Cova stopped just outside a tall doors. She rapped her knuckles against them twice.
“Come in,” Mike’s voice called from within.
Cova offered Lili a brief glance, the kind that carried quiet encouragement. “Good luck,” she said softly, then opened the door for her and stepped aside. As Lili passed through, Cova gave a final nod before turning on her heel and walking away down the hall.
Lili entered slowly. Her steps were cautious, unsure, her back slightly hunched as though bracing for some invisible blow.
“At ease, Lili,” Mike said from across the room, his tone lighter than usual. “You’re walking like you’re stepping on daggers.”
That pulled the smallest nervous smile from her. She took the nearest seat, not far from the door, perching on its edge like she wasn’t quite sure if she was meant to stay.
Moments later, the door opened again.
A tall, broad-shouldered man stepped inside. Silver brushed the sides of his temples, and the lines around his eyes spoke of years filled with both weight and war.He approached Lili and extended a hand. “Rafael,” he introduced.
Lili hesitated. Her shadows had been still since her arrival—but she knew how easily stillness could break. She drew a slow breath to settle that fear, then reached forward and took his hand in hers, firm despite the tremble at her edges. “Lili,” she replied quietly.
Rafael smiled faintly. “I knew your parents,” he said. “Long before the world turned the way it did.”
“They worked here?” Lili asked, her voice soft but curious, a subtle tilt of her head betraying the uncertainty that followed her everywhere now.
Rafael nodded and moved to take the seat across from her, folding his hands on the table between them. “Yes,” he replied. “And they were two of the best we ever had.” There was pride in his voice.
Lili looked down at her hands, where her fingers tugged slightly at one another. The shadows were gone for now, but a residue of tension still clung to her shoulders. A quiet uncertain pause settled between them. “So…” she began, hesitantly lifting her eyes back to his, “why am I here, exactly?”
Rafael leaned back slightly, considering her with that same steady gaze. “That’s what we’re here to decide,” he said.
Just then, Mike moved from where he’d been quietly standing and took the seat beside Rafael. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes, like Rafael’s, were focused.
Lili looked between the two men, her spine straightening a little in instinctive defense and folded her arms slowly, her fingers curling under the fabric of her sleeves, as though she could hide any tremble that might betray her nerves.
“So…?” she finally asked. “Am I on trial or something?”
Mike offered a small, crooked smile. “Not quite,” he said.
“But not far from it either,” Rafael added, his voice was calm and measured. “You’re not a prisoner here, Lili. And you’re not being judged. But we have to understand what you are now. What’s changed.”
Lili blinked. “You mean the shadows.”
“We’ve all seen Gifts evolve—but this is something else.” Mike added in a softer voice.
Rafael nodded. “We don’t know yet what it means, but we can’t afford to guess.”
Lili leaned back slightly, her gaze guarded. “So what now?”
“Are you willing to find out with us?” Mike’s question sounded like a challenge.
Lili shrugged, the motion small, almost careless, but her eyes betrayed the tangle of emotions behind it. “Why not?” she muttered, then looked from one man to the other, brows knitting with visible confusion. “But… why are you trusting me so easily?” Her voice dropped a note, weighted by memory. “You know who I worked for.”
Rafael’s expression didn’t harden, but it did sharpen, his fingers folding gently over one another on the table. “Yes,” he said simply. “We know.”
Lili scoffed faintly from disbelief. “I could still be dangerous.”
“You could,” Rafael agreed. “But so could every Gifted on this base, if we’re being honest. Control is a decision. Trust, though…” His gaze met hers. “That’s a risk. And today, we’re choosing to take it.”
Lili looked away for a moment, eyes settling on the far wall like it might offer answers. “You’re really putting a lot of faith in someone who’s still trying to figure out who she is…”
Mike smiled faintly. “That’s exactly the kind of person we want here.”
Lili folded her arms across her chest. “Okay…” she said carefully, drawing the word out like it might bite back. “Enlighten me, then. What exactly do you expect from me?”
Rafael’s gaze didn’t waver. “Honesty. Effort. Caution.”
Mike added, “And maybe a little cooperation, if that’s not too much to ask.”
Lili raised an eyebrow. “That’s… vague. Sounds more like a dating profile.”
Mike smirked, but Rafael only chuckled softly. “Fair enough,” he said. “This isn’t about throwing you into battles or turning you into someone you’re not. You’re not a soldier, and we’re not here to make you one overnight. But your powers… they’ve changed. And that matters.”
Lili’s fingers twitched at her elbows. “So you want to test me?”
“Observe,” Rafael clarified. “Help you regain control. See what this new version of your Gift is, what it responds to, how it behaves. You’d have access to training space, resources, and supervision. And if you choose it, maybe even missions. But only when you’re ready.”
“And if I say no?” she asked.
“Then we keep the door open,” Rafael said, “and we make sure you walk out safely.”
Lili paused, eyes narrowing slightly, suspicious but intrigued. “You’re being unusually reasonable.”
“Let’s just say we’ve made our share of mistakes in the past,” Mike said. “We’re trying not to repeat them.”
A flicker of amusement danced across Lili’s features. “You’re wrong about one thing, though,” she said, eyes narrowing slightly. “I am a soldier. I wouldn’t have survived that long otherwise.”
But then her voice faltered, just a notch, like a loose thread pulled too tight. “But…” she paused, the word catching in her throat. She clearly didn’t like the truth she was about to speak. “The one thing that separates me from being one right now is this… mutation,” she said. “Whatever it is, it’s twisting what I used to know, replacing it with something I can’t predict. I can’t trust it.”
“Well, then,” Rafael said with a quiet grin, leaning back just enough to ease the tension in the room. “We should get to work on that.”
He turned to Mike with a nod. “You’ll oversee Lili’s training.” Mike gave a small, solemn dip of his head. Then Rafael’s gaze returned to Lili. “I promise we’ll do everything we can to help you, Lili. All I ask is that you try to trust us.”
Lili nodded slowly, her arms still folded, her body half-leaning into uncertainty, but when she met Rafael’s eyes again, something in her steadied. “Trust should go both ways, right?” she asked. Her voice was quiet, edged with something raw but clear. And then, even though it clearly made her uncomfortable, she added, “You’ve offered help instead of putting me in chains. That says more than you probably realize.” A breath. A pause. “Ask what you want to know about Torin’s empire,” she said at last. “And I’ll tell you.”
Rafael didn’t respond right away. His fingers folded together, elbows resting lightly on the table as he regarded her like someone holding a puzzle piece he hadn’t expected to fit.
“Alright,” he said at last. “Tell me about the structure. Who answers directly to Torin? Who are the ones we need to watch for if we move?”
Lili leaned forward slightly, her fingers drumming against the table in a quick, restless rhythm. “Do you have something I can write on?”
Rafael raised a brow, but reached for the tablet, sliding it across the table toward her. “It’s unlocked.”
She took it without hesitation. For a moment she simply stared at the blank screen, then her fingers moved, her mind mapping out the architecture of the empire she had once walked through.Names emerged in a quiet web of circles, arrows, ranks.
“Torin and Fosin sit at the top. Everything ends with them,” she began. “Directly under him—Kesh. Handles money laundering, investments, keeps offshore accounts alive. Looks like an accountant, but if he smiles, someone’s probably already dying.”
She drew a thin line beneath Kesh, branching left and right. “On one side, Marell. Make sure our territory is well protected, coordinates smuggling routes. Rough, loud, and too proud. But efficient. Doesn’t ask too many questions.” She expanded the map further, building out the layers of other contacts with their roles and full names.
Mike leaned in to see the screen, brows rising slowly. “You remember all of this?”
Lili didn’t look up. “You don’t forget the walls of your own prison. You just learn how to walk through them.”
She slid the tablet back toward Rafael. He took it with a measured hand, eyes scanning the digital web in stunned silence. “You just gave us six months of intel in six minutes,” he finally said, his voice a low thread of awe.
Lili leaned back slightly, arms folding as her eyes flicked toward him with certainty. “It’s just the beginning,” she said. “We could spend the next month in this room and I still wouldn’t scratch the surface of everything.”
Mike exchanged a glance with Rafael, eyebrows lifting, but said nothing.
“When you pick your target, let me know. I’ll give you more than names. I’ll give you what breaks them.”
Rafael nodded slowly, setting the tablet down as though it had suddenly become something heavier.
“Well then, I think we can finish for today,” Rafael said, his tone lighter now, though the weight of what had been shared still lingered in the room. “I asked Cova to show you around. She’ll also take you to your room.”
Lili gave a small nod only now realizing how empty-handed she’d come. No bag, no change of clothes, not even a toothbrush. “Okay… Thank you,” she said, brushing a hand through her hair as if the motion could tidy the thought.
A knock tapped against the door a moment later. It opened to reveal Cova, already half turned in the hallway. “Boss,” she greeted Rafael with a respectful nod, then flicked her gaze to Lili. “Let’s go. I’ll show you around.”
Lili rose to her feet and followed. The door clicked shut behind them with a soft finality, and silence stretched for a breath.
Then Lili cleared her throat. “I know it’s going to sound stupid, but… I didn’t think this through. I don’t have any clothes. Or… anything, really.”
Cova didn’t laugh, but her mouth twitched in something like amusement. “Yeah, that sounds about right for your style. Don’t worry. We’ve got spare uniforms and basics for new arrivals. Might not be your taste, but it beats sleeping in what you’re wearing.”
Lili walked slightly behind Cova, taking in the structure: gray walls, reinforced glass, clipped voices passing between soldiers in uniform. It felt like a strange mix of hospital, prison, and barracks.
Cova pointed casually as they walked. “Mess hall’s that way. Labs on the lower level. Training rooms are three corridors down. You’ll get a keycard that lets you through most doors—except high clearance stuff, obviously.”
They turned a corner and nearly walked straight into Notori, who was walking toward them with a stack of folders under his arm. He blinked, surprised, and then caught himself.
“Lili,” he greeted with an attempt at neutrality, though the flicker of a smile betrayed him. “Didn’t expect you to be walking the halls already.”
“I’m not chained at least for now,” she answered casually.
Cova snorted softly, but Notori’s smile warmed, even if he tried to suppress it. “Glad to hear you’re staying.”
“You don’t sound that glad.”
“I’m subtle,” he said.
“You’re terrible at subtle,” Cova chimed in, and Notori gave her a mock glare.
“I’m working on it.”
Lili tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing with quiet thought as she studied Notori’s face. There was something unspoken lingering behind his steady gaze half-hidden beneath the surface.
“Well,” she said, voice softer now, “I guess we’ll see each other later.”
Notori gave a small nod. Lili turned, falling into step beside Cova once more as they continued down the corridor.
They passed more doors—offices, empty rooms, storage bays filled with training gear—until Cova finally stopped in front of one with a soft sigh. She tapped her card to the scanner, and the door slid open with a low mechanical click.
“Here we are,” she said, gesturing inside.
Lili stepped through the doorway and looked around. The room was simple, minimalistic. A bed with folded gray sheets, a desk tucked into the corner, a set of drawers, and a narrow closet. The single window overlooked a section of the base’s outer yard, where soldiers moved.
“It’s not much,” Cova added, leaning against the doorframe, “but it’s yours. And it’s quiet.”
Lili turned a slow circle in the room, taking it in. “Feels strange. Like I shouldn’t be allowed somewhere this…normal.”
Cova gave her a tired smile. “Normal’s just the wrapping. Underneath, we’re all carrying something that doesn’t quite fit in.”
Lili sat on the edge of the bed, pressing her fingers into the mattress absently. “Thanks for showing me around.”
Cova shrugged. “Figured you’d want someone you know nearby.” She lingered a second longer before saying, “I’ll get you something to wear tomorrow. We keep a stash of spare clothes for recruits.”
Lili nodded, appreciating that unspoken courtesy. “Thanks… really.”
Then her gaze flicked to Cova’s yellow-and-black hero costume, a spark of dry humor lighting behind her tired eyes. “Just promise me it won’t be a tricko,” she added, lips quirking faintly.
Cova snorted, a short, unexpected laugh slipping past her usually composed features. “No promises,” she said, already turning toward the hallway. “But I’ll do my best not to make you look like a target.”
Lili smiled to herself with a flicker of warmth in the haze.
Cova glanced back over her shoulder. “Now come on. We’re not done yet. We need to get you your access card.”
Lili rolled her eyes but followed…
Leave a Reply