MARCUS CHEN; The Reborn

CHAPTER 4

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Marcus reached the live fire range in eight minutes flat.

Smoke billowed from the ammunition storage building. Sirens wailed. Cadets scattered like ants, some running toward the chaos, others running away. Instructors shouted orders that nobody followed.

Fire suppression systems had activated, but the smoke was too thick, too black. That wasn't just ammunition burning. That was something chemical.

Marcus pushed through the crowd. His mind raced through possibilities. The mission had accelerated. Something he'd done changed the timeline. But what?

"Chen!" Kane's voice cut through the noise. The instructor stood near the main building, coordinating evacuation. "Get back to the barracks! Now!"

Marcus ignored him. The system displayed overlay information: [CASUALTIES CURRENT: 2 CRITICAL, 7 INJURED. STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE IMMINENT IN 4 MINUTES, 32 SECONDS.]

Two critical. That means two dead if I don't move.

He ran toward the smoke.

"Chen! That's an order!"

But Marcus was already inside the haze. His eyes watered immediately. Lungs burned. The Warden System compensated, highlighting safe pathways through the smoke, showing him where the fire was hottest, where the structure was weakest.

He found the first victim twenty feet inside. A cadet, maybe nineteen, unconscious near an overturned ammunition crate. Marcus checked for pulse. Weak but there. He grabbed the kid under the arms and dragged him toward clearer air.

Someone appeared through the smoke. Aria Volkov, wearing a respirator, her sidearm drawn. She saw Marcus and froze.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving lives!" Marcus coughed. "Help me!"

Aria holstered her weapon, grabbed the unconscious cadet's legs. Together they carried him outside. Medics swarmed immediately, taking over.

Aria yanked off her respirator. "You just contaminated a crime scene."

"Crime scene?"

"This wasn't an accident. Someone triggered an explosive device in the ammunition storage." Her eyes bore into him. "And you showed up within minutes. Want to explain that?"

Marcus's blood went cold. She thought he did this. "I was in the medical tent with my roommate. Ask Dr. Reeves."

"I will." Aria pulled out her tablet, started recording. "But first, tell me why you ran into a building full of smoke without protective gear, without authorization, and without any apparent concern for your own safety."

"Because someone was dying inside."

"How did you know?"

Marcus hesitated. The system pulsed: [WARNING: SUBJECT VOLKOV SUSPICION LEVEL CRITICAL. RECOMMEND TACTICAL WITHDRAWAL.]

"I heard someone screaming," Marcus lied.

"Nobody reported screams. Just the explosion." Aria stepped closer. "You're either the luckiest cadet I've ever met, or you knew this was coming."

Before Marcus could respond, another explosion rocked the building. Smaller this time, but enough to shake the ground. Cadets screamed. Instructors yelled for everyone to get back.

The system flashed red: [STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE IN 2 MINUTES. SECOND CASUALTY LOCATION: BASEMENT LEVEL.]

Basement. There's someone in the basement.

Marcus turned back toward the building.

Aria grabbed his arm. "Don't even think about it."

"Someone's still inside."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." Marcus pulled free. "Either stop me or help me. Your choice."

He ran before she could decide.

The basement access was through a side door, half-buried in debris. Marcus kicked it open, descended concrete stairs into darkness. Emergency lights flickered red. The smoke was thicker here, settling into a choking fog.

The system guided him through the maze of corridors. Left turn. Right turn. Down another flight. The heat increased with every step. Structural supports groaned overhead. The building was dying around him.

He found the second victim in a storage room. Not a cadet this time. An instructor. Older, maybe fifty, unconscious with a head wound. Blood pooled beneath him.

Marcus checked vitals. Pulse thready. Breathing shallow. Minutes left, maybe less.

He grabbed the instructor under the arms, started dragging him toward the stairs. The man was heavy, dead weight, and Marcus's eighteen-year-old body wasn't built for this. His arms screamed. Lungs burned. Vision blurred.

Come on. Move. You didn't come back just to die in a basement.

Footsteps echoed behind him. Aria appeared, respirator on, carrying a medical kit. She didn't say anything. Just grabbed the instructor's legs.

Together they hauled him up the stairs. The building shuddered. Ceiling tiles crashed down. A support beam cracked, swung down like a pendulum. Marcus ducked, felt it graze his shoulder.

They burst through the side door into sunlight. Medics rushed forward. Kane was there too, barking orders, coordinating evacuation.

He saw Marcus and his expression turned to fury. "What part of 'get back to barracks' was unclear?"

"There was someone inside, sir."

"And you thought it was your job to rescue him?" Kane grabbed Marcus by the shirt, pulled him close. "You're a cadet! Not special ops! Not a hero! Just a kid who's going to get himself killed trying to prove something!"

Behind them, the main building collapsed. Fire roared. The crowd gasped.

Marcus met Kane's eyes. "How many would've died if I'd followed orders?"

Kane released him, jaw tight. "Report to my office. One hour. We're having a conversation about chain of command."

"Yes, sir."

Kane walked away. Marcus sagged, adrenaline finally crashing. His hands shook. Legs felt like water. He'd done it. Saved both victims. Changed the outcome.

The system updated: [MISSION TWO: COMPLETE. CASUALTIES: 0 DEAD, 7 INJURED. REWARD UNLOCKED: COMBAT PROTOCOL - LEVEL 1.]

New information flooded his brain. Hand-to-hand techniques. Weapon handling. Tactical movement. Things he'd learned over a decade of service, now compressed into seconds of system downloads.

His body staggered under the weight of new muscle memory.

Aria caught him before he fell. "Easy. You're in shock."

"I'm fine."

"You're not." She guided him to sit on the ground. "You just ran into a collapsing building twice. Most people would be having panic attacks right now. You're just standing here like it's a normal Tuesday."

"Adrenaline."

"That's not adrenaline. That's training." Aria crouched in front of him. "Where did you learn to move like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like someone who's done this before. The way you cleared the room. The way you assessed the victim. The way you didn't hesitate." Her voice dropped. "That's not cadet behavior. That's operator behavior."

Marcus said nothing.

"You want to know what I think?" Aria continued. "I think you're not who you claim to be. I think you have training you shouldn't have, knowledge you shouldn't possess, and instincts that take years to develop." She leaned closer. "So I'm going to ask you one more time. Who are you really?"

Before Marcus could answer, someone else spoke.

"He's my son."

They both turned. A man stood twenty feet away, wearing civilian clothes, a baseball cap pulled low. Average height. Average build. Completely forgettable except for his eyes.

Eyes Marcus would recognize anywhere.

General Thomas Marcus. His father. Alive.

Marcus's world tilted. The man who'd been dead for twenty years. The legend who'd disappeared when Marcus was twelve. The ghost who'd haunted every decision Marcus ever made.

Standing right there.

"Dad?"

The word came out broken, disbelieving.

Thomas Marcus smiled sadly. "Hello, son. We need to talk."

Aria was on her feet immediately, hand on her weapon. "Identify yourself."

"Thomas Marcus. Former general. Currently deceased, according to official records." He showed his hands, empty. "I'm not armed. I'm not a threat. I just need five minutes with my son."

"That's not happening," Aria said. "This is a restricted area. Active crime scene. You need to leave."

"I know who sabotaged the ammunition storage." Thomas's voice was calm, measured. "I know why they did it. And I know they're going to try again tomorrow."

Aria hesitated. "If you have information about a crime, you need to report to base security."

"Base security has been compromised. That's why I'm here." Thomas looked at Marcus. "Someone inside the Academy is working for a larger organization. They staged this explosion to create chaos, to test response times, to identify vulnerabilities. This is just the beginning."

Marcus found his voice. "How do you know this?"

"Because I've been tracking them for twenty years." Thomas took a step closer. "The same organization that erased me from military records. The same people who will eventually try to destroy you."

"He's lying," Aria said. "General Thomas Marcus died in 2005. There are death certificates. Burial records."

"All fabricated." Thomas reached into his pocket slowly, pulled out a military ID. Old style, from twenty years ago. He tossed it to Aria. "Run that through the system. See what comes up."

Aria examined the ID, then pulled out her tablet. Typed. Waited. Her expression changed as results loaded. "This ID number is flagged. Level Nine classification. I don't even have clearance to see the file."

"That's because my disappearance is connected to Project Warden. A black ops program that experimented with predictive intelligence." Thomas looked at Marcus. "A program your mother tried to expose. They killed her. Made it look like a car accident. Then they came for me."

Marcus's chest tightened. "Mom didn't die in an accident?"

"No. She was murdered. I couldn't prove it then. I can now." Thomas's voice cracked. "I've spent two decades gathering evidence. Building a case. Staying hidden so they couldn't erase me completely. And now I'm watching my son exhibit the same abilities that got his mother killed."

"What abilities?"

"You tell me." Thomas gestured toward the collapsed building. "How did you know where the victims were? How did you navigate smoke-filled corridors without thermal imaging? How did you save two lives when trained rescuers with equipment are still setting up outside?"

Marcus said nothing. The system pulsed: [WARNING: SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS GENERAL THOMAS MARCUS. THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN. RECOMMEND EXTREME CAUTION.]

Aria stepped between them. "This conversation is over. Chen, you're coming with me. Sir, if you don't leave immediately, I'm calling security."

"Call them." Thomas didn't move. "But think about this first. The ammunition sabotage happened at 0547 hours. Your security systems reported it at 0549 hours. Two-minute delay. Except the explosion was remote-triggered, which means someone had to be watching in real time to set it off. Someone inside your security perimeter."

Aria's face hardened. "How do you know the trigger was remote?"

"Because I found the device last night. Removed the primary charge. What exploded this morning was just the backup." Thomas pulled out a phone, showed them a photo. It was a detonator, military grade, partially disassembled. "I left it in place so whoever planted it would think it succeeded. But I reduced the blast radius by eighty percent."

Marcus stared at the photo. "You saved lives."

"We both did." Thomas pocketed the phone. "But son, we need to talk about how you knew to be here. About what's happening to you. About the system."

Marcus's blood went ice cold. "What system?"

"The one that's been showing you the future. The one that brought you back." Thomas's expression was grave. "The Warden System. I know about it because I was supposed to be its first host. But I refused. And now it's chosen you instead."

Aria looked between them. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Before anyone could answer, Kane's voice boomed across the field. "Chen! My office! Now!"

Thomas took a step back. "We'll talk again. Soon. In the meantime, trust no one. Especially not the instructors." He looked at Aria. "And Officer Volkov? Check the surveillance footage from last night. See who accessed the ammunition storage between 0200 and 0400 hours. I think you'll find it interesting."

He turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of emergency personnel.

Aria started to follow, but Marcus grabbed her arm. "Let him go."

"He just confessed to tampering with evidence."

"He saved lives. Including mine." Marcus met her eyes. "Please."

Aria studied him for a long moment. Then she pulled free. "You're lying to me. About who you are. About what you know. About everything." She pointed at Kane's office. "Get to your meeting. But this conversation isn't over. Not even close."

She walked away, leaving Marcus standing alone in the aftermath.

The system pulsed: [MISSION THREE ALERT: DEPLOYMENT IN 96 HOURS.]

[LOCATION: CYBER SECURITY CENTER.]

[THREAT TYPE: DATA BREACH.]

[CASUALTIES WITHOUT INTERVENTION: 5 DEAD (FOREIGN AGENTS).]

Marcus looked at the collapsed building. Then at the medical tents where victims were being treated. Then at the crowd dispersing, cadets returning to normal routines like nothing had happened.

His father was alive. The conspiracy knew about the Warden System. And Aria Volkov was now actively investigating him.

The missions were accelerating. The stakes were rising. And Marcus was running out of time to figure out who was controlling the game.

He started toward Kane's office, every muscle aching, lungs still burning from smoke.

Behind him, standing in the shadow of the medical tent, Dr. Reeves watched. She held a tablet displaying Marcus's medical scan from this morning. The scan that showed anomalous neural activity. Patterns that shouldn't exist in an eighteen-year-old brain.

Patterns that matched Project Warden test subjects.

She looked at the data, then at Marcus's retreating figure.

Then she encrypted the file, marked it classified, and sent it to an address that didn't officially exist.

The message contained three words: HE'S BEEN ACTIVATED.

Somewhere two hundred miles away, in a facility with no name, that message triggered a response.

PROJECT WARDEN STATUS: ACTIVE.

SUBJECT: CHEN, MARCUS.

DIRECTIVE: OBSERVE. ASSESS. PREPARE FOR EXTRACTION.

TIMELINE: 90 DAYS.

And in his office, Instructor Daniel Kane sat at his desk, staring at a photograph.

His daughter. Ten years old. Smiling.

Beneath the photo, a note written in precise handwriting: SHE'S SAFE. FOR NOW. STAY QUIET ABOUT CHEN, OR SHE DISAPPEARS. PERMANENTLY.

Kane crumpled the note in his fist.

Outside, Marcus Chen approached. The cadet who'd just saved two lives. The young man who moved like a ghost. The son of the general who'd tried to expose the conspiracy twenty years ago.

Kane opened his desk drawer. Inside was a file marked CLASSIFIED. Instructions on what to do when Marcus became too dangerous to ignore.

He closed the drawer without reading it.

Not yet.

Not today.

But soon, he'd have to make a choice. His daughter or his conscience.

And Kane already knew which one he'd choose.

He'd chosen it before.