John had never felt small before.

  Not in the way that mattered.

  But now? Now he did.

  Cain wasn’t just watching him. He was experimenting.

  And John?

  John was just the last test subject still standing.

  John and Aria stood in the rain-slick alley, the neon glow of the city casting fractured reflections across the wet pavement.

  John’s mind was already moving faster than his pulse.

  He needed information. Real information.

  No more vague hints. No more cryptic warnings.

  "Tell me everything," he said.

  Aria raised an eyebrow. "Everything?"

  "Everything."

  She sighed, arms still crossed.

  "Fine," she said. "But let’s not do it here."

  John didn’t argue.

  Aria led him away from the main streets, through a maze of back alleys and hidden passages that most people didn’t even know existed.

  It was only when they reached an abandoned warehouse that she finally stopped.

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  John glanced around. "Really? This is where you take me?"

  Aria smirked. "Would you prefer a coffee shop?"

  John didn’t answer. He just waited.

  Aria exhaled.

  "Cain has been searching for something for years," she said. "And I don’t mean money or power. He already has those. What he’s after is… different."

  John’s fingers twitched. "Different how?"

  Aria’s gaze sharpened.

  "He’s looking for something beyond human."

  John’s stomach dropped.

  Aria continued. "He started with technology—cybernetics, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence. But none of it was enough."

  She looked at him.

  "And then he found a new lead. A new project. Something deeper. Something older."

  John exhaled. "Eli’s father."

  Aria nodded. "Ren’s research was the key. He wasn’t just working on tech. He was working on something no one fully understood."

  John’s pulse pounded.

  "What was it?"

  Aria hesitated. Then—"The Mask."

  John froze.

  "The Mask," he repeated.

  Aria nodded. "It’s not just a rumor. Not just a legend. It’s real. And Cain believes it’s the missing piece."

  John’s mind snapped into overdrive.

  He had heard whispers before—stories about an object of impossible power, something that made its wearer more than human.

  But those were just that. Stories.

  "Cain thinks it exists?" John asked.

  "He doesn’t think," Aria said. "He knows."

  John inhaled sharply.

  "And he thinks I have it," he muttered.

  Aria’s expression was unreadable.

  "No," she said. "He thinks you’re the only one who can find it."

  John clenched his jaw.

  This wasn’t about Eli.

  This wasn’t about Ren’s research.

  This was about something bigger.

  Something buried. Hidden. Forgotten.

  And now, somehow, John was the key.

  "Why me?" he asked.

  Aria sighed. "That’s what you need to figure out."

  John exhaled slowly.

  The Mask was real.

  And Cain wanted it.

  John didn’t know how, but deep down, he knew this wasn’t just coincidence.

  He was part of this.

  Whether he liked it or not.

  He turned toward Aria.

  "Where do I start?"

  Aria smirked.

  "You start," she said, "by finding it before Cain does."