The stormy night made the city skyline glow, and lightning lit up both rooftops and alleys.Luther and Elara stood on the edge of the upper warehouse, surveying the chaos below. The remnants of Node four had been defeated but the calm was deceptive.“They’re regrouping,” Elara said, scanning the feeds. “Someone’s coordinating them. Someone… smarter.”“Then we find them,” Luther replied, tightening the strap on his weapon. “Before they strike again.”He didn’t tell her that the sense of danger gnawing at him wasn’t just about the operatives, they had a new variable now: the unknown leader behind it all.Shadows moved across the walls of a hidden control room that was full of monitors. A tall, thin figure stepped out of the shadows and they wore a smooth mask that hid their whole face. Every move showed strength, danger, and precision.The figure said, "Node four... has failed me again.""I have been waiting for you.” Luther said.Luther’s eyes narrowed. The voice was familiar, unnervin

Under the emergency lights, smoke rose in thin, wavering strands after curling through the corridors like something alive and drifting low across the floor.The entire hub sounded like it was collapsing piece by piece crackling wires, sputtering processors, metal groaning under stress. Luther led the way, checking corners, gun in hand, nerves locked in a tight coil he didn’t let show.Elara followed close behind him. Her breathing was steady, but every sense was sharpened. She could hear her own heartbeat, feel the weight of each step, and taste the metallic smoke burning the back of her throat. Even so, her focus stayed on Luther’s movements very controlled, silent, and precise.“They’re close,” she whispered.She meant the mastermind. The real architect of everything that had driven them into this ruin of steel and circuits.Luther didn’t look back, but his voice tightened. “Then let’s finish this.”His hand brushed hers not intentionally, but enough to jolt her pulse, enough to rem

The smoke was thick enough to choke anyone who was still standing, and it hung around the hub like a living thing. On the ruined floor, where cables sparked and twisted like wounded snakes, the lights above flickered in sporadic bursts, creating broken shadows.Luther and Elara slowly walked through the wreckage, guns raised and breathing steadily even though the chaos was still settling around them.The mastermind was lying on the floor, half-awake, and every breath he took made him cough up blood. The mask was gone, and the face that was there was hard from years of planned cruelty.Their eyes flicked up as Luther and Elara approached, and even beaten, they managed to smirk.“You think you’ve won?” the mastermind rasped, wiping blood from their lips with the back of a trembling hand.“We already have,” Luther said, his voice calm but edged with steel. He stepped closer, careful with his wounded shoulder, but his stance never wavered. “Now start talking, the plan, the failsafes, all

The holding center sat on the edge of the city, built like a bunker with reinforced steel walls and security meant to withstand a war. It wasn’t the kind of place anyone walked out of without help, planning, and a hell of a lot of power. But as Luther and Elara approached, the building looked too quiet for the chaos happening inside.A line of armed officers waited at the entrance. Their expressions were tense, haunted, no one spoke, and no one saluted. They simply stared at the two people who had brought the mastermind in, and were now being summoned to clean up the aftermath.The officer from earlier, Captain Rowan, met them at the door. His shirt was streaked with ash and sweat, and his normally sharp posture was gone. He looked like he hadn’t blinked in ten minutes.“Follow me,” Rowan said without introduction.They entered the building. The tension inside hit immediately: raised voices, hurried footsteps, the crackle of radios, guards being questioned, technicians trying to get d

When the sun rose, the blast site was still smoldering. The air was hot and full of dust, with a bitter taste of burnt circuitry. Firefighters moved through the wreckage, yelling orders, while drones flew overhead looking for survivors.The hub—the place that should’ve been their breakthrough was now a crater of twisted beams and shattered concrete.Luther and Elara walked through the ruins without speaking. Their boots made a crunching sound as they walked on broken glass and other trash.The noise around them felt far away, like they were moving through a memory rather than the real world.Elara wiped sweat and dust from her forehead. “We should be dead,” she said, voice tight. “No one survives a blast like that.”“We’re alive. That’s enough for now,” Luther replied, eyes locked on the collapsed steel ahead. He didn’t let himself stop. Didn’t let himself breathe too deeply. The mastermind’s escape was still burning at the front of his mind.People ran past them carrying supplies, bu