Faith did not leave all at once.It cracked.Slowly.Quietly.Like a wall breaking from the inside.Kade Reyes felt it the moment he walked back into resistance headquarters. The room was full, but no one met his eyes. Conversations stopped when he passed. Fighters stood straighter—not out of respect, but distance.They were no longer sure.Mila noticed first. “They’re scared,” she whispered.Kade shook his head. “No. They’re disappointed.”That was worse.A meeting was called. Not by Kade but around him.Resistance leaders gathered in a wide circle. No table. No protection. Just faces worn by loss and fear.A woman spoke first. “You let the Concord keep the district.”Kade nodded. “I did.”Another voice followed. “People begged you to stop them.”“I know.”A third voice, shaking with anger. “So what are we fighting for now?”Silence filled the room.Kade stood still. “For choice.”A man laughed bitterly. “Choice? They chose peace. And you let them.”Kade clenched his fists. “They cho

The city was already burning when Kade arrived.Not from alien weapons.Not from Concord ships.From humans.Gunfire echoed between buildings. Fires climbed broken towers. Sirens screamed until they died out one by one.Kade stood on a rooftop and looked down.Too late.The street below was filled with people.Some wore resistance colors.Some wore civilian clothes.Some wore nothing but fear.They were shooting at each other.A man dragged a wounded woman behind a car. Another man pulled the trigger without looking. Blood ran along the broken road like rainwater.Kade felt the relic stir inside his mind.You saw this, it whispered.You chose delay.“Shut up,” Kade muttered.He jumped.Kade landed hard, cracking the pavement.“STOP!” he shouted.No one listened.A group of armed civilians turned toward him, eyes wild.“They’re with the council!” one yelled.“They sold us out!”Another voice screamed, “No—they’re Concord sympathizers!”No one knew who the enemy was anymore.Kade moved

The city waited.It did not know it was waiting but it was.After the broadcast, after the blame, after the silence, people stayed near screens. Near broken radios. Near anything that could still speak.They waited to see if Kade would disappear.He didn’t.Kade stood alone in a small control room. One screen. One camera. One chance.Mila stood behind him.“You don’t owe them this,” she said softly.Kade shook his head. “I do.”The relic stirred.This path ends in loss.“I know,” Kade replied. “That’s still my choice.”He placed his hand on the console.The screen lit up.Across the city, screens flickered.In homes.In shelters.In Concord-controlled zones.Kade’s face appeared.Not armored.Not heroic.Just tired.“I know you’re angry,” he began.No shouting followed.Only silence.“I watched the city burn,” Kade said. “And I was too slow. Too unsure. People died.”He swallowed.“That truth won’t change. I won’t rewrite it. I won’t hide from it.”People leaned closer.“They say I wa

Kade didn't sleep.Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the list. Names that shouldn't exist. People who survived what should have killed them.People like him. Or worse.The relic unlocked more memories on its own—or maybe Kade's damaged mind was just following old pathways, pulling up data buried under years of trauma.He couldn't tell the difference anymore.Mila sat beside him as holographic files filled the small room, projections flickering in the dim light."These are... people?" she asked quietly."Yes," Kade said. His throat was dry. "Survivors."The files scrolled past. Some faces were human. Some weren't. But all of them carried the same mark in their neural scans—the distinctive pattern of relic integration.Mila leaned closer, reading the data streaming past. "How many?""Thirty-seven confirmed," Kade said. "Maybe more."The first file opened fully.A man floated in a glass chamber, suspended in clear fluid. Alive. Breathing. Eyes open but completely empty, staring at no