unlike anything she'd seen before.
The Halo Lab.
Circular. Seamless. A womb of white glass and ambient glow. Dozens of engineers moved around floating schematic displays, AI-generated models, and translucent tablets that projected data in midair. A soft thrum filled the space—like the heartbeat of a sleeping god.
And at the center of it all stood Alexander.
He was dressed in black today—an open-collared shirt beneath a tailored jacket that cut his frame with precision. His hair was slightly tousled, his eyes sharp and unreadable.
But when he saw her, something softened.
"Good," he said. "You're just in time."
"For what?"
He gestured toward the circular table at the heart of the room. On it hovered a small sphere of glass and gold—pulsing faintly with light.
"This," he said, "is Project Halo. Or at least the prototype."
Selene approached slowly, aware that everyone in the room had subtly turned to watch her. She glanced at the sphere, then back at Alexander.
"What is it?"
"A revolution," he said simply. "A cognitive tether between human instinct and artificial insight. Halo doesn't just think—it anticipates. Reacts. Predicts."
"It's artificial intelligence," she said.
"More," he replied. "It's symbiosis."
Selene studied the sphere. "And what does it do, exactly?"
Alexander smiled faintly. "What I hope you'll help me find out."
---
Later, in a private subchamber—more quiet, more secure—Alexander handed Selene a sealed tablet.
"I want you to lead an independent audit of Halo's decision-making metrics," he said. "Not from the technical side. From the human one. Intuition. Risk perception. Vulnerabilities."
"You don't trust your own team?" she asked.
"I trust them," he replied. "I just don't trust the world."
Selene's fingers tightened on the tablet.
He was inviting her deeper.
Giving her access not even his engineers had.
And part of her—a dark, trained part—knew this would have been the moment to strike. Upload a virus. Poison the source code. Send a signal to Orchid's Fang that the defenses were down.
But another part, louder now, refused.
He was giving her trust.
She would not return it with betrayal.
---
She worked into the night.
The Halo prototype ran on a closed neural net with no external connection—a security measure that made sabotage nearly impossible. But it also made study difficult.
Selene reviewed thousands of simulation lines, examined Halo's response trees to variables like threat escalation, emotional input, cognitive bias. The AI wasn't just fast—it was aware. It adapted. Evolved. It predicted human behavior with stunning clarity.
Too much clarity, Selene thought. If this ever left Voss's control, it could topple governments. Detect deception. Preempt rebellion. Predict and prevent crime before it happened.
And Orchid's Fang knows it.
That's why they wanted Alexander dead. Not for profit.
For power.
She stared at the interface, feeling its pulse like a living thing.
"Who are you really, Halo?" she murmured. "And who do I have to become to protect you?"
---
The next morning, she found Alexander on the terrace again, standing at the railing with a glass of dark coffee in hand.
"You didn't sleep," he said without turning.
"Neither did you."
He handed her the coffee, and she took it. Their fingers brushed—electricity in a whisper.
"Why did you bring me in on Halo?" she asked. "Really?"
Alexander turned to face her. His eyes searched hers, deeper this time.
"I have enemies," he said. "Some of them wear suits. Some carry guns. Some smile while they tighten the noose. I've learned not to trust anyone."
"And yet here I am," she said.
"Yes," he said. "Here you are."
They stood in silence.
Then Alexander leaned closer, his voice lowering.
"There's something I need to show you. But if I do… you'll be part of this."
"I already am," she whispered.
---
He led her to a chamber even Selene hadn't found—beneath the security vaults. They passed biometric scans, retinal locks, even a voiceprint sequence that required Alexander to speak in Latin.
"Paranoia?" she asked.
"Survival."
The final door opened to reveal a chamber lined with black steel and glass. In the center—another version of the Halo core, but wired into a simulation rig the size of a starship cockpit.
And on a nearby screen—data feeds.
Names. Faces. Dossiers.
Selene stepped closer, blood draining from her face.
It was an Orchid's Fang kill list.
Targets.
Confirmed kills.
Assignments.
And near the bottom, a folder marked: "ACTIVE CONTRACT - VOSS, A."
Alexander watched her face carefully. "Someone's been targeting me for over two years. Accidents. Leaks. Attempts at poisoning. But none of them felt right. Too precise. Too invisible."
He tapped the screen. "I don't believe this came from a government. I think it came from something older."
Selene fought to steady her voice. "Where did you get this?"
"A contact in Bangkok. She called them the Fang. Said they operate like a myth. Kill like a religion."
Selene looked away.
"I'm close to tracing the digital thread," he continued. "But there's a traitor. Someone here. I don't know who."
She turned to him slowly.
"You think it's me."
His eyes met hers.
"No. I want to believe it isn't."
And with those words, her heart cracked.
She couldn't tell him the truth.
Not yet.
But she wouldn't let anyone else silence him either.
Especially not Orchid's Fang.
---
That night, she dreamed of fire.
Of Orchid's temples burning.
Of a child reaching for her in smoke.
Of Alexander, bleeding on marble as a blonde woman walked away with a smile.
She woke before dawn, soaked in sweat.
And with a decision burning in her veins.
She would kill the other assassin first.
And then, maybe, she could forgive herself for what she was becoming.
Not just a blade.
Not just a ghost.
But something human again.