The air was thick with the harsh smell of burnt wires, with the last remnants of smoke drifting from a damaged server. Emergency lights bathed the office in deep red, casting Kael's silhouette against the shattered glass. Leaning on the broken edge of his desk, his trench coat hung loosely as sheer exhaustion began to weigh him down.
Ezra was seated on an upside-down chair, his arm pressed to his chest, holding the warm holo-crystal tightly. A gnawing sense of guilt settled in—the sting of Nico's betrayal was deepened by the fact that it mirrored the secret he hadn't yet revealed.
"I should have seen this coming," Kael said, dragging a hand over his face. His voice was quiet, but the pain in his words was unmistakable. "Nico was with us for years. He shared meals at my table and got to know every system I built. And still, he thought he could gain by betraying me."
Ezra felt a squeeze in his chest at the vulnerability in Kael's tone. Kael rarely showed any signs of weakness, but now, the cracks in his strength were evident, revealing the hurt of broken trust.
Kael's gaze shifted to Ezra, softer and more probing now. "You've been quiet," he said gently. "What's bothering you?"
Ezra felt a lump in his throat. The truth clawed to the surface—I betrayed you too—but the words got stuck, leaving him in silence.
Before he could gather his thoughts again, Luka's hologram flickered to life, static distorting his image. The cybernetic eye glowed softly but steadily. "Status: mostly stable," Luka announced in a clipped tone. "Nico set up a backdoor. It's a tricky little setup—slows me down and scrambles minor feeds, but he can't blind me completely. He just doesn't have that kind of control."
Kael's jaw tightened, a flicker of relief washing over him—cold and brief. "So he wanted me paranoid, chasing phantoms while he plotted his next move. He's underestimating me."
Ezra lowered his gaze, his heart racing. He wished he could share Kael's certainty, but the secret nestled in his chest—one that Nico had also planted—made him question whether Kael's trust would survive once the truth was finally out.
---To be continued...