Rain slicked the concrete alleys of Sector 3 as Kirion and Nira made their way back to the base. The air felt wrong—too quiet, too still. His daughter had stayed behind to finish encoding safe-route protocols. Kirion had wanted her far from whatever his instincts were warning him about.
The resistance's main compound—once humming with strategy, radio chatter, and conviction—was dark when they arrived.
"Where is everyone?" Nira asked, drawing her weapon.
Kirion pushed open the steel door and walked in.
Desks overturned. Maps torn down. Hard drives—gone.
Then, the final blow.
On the inner wall, painted in a rush of black spray:
"He knows. He's coming."
Kirion's blood turned cold.
They'd been compromised.
Nira rushed to the encrypted locker, but it had already been forced open. Her gaze locked with Kirion's. "Only one person outside this room had the override codes."
He didn't need her to say it.
Kael. A resistance tech officer. Trusted. Loyal. Or so they thought.
He was the one who first decrypted the Project Infinitum files. The one who helped establish signal repeaters across the outer zones. The one who…
Had disappeared two hours ago.
Kirion punched the wall, fury masked by his composure.
It wasn't just the breach. It was timing. Right before Operation Silence. With the compound exposed, everyone inside would be a target—and so would the movement's digital infrastructure. Including his daughter's network.
"We have to relocate now," he growled. "Before they trace her signal."
But it was already too late.
His earpiece buzzed. Her voice cracked through, strained and terrified.
> "Dad. They're inside. Kael was here. He—he knew everything. He took the fallback drive."
Gunshots echoed in the background.
> "I'm headed to safe route Delta. Meet me there."
The line cut.
Kirion stared ahead, jaw tight. "He sold us out," he said flatly. "For what? Money? Power?"
"No," Nira said, loading a fresh mag. "He sold us out because someone made him believe he'd survive."
Kirion's eyes darkened.
"Then let's show him what betrayal really costs."