The night before duty call, Haru showed up to Ezra’s b, looking uneasy.

  "Something’s wrong," he said.

  Ezra gnced up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I got kicked in the nuts st time, so I’d say something’s definitely wrong."

  Haru didn’t ugh. Ezra’s smirk faded. "What is it, kid?"

  Haru hesitated, then muttered, "It’s Ki Ki."

  Ezra exhaled sharply. "Haru, if you tell me your imaginary—"

  "Ki Ki says something bad is coming."

  Ezra froze. His stomach twisted. Ki Ki. The AI that wasn’t an AI. The thing that shouldn’t have existed—but did. Ezra had learned his lesson. This wasn’t a joke. He slowly put down his wrench, looking Haru in the eyes. "Alright," he said evenly. "Stick close to me in the core. Whatever happens, we’ll get through it."

  Haru nodded, relieved. Ezra then leaned forward, lowering his voice. "But while we’re down there, I need you to keep your eyes open."

  Haru blinked. "For what?"

  Ezra ran a hand through his hair. "I’ve got a hunch," he admitted. "The protocol might not be what it seems. I need to confirm something."

  Haru’s brows furrowed, but he nodded. "Got it."

  The next day, they descended into the core as usual. Ezra had the checklist, going through each point with meticulous detail—but slower this time. He was watching. Waiting.

  Looking for anything out of pce. At first? Everything seemed fine. Then—He noticed it.

  The graviton extractor. A machine that worked at a steady pace, releasing heat in regur intervals. It pulsed. A small LED bulb flickered, showing it was operational. But there was a pattern. Ezra’s stomach tightened.

  Three short pulses.Three long pulses.Three short pulses.

  SOS. His mind raced. He had always assumed it was just capacitors discharging heat. But now? Now he knew better. How had he not seen it before? How long had this machine been calling for help?

  His hands tightened around the checklist. He concluded the report, his mind still reeling. Then—He turned. And Haru was gone. Ezra’s blood turned ice cold. "Dammit, Haru—" Not now. Of all times, not now. Ezra clenched his jaw. He couldn’t risk raising the arm. Couldn’t risk another infiltration. He had to py it safe.

  So he did what any sane adult would do. He marched back to the security checkpoint, handed over his report, and said, calmly, pinly—"Haru is missing." The guard nodded. Picked up a phone. Reyed a command.

  No urgency. No panic. Just another day at work. Ezra stepped into the elevator. His pulse was pounding. This was too easy. Suspiciously easy. And that?

  That meant he was already in deep shit.

  Hours passed. Ezra kept himself busy, grinding through work, calcutions, anything to keep his mind occupied. But the pit in his stomach wouldn’t fade. How long did it take to comb a facility and check the exits? By the end of his shift, his pulse was hammering in his ears.

  Then—Clover summoned him. Ezra exhaled sharply. Here we go.

  She met him in one of the upper-level security rooms, her arms crossed, expression unreadable. "What’s your game this time, Ezra?" she asked, her voice even, too calm.

  Ezra blinked. "Game?"

  She leaned forward, eyes sharp. "You raised a false arm."

  Ezra felt his pulse spike. "False arm?" he repeated, incredulous.

  Clover stared him down. Ezra’s hands curled into fists. "Lady, Haru was your responsibility the moment I put in that missing persons report."

  Something in Clover’s face twitched. A flicker of hesitation. There it was. She was worried. She just wasn’t showing it outright. Ezra knew better now. He could read her. "Records indicate there were only two uses of the elevator today." Her voice was deadly quiet now. Her golden eyes burned into him. "Do not lie to me, Ezra Key."

  Ezra’s breath hitched. His brain raced.He wasn’t lying. He and Haru went down together. He came back up alone. Which meant…Fuck.

  Something bad happened. Haru tried to warn him. Clover’s gaze hardened. "You have ten minutes."

  Ezra tensed. "For what?"

  Clover stepped forward, voice low, clipped. "To get your ass down to the core," she said. "You’re not leaving until we find him."

  Ezra was escorted down. The moment he stepped into the core prep room, they shoved lead armor onto him again. But this time? This time, he wasn’t walking alone. The Legion moved with him. And for the first time? Ezra could see the full scope of the underground facility. It wasn’t just a facility.

  It was a goddamn city.

  As they traversed the hallways, Ezra’s mind was racing. The sheer size of this pce…

  He had never seen this level of the core before. But what stopped him in his tracks—What sent his stomach plummeting—Were the explosives.

  Three levels below the core chamber. Ezra’s breath hitched. They weren’t just bombs. They were graviton bombs. And there were ten stories of them. Stacked in a perfect column. Like the core was a bullet tip. And this? This was the powder.

  Theoretically… If they detonated, they could propel something past retivistic speeds. Faster than light. Beyond known physics. Ezra’s entire body went cold. What the fuck was down here? What were they trying to unch? His mind reeled as they continued forward.

  The search took hours. Hours of walking, sweating under the heavy armor, heart pounding in his chest. Still no signs of Haru. The whole facility was on lockdown. This was not good. Not good at all.

  After the search, Ezra was eventually escorted to central command. Straight to Clover’s headquarters. Her office? It was exactly what he imagined it would be.

  Minimalistic. Brutal.

  The kind of pce where bad decisions were made on a daily basis. She sat at her desk, fingers steepled, her expression unreadable. But Ezra? Ezra could see the tension in her shoulders. She was pissed. And she was waiting.

  Ezra was shoved into a chair across from her. Clover didn’t even let him get comfortable. "No more games," she commanded.

  Not asked. Commanded. Her voice was low, deadly. "What happened."

  Ezra met her gaze, expression unreadable. He had no choice. So he told her. Everything.

  He kept his voice calm, steady. Not too rehearsed. Not too detailed. Just enough. He went down. Took the readings. Followed protocol. Turned around—And Haru was gone.

  So he did the only thing he could do. He filed a report. End of story.

  Yet…

  Something tugged at the back of his mind. A nagging feeling. Like he missed something. A pattern. Something crucial he didn’t notice before. Clover was talking. Telling him how they swept the whole damn facility top to bottom.

  But Ezra? Ezra wasn’t listening anymore. His mind was somewhere else. The scene kept repying behind his eyes. Every detail. Second by second. What did he miss?

  Without breaking eye contact, he pulled out his THC vape. Took a slow, deliberate hit. Clover’s eyelid twitched. She was saying something-something funeral, something-something telling the Kim family of their loss…

  But Ezra? Ezra was in his head. Watching. Repying.

  Again.

  Again.

  And then—He remembered.

  "Wait…"

  Clover stopped mid-sentence. She narrowed her eyes. Ezra’s grip on the vape tightened slightly. "The feedback loop."

  Silence. Clover leaned forward. Ezra exhaled smoke, speaking carefully. "The LED," he murmured. "The one confirming the core’s operational status. Panel 4B." He gnced at her. "I think… there was a spike."

  Clover’s expression didn’t change. But he saw it. The flicker of hesitation. She was listening now. Ezra wasn’t stupid enough to tell her about the SOS pattern. But even beyond that, something felt off. He could feel the repy running smoother now. Like his brain was sharpening the memory.

  He closed his eyes. Let the moment py again. The loop. The pulses.

  Three short blips.

  Three long blips.

  Three short blips again.

  Then—the cycle repeats.

  But wait. One of those cycles wasn’t right. Instead of six blips when the cycle should repeat—There was a seventh. A glitch. A slip-up. Ezra’s eyes snapped open. Clover exhaled slowly.

  Her fingers tapped the desk once. Then—"You’re dismissed."

  Ezra didn’t argue. Didn’t press. Didn’t ask questions. He just stood up. And walked the fuck out. But deep down? Deep down, he knew. Something was very, very wrong.

  Ezra stepped out of Clover’s office, his body on autopilot. His mind was still reeling. The seventh blip. A break in the loop. What did it mean?

  Why had Clover hesitated? He could still feel her eyes on him, even long after she dismissed him. They were hiding something. And now? Now, Haru was missing. Ezra exhaled sharply, forcing himself to focus. One thing at a time. One nightmare at a time.

  As he walked through the silent hallways, heading toward the exit, he spotted them. A man and a woman. Haru’s parents. They had just arrived.

  Ezra stopped in his tracks. His stomach turned to lead. The Kim family had come to pick up their little boy. But there was no boy to pick up.

  Ezra clenched his jaw. It had to be him. It had to come from him. Not some stoic Silent Legion goon. Not some bnd report. It had to be Ezra. He took a deep breath—And walked toward them.

  Haru’s father was the first to notice him. "Ezra?"

  His voice was warm, familiar, but Ezra could hear the edge of confusion. Haru’s mother turned as well, smiling lightly. "Where is he?" she asked, gncing behind Ezra as if expecting Haru to pop out from behind him.

  Ezra’s chest tightened. He had faced horrors. He had faced Clover, the Silent Legion, the goddamn core itself. But this? This was so much worse. There was no way to soften it. No way to lie.

  Ezra’s throat was dry. He had no idea what to do with his hands. But he kept his voice calm, steady. Even though it felt like he was shattering inside. "Haru is missing."

  The words hung in the air. For a moment, it was like they didn’t process.

  Haru’s mother blinked. "I’m sorry?"

  Ezra swallowed. "He’s missing." This time, his voice was firmer.

  Haru’s father’s face darkened. "What the hell do you mean, missing?"

  Ezra inhaled deeply. And then, he told them everything.

  The words came out too fast, too mechanical. He expined how he and Haru went down to the core together. How everything seemed fine. How he turned around— And Haru was just… gone. How he immediately reported it. How they searched for hours. How the facility had been on lockdown. But there was still no sign of their son.

  Haru’s mother started shaking. Her face went pale, her hands trembling. Haru’s father took a step forward, his breath shallow. "What do you mean, gone?" His voice was low, dangerous.

  Ezra stood his ground. "I mean," Ezra said evenly, "that we don’t know where he is."

  Haru’s mother covered her mouth, her eyes already gssy. "This isn’t happening," she whispered. "This isn’t real."

  Haru’s father’s fists clenched at his sides. "You were supposed to watch him."

  Ezra didn’t move. "I did."

  "You were supposed to protect him."

  Ezra’s jaw tightened. "I did."

  Haru’s father’s voice cracked.

  "Then where is he?" Ezra had no answer.

  Silence. Thick. Suffocating.

  Haru’s mother turned away, gripping her head, pacing, trying to breathe. Haru’s father stared at Ezra, barely holding himself together. "You’re lying."

  Ezra exhaled. "You think I’d lie about this?"

  Haru’s father’s face twisted. He looked like he wanted to punch something. But there was nothing to punch. Nothing but air. Nothing but the weight of his own helplessness.

  Haru’s mother let out a strangled sob. She turned to Ezra, grabbing his coat. "You’re lying," she pleaded. "Please. Tell me this isn’t real." Her voice broke.

  Ezra’s breath was shaky. He had nothing to offer her. Nothing but the same, horrible truth. Haru was gone. She colpsed against his chest, sobbing.

  Ezra closed his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, silent. Haru’s father looked away, his hands shaking, his jaw clenched so tight it looked painful. The three of them just stood there. In the middle of the hallway. Not knowing what else to do. Not knowing where to go from here.

  Because for the first time? There were no answers. And that? That was the worst part.