Night fell over the ravine like a shroud of silence. The stars above blinked through a haze of smoke and dust, indifferent to the blood spilled beneath them.
Nam crouched beside the fire, the encrypted device in his hand. Lines of code scrolled across the screen as Shun ran decryption protocols with fingers that moved like a pianist's, swift and exact.
Lan paced behind them. "Once we crack it, what then? We accuse someone in our own ranks?"
"We don't accuse," Nam said coldly. "We confirm."
In a hidden room miles away, someone watched through a private satellite link. A man cloaked in shadow leaned back, exhaling slowly.
"They're close," he murmured to a voice on the other end. "Activate Phase Two."
Back in the ravine, Shun's eyes suddenly widened. "Got it."
Everyone crowded around. On the screen was a message:
"Deliver target location before midnight. You will be extracted via the southern cliffs. Do not fail again."
Nam's heart sank as he read the call sign embedded in the metadata.
It matched someone from his inner circle.
Kai.
"No," Lan whispered. "He wouldn't…"
Nam rose to his feet. His expression was like ice. "He already did."
Far away, Kai sat alone in a quiet shelter, staring at the small transmitter in his hand. The guilt gnawed at him like rust on steel. But behind his eyes was something else—something colder.
Regret?
Or resolve?