Age 12 – ValeTech Institute: Child Prodigy Dorms
Kieran sat alone in the observation room.
Another perfect score. Another simulation beaten. Another hollow trophy.
And yet…
The hallway outside echoed with laughter that wasn't his.
He pressed his forehead to the cold glass. His fingers trembled—but he clenched them into fists before anyone could see.
Perfection had a price.
Love was not part of the curriculum.
---
Present Day – ValeTech Shadow Sector
The neural screen blinked softly, casting a pale glow over his face.
Footage of Lior in the simulation flickered over and over. His surgical moves. His hesitation before the first incision. The way his eyes glimmered with quiet, infuriating gentleness.
Kieran leaned forward.
He hated how beautiful he was.
Not just his face—though that was unfair too.
But the way he operated. The way people watched him like he was art.
> "They think he's better than me…"
His voice cracked in the silence.
> "And worse—he thinks I hate him."
---
Flashback – The First Time Kieran Saw Lior
Renji had been showing off the new recruit. "No family ties. No medical history. But the highest system affinity we've ever seen."
Kieran had looked up from his desk just in time to see Lior walk in.
Skin like winter light.
Eyes like they'd already mapped out every neuron in the room.
And he'd smiled.
Just a little.
Kieran had wanted to ruin him from that moment on.
Or protect him.
He wasn't sure which.
---
Present
> "You don't get to walk in and take what I spent a decade building," Kieran whispered. "You don't get to take him."
Because he saw it now.
The way Renji looked at Lior.
Not as a student.
Not as a weapon.
But as something precious.
And it burned.
Because Kieran had wanted to be precious too.
Just once.
He pressed his palm to the data screen, where Lior's vitals glowed in delicate blue.
> "You changed him," Kieran said. "You made him feel. You made me feel."
> "And I hate you for it."
A pause.
> "…But I also think I'm falling in love with you."
---
Childhood Memory – Age 14
Renji had once said to him, "You don't need to be perfect to be worthy, Kieran."
Kieran hadn't believed him then.
He wanted to.
But how could you believe in softness, when every time you cried, the world called you weak?
So he hardened.
So he built walls.
And now someone had broken through them—not with force, but with light.
And that boy didn't even know the ruin he was leaving in his wake.
---
Now – ValeTech Pursuit Protocol
The neural comm crackled.
> "Yusef. Have you found them?"
Kieran stared at the glowing map.
They were in the Vault Core.
Together.
He saw two life signs synced perfectly.
Like heartbeat shadows.
Lior and Renji.
Linked.
He clenched his jaw.
> "I'll bring him back," he said. "But not for you."
> "Then for who?"
Kieran's voice dropped.
> "For me."