They Should Have Died

The Contract

The meeting room on the top floor stayed silent even after they had made their decision. There was no background music, no city noise slipping through the thick glass windows, only the faint hum of the air conditioning system, like the only reminder that the outside world was still moving normally.

Logan sat with his back slightly straight, his eyes still fixed on the black folder in front of him. It was already open now, as if it had just turned from a simple stack of paper into something heavier than the decision he had just made about his own life.

Reyn had already started reading through the document with an unreadable expression. He flipped pages quickly at times, then stopped too long on certain sections, clicking his tongue softly like he had found something he didn’t like, though he never actually explained what he was thinking.

Alexa, on the other hand, read more calmly. Her eyes moved slowly from paragraph to paragraph, as if she was trying to memorize every word without missing even the smallest detail.

At first, Logan thought this was just a formality. Ordinary legal papers meant to make a deal look professional when it was actually one-sided. He had seen employment contracts before, and they all felt the same: full of complicated terms, empty promises, and company rights that were always bigger than the worker’s.

But the more he read through the pages in the folder, the more he realized this was different.

Not just different, but too detailed for something they had only just heard about a few hours ago.

The document didn’t only explain their position as members of Golden Veil. It also outlined their rights, responsibilities, and the protection they would receive. There was a section about new identities if needed, complete with procedures for erasing data from civilian systems that seemed connected to some kind of network.

There were also explanations about safe housing that couldn’t be traced, along with full financial support as long as they were involved in the organization’s operations.

What made Logan pause for a long moment was the section about medical facilities. Not a normal hospital, but access to a specialized clinic with protocols that weren’t explained in detail, only referred to as “abnormal incident treatment.”

Below that were clauses about training, equipment, and an internal information network that would assist them in every operation. There was even a section covering legal support, as well as emergency evacuation procedures in case their identities were exposed or they became targets of external forces.

Everything was written in language that was too clean for something that was supposedly illegal.

“You really made a contract this detailed? Even about clothes and toiletries?” Reyn asked finally as he flipped through another page. His voice was lower than usual, not because he was afraid, but because he couldn’t believe what he was reading.

Vincent, who had been sitting across the table the whole time, only lifted his gaze slightly. He didn’t look bothered. Instead, he looked like someone who had been waiting for that question from the start.

“I run an organization, not a hobby club,” he replied calmly, almost flatly, but it made him sound more serious than if he had shouted.

Alexa didn’t respond immediately. She kept reading the last few pages before finally speaking without looking away from the document.

“There’s no ownership clause or permanent surveillance,” she said quietly.

Vincent gave a small nod, as if waiting for that part to be noticed.

“Because you’re not assets.”

That line made Reyn stop flipping pages. For a moment he stayed silent, then looked at Vincent with an expression that was hard to read—somewhere between suspicion and disbelief.

Vincent leaned back in his chair, hands loosely folded in front of him, still calm in the same way he had been since they met.

“You’re free to leave anytime if you decide to quit one day,” he continued. “As long as you don’t leak any information about the organization.”

Logan lifted his eyes from the document, trying to find a catch in his words, something that sounded like a hidden trap. But there was no threat, no pressure. Only an explanation delivered too calmly for someone building others into a dangerous system.

“I’ve seen employment contracts before,” Logan muttered, more to himself. “But this… this is too detailed.”

Vincent looked directly at him. “Of course it has to be detailed. Because this isn’t a normal job.”

The room fell silent again after that, except for the occasional sound of paper being turned by Alexa, who kept reading until the very last page. Even when she finished, she didn’t close the folder right away, as if she was still making sure she hadn’t missed a single detail that could become a problem later.

A few minutes passed in heavier silence. No one spoke. No one asked anything.

Until Vincent slowly stood up, picked up three pens that had been prepared on the table, and placed one in front of each folder.

“If you’re still unsure,” he said quietly, “you can close it now.”

No one moved.

Reyn let out a long breath, then leaned back in his chair like someone who had already given up on finding another way.

“If this is a trap,” he said, “I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

He picked up the pen, stared at the last page for a few seconds, then signed without hesitation. There was no doubt in his hand, but his face still showed clear discomfort.

Alexa followed soon after. Her signature was neater, calmer, like someone who had already accepted that this decision was no longer about trust or distrust, but about survival or nothing at all.

Now only Logan was left.

He stared at the paper in front of him for a long time. The name written at the top of the document felt unfamiliar, but the consequences inside felt very real.

He thought back to the night he jumped into the river, when he was certain his life had already ended. But instead, he had ended up somewhere far more complicated than death.

His hand slowly reached for the pen.

For a moment, he paused. Not because he fully doubted Vincent, but because he realized that after this signature, there would be no line left between the person he used to be and the person he was now.

And then he signed.

The movement wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t rushed either. Just one line that tied every decision he had made since that night into a single direction that couldn’t be undone.

Vincent accepted all three folders without saying a word. He opened each one briefly, making sure the signatures were in place, then closed them neatly again. After that, he set them aside like something he had been waiting for a long time.

“Then,” he said finally, his voice still as calm as before, “now we can start talking about who we really are.”

And for the first time since they entered the room, Logan felt that this sentence wasn’t just an explanation.

But the beginning of something far bigger than a simple contract.

*** 

The contract had already been signed.

Reyn no longer looked at the folders on the table. Instead, he was staring at Vincent with a faint expression of regret in his eyes. Alexa remained calm, but her gaze moved more cautiously than before, as if she was already mapping out every possible outcome from this point onward. Logan himself still wasn’t fully sure whether the decision he had just made was truly his own, or simply the result of circumstances forcing him to keep moving forward.

Vincent slowly stood up from his chair, then walked to the side of the room without rushing. He pressed a small panel on the wall, and within seconds the large screen that had been off lit up on its own, displaying a highly detailed city map filled with red dots and interconnected lines.

“Congratulations,” Vincent said calmly without turning to face them. “You are now officially part of Golden Veil.”

Reyn clicked his tongue softly. “Don’t tell me this is some kind of welcome ceremony.”

“No,” Vincent replied shortly. “This is your first job.”

The room immediately felt heavier.

Logan straightened slightly. “First job?”

Vincent finally turned to face them, hands folded behind his back. “Golden Veil doesn’t survive on contracts and protection alone. We move because there are results.”

He tapped the screen again, and one of the points on the map zoomed in, revealing an office building in the city’s financial district.

“Your first target is someone who has disappeared from law enforcement radar for the past five years. An independent accountant with no criminal record, no known enemies, and no history of public investigation.”

Alexa frowned slightly. “Doesn’t that mean he isn’t a problematic person? Why is he our target?”

Vincent didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he shifted the display to far more complex financial data, showing massive flows of money moving through multiple intermediary accounts.

“Because this person doesn’t look dangerous,” he said finally. “And that is exactly what makes him dangerous.”

Reyn crossed his arms. “An accountant who doesn’t stand out is usually just someone good at tax tricks.”

“If that’s all he was, I wouldn’t be sending you there,” Vincent replied flatly. “He manages the bookkeeping for a network laundering money across three different countries. Corruption, illegal trade, and funding of covert operations that were never officially recorded.”

Logan stared at the screen longer. “And what exactly are we supposed to do?”

Vincent turned to him directly. “Get inside his system. Take a complete copy of his last three years of transaction data. And get out without leaving a trace.”

Silence fell for a few seconds.

Reyn let out a small, humorless laugh. “So… our first mission is straight-up professional hacking?”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Vincent replied. “Golden Veil provides full support.”

He pressed another button, and the screen changed again, now showing profiles of other members, each with their own abilities and specializations.

“However, for this first operation, I want to see how you work as a unit.”

Alexa looked up. “And if we fail?”

Vincent looked at her for a few seconds before answering without emotion.

“Then you will learn what happens to people who stay in the wrong place for too long.”

The answer didn’t sound like a threat.

And somehow, that made it feel even more real.

Vincent stepped closer to the table again and placed a small black device beside the projector. It looked like a communication tool, but there were no logos or markings of any kind on it.

“You’ll get direct support during the operation,” he continued. “Evacuation routes, surveillance disruption, and emergency assistance if anything goes wrong.”

Reyn frowned. “Emergency assistance? So there’s actually a chance we get caught.”

“There’s always a chance you get caught,” Vincent replied without hesitation. “The only difference is this—whether you die inside the system… or outside the system.”

The words hung in the air for far too long.

Logan felt his chest tighten slightly. Not fully fear, but more like a new kind of awareness he couldn’t push away. This wasn’t a world being explained to them. This was a world that already existed, and they had just stepped into it.

The moment Vincent said the word “system,” something inside Logan jolted.

Not a sound. Not a memory.

But a sensation, like something had opened behind his thoughts.

The air in the room suddenly felt different. Heavier. Denser. Like the pressure itself had shifted for no clear reason.

A glass on the side table trembled very slightly.

Logan lowered his head a little, his brows furrowing. “I…”

His words stopped.

In an instant, the pressure surged stronger—and without him realizing it, the black folder at the edge of the table shifted a few millimeters, as if pushed by something unseen.

Reyn immediately turned his head. “Hey…?”

Alexa also looked sharply at Logan, her expression turning cautious.

“Calm yourself,” Alexa said quietly but firmly.

Logan stared at his own hands. He hadn’t done anything. No movement, no intention. But that sensation was still there—like something inside him had just “responded” to Vincent’s words.

And Vincent… just stayed silent, watching in awe at Logan’s power.

Vincent turned off the projection screen, a knowing smile on his face. The room dimmed slightly as the city map disappeared completely.

“You leave tonight,” he said. “And from now on… you stop thinking like people who need permission.”

He paused, looking at each of them one by one.

“You start thinking like people who can disappear.”

***