The sky above was a quiet canvas — soft, swirling grays and dark blue tints, like bruises smeared across the heavens.
Kai sat motionless on the bench, head tilted back, eyes reflecting nothing. Just shapes and vague color. He stared at the thick clouds drifting overhead. The wind was cold but light.
He blinked once, then again.
"Is this… the outside?"
The question drifted across his mind, aimless like a feather.
It felt surreal — too open, too bright, too still. It reminded him of something. A dream. No… a nightmare. The kind with space too wide, where everything felt distant. Meaningless.
"The gray stuff… it's like the fluff in my dream."
His voice never left his lips. These thoughts weren't words, just… fog that filled his mind.
He lowered his gaze.
Unfamiliar buildings stood in the distance. No steel walls. No syringes. No Dr. Lyren.
This experiment was different. Quiet. Slow. Confusing.
Was this part of the process?
Something on the ground shimmered faintly — a metallic glint.
A knife.
His bare feet stepped down from the bench. Grass brushed his ankles. Cool. Strange. Soft.
Alia looked up suddenly — surprised.
"Kai?"
He didn't hear her.
She stood up quickly, watching him approach the knife. Her lips parted to call out, but her voice was stuck in her throat.
Kai bent down. Fingers curled around the handle.
He turned the blade toward his neck. Calm. Mechanical. There was no fear in his eyes. No panic. Only purpose.
"Maybe this will end it."
"Maybe this is freedom."
"Maybe I will be at peace."
But before the cold steel could touch his skin—
CRACK — a web of frost shot up his wrist.
His entire arm froze mid-motion, suspended in a cage of jagged ice.
Ruki stood beside him now, her eyes narrowed, her breath visible in the suddenly chilled air.
"Don't," she said flatly.
Kai blinked. He looked at her — but didn't seem to see her.
The knife clattered to the ground. His frozen fingers no longer obeyed.
Alia rushed forward.
She grabbed his shoulders, shaking him as tears started spilling again.
"Why?!" she cried. "Why are you like this? Why are you trying to kill yourself?!"
Kai just stared at her.
Nothing. No flicker of recognition. No emotion. Just silence.
"You're free now! You're safe!"
Kai tilted his head slightly.
"Safe? Is this what safe feels like…?"
Alia gripped tighter, sobbing.
"I don't understand. I don't… I don't…"
Kai's lips moved. His voice was as soft as falling ash.
"I just want to disappear."
Ruki walked over quietly, her ice receding from Kai's arm. The frost melted, dripping into the grass.
Alia's knees buckled, and she clung to Kai, crying again — not out of fear now, but grief. A grief deeper than any wound.
Ruki looked down at the knife. Then to Kai. Then to the sky.
No one said anything after that.
Only the cold wind whispered through the field.
And Kai stood in the center of it — a boy who didn't know how to live, in a world he didn't understand.
[Couple of hours later]
The sun had begun to set, casting a pale orange glow over the ruins of the underground facility.
The raid was over.
Smoke rose from collapsed tunnels. Security cameras hung limp and twisted. The scent of antiseptic still lingered in the air, battling with the bitter tang of scorched metal.
And from all of it... only one child had survived.
Kai.
Taural emerged from the shattered structure, dust clinging to his coat. His gaze swept over the gathered squad and survivors. He exhaled heavily.
"All right. In the tent. We need to talk."
A handful of other officers joined him, forming a semicircle inside the command tent. The fabric flapped in the cold breeze, barely muffling the tension within.
Division 1 – Operation: Cleaning Response
Ten agents sat around the makeshift table. Most wore tactical gear that concealed their features—scarves, visors, hoods. All except their leader.
He stood tall, tan-skinned with a stark white headband tied around his forehead. A sheathed katana rested at his hip. A faded scar ran from the edge of his mouth to his left ear—souvenir of some previous operation.
His name: Yuri.
He began without pleasantries.
"Commander. The cleaning unit is done with sweep-up. We've secured some evidence confirming this was an illegal awakener experimentation site."
He placed a thick stack of files onto the table with a heavy thud. The papers were still warm from the data transfers.
"Based on the biodata we recovered... there were at least twenty children in the facility."
Alia's eyes widened.
"Twenty...?"
Yuri nodded grimly.
"When our unit reached the containment zone, it was already cleared. The bodies of the children had been disposed of. Likely purged before we breached the lab perimeter."
Taural's brows furrowed. His massive fist clenched.
"So we've hit a dead end. No trail leading to the other labs. No link to the organization behind this one?"
Yuri met his gaze directly.
"That's correct, Commander. Their internal defense systems were tight. From the moment we triggered the breach alarm, they started wiping data and evacuating key personnel. Most of the scientists had already fled."
Taural slammed his palm down.
The table cracked, then split clean in half.
Alia flinched.
Silence followed for a moment.
"Then…" Alia began softly, "...why was Kai the only one left? He wasn't even in an experimental pod. He was… in a scientist's bedroom."
Everyone turned toward her.
Yuri looked thoughtful, then responded.
"That could mean one thing. A mole among their ranks. Someone who couldn't openly fight back but still tried to save at least one child."
"A silent protector," Alia murmured, her voice trembling.
Taural folded his arms, still glaring at the ground.
"If that's true… then Kai is more important than we thought. He may not just be a survivor — he may know something without even realizing it."
"So what's the next step?" Yuri asked.
"We find the thread. Any lead that can connect this facility to the larger criminal network."
Taural pointed at Yuri.
"I'm assigning you to coordinate with Division 8 — Global Technology. Track everything. Backtrace the data fragments. If it's encrypted, break it."
Yuri nodded once.
"We'll also need Division 0," Taural added. "Lead Security Ops. If we're being played by something bigger, I want the top handlers on this."
"Understood. We'll move out tonight."
Taural gave a final glance at Alia, then to Kai, who sat outside the tent, still staring blankly at the darkening sky.
"One survivor... but he might be the key."
Then the officers filed out of the tent, one by one.
The operation was over.
But the war for truth had just begun.