"My prison injuries didn't just damage my body," he said slowly. "They damaged neural pathways connected to my forgotten memories. The memories weren't completely erased. They were blocked. And certain triggers, movements, medicines, pressure points, even smells, can break through the block and bring fragments back."He turned to Sarah. "If I can reproduce the right sequence of physical triggers, I might be able to recover everything. Not just combat techniques. Everything they took from me."Sarah opened her mouth to respond, but a sound cut through the room. A sharp crack, followed by the building alarm screaming to life."We're under attack," Sarah said, her tablet already in her hands.Adrian grabbed his jacket and ran.The training facility's west entrance had been breached. Four men in tactical gear were moving through the corridor in a tight formation. Adrian reached the intersection just as Damien appeared from the opposite hallway, already in a fighting stance."Friends of yo

Victor's smile widened. It was the smile of a predator who had just spotted something small and slow moving across an open field."Your father was a thief," Victor said loudly. Loudly enough that every conversation within thirty feet died instantly. "He walked into our family's home, pretended to be a researcher, and stole a forbidden technique that had been guarded by the Cross bloodline for five generations."Murmurs rippled through the room. Bodies shifted. The circle around them tightened."You inherited his debt," Victor continued, stepping closer. His voice carried the easy cruelty of someone who had practiced this kind of humiliation his entire life. "And you walked in here wearing that debt on your face like you don't even know it exists."Adrian's expression didn't change. He stood with his weight evenly balanced, his hands loose at his sides."Kneel," Victor said.The word dropped into the silence like a stone into a frozen pond."Kneel and apologize for what your father did