A grainy, long-lens image that had detonated a bomb of confusion and hurt right in the center of Ethan's world. Liam. Not in a hospital bed.
Not recovering from a career-ending injury. But walking, healthy and whole, into the headquarters of the very company that ran their secret universe.
Ethan cycled home from the park, the easy, happy banter with Leo a distant echo.
Leo's wild, optimistic theory of a "double agent" was a comforting thought, a life raft in a sea of doubt.
But Ethan's own gut, the one that had just been upgraded to a 'Human Element' detector, was telling him something different.
It felt simpler, and sadder, than a grand conspiracy. It felt like a friend had lied to him.
He pushed the thought aside as he walked through his front door.
He had learned, slowly and sometimes painfully, to compartmentalize.
The virtual world, with its impossible comebacks and shadowy conspiracies, could wait. His real team needed him.
