The cold, empty building became my battlefield. I had just hung up on Alex, the data drive a burning weight in my hand. Aura was a quiet hum, a steady pulse in my mind. "User Balen. Enemy forces are converging. Estimated arrival: ninety seconds. Recommend immediate tactical repositioning."
I didn't need Aura to tell me I was in trouble. The man from the ambush, the former Pariaha Industries security expert now working for Cerberus Robotics, was after me. He was fast. He was dangerous. And he was hunting me. I looked around the broken building. Shadows danced in the dying light of the city. This was my kind of fight. This was Elen's kind of fight.
I wasn't a superhero. I wasn't an "OP MC" who could take down an army with a single punch. I was Balen, a kid who had learned to fight dirty, to survive in the wild, and to listen to the whispers of a broken system. I moved fast, pulling a broken metal pipe from the ground. It was heavy, rough, but it was a weapon.
The first two men came in, their boots crunching on the broken glass. They were the same men from the ambush, silent, deadly. Aura instantly gave me their weak points. "Target one: right shoulder. Target two: left knee. Engage."
I didn't follow Aura's exact instructions. Not completely. Elen had taught me to be unpredictable, to use the environment, to fight like a wild animal. I swung the pipe low, not at the shoulder, but at the first man's shin. He yelled, his leg giving out. Before he hit the ground, I spun, using the momentum to hit the second man in the side of the head with the pipe. He stumbled, falling into the first man. They were both down, not out, but hurt.
But the leader, the former Pariaha Industries man, was different. He came through the door like a shadow. He was carrying two small, sharp knives. His eyes were cold. Aura screamed in my head. "Warning, User Balen! Extreme threat detected. His movement patterns are advanced. High probability of severe injury."
I didn't tell Aura to be silent this time. I needed everything it could give me. I moved, but he was faster. One knife cut my arm, a sharp, burning line of pain. The other aimed for my leg. I twisted, falling to the ground, using the momentum to roll. The knife missed my leg by an inch. I got back to my feet, the metal pipe ready.
"You're a fast one," he said, his voice a low growl. "But you're just a kid. You're not like him."
"Him?" I asked, my voice a little breathless. "Who are you talking about?"
"Elen," he said, and his voice was full of hate. "He was a traitor. He worked for us. He gave us everything. And then he tried to turn." He lunged, faster than before.
My mind was a blur. Aura was screaming data, showing me trajectories, weak spots, ways to counter. But my body was just trying to keep up. I blocked a knife with the pipe, the metal ringing. He was too strong. He was too fast. He kicked my stomach, a brutal hit that knocked the air out of me. I fell back, hitting the wall, the pipe falling from my hand.
He stood over me, his knives ready. "Elen was a fool. He thought he could have both. He wanted to work for us, to get rich, and then he thought he could be a hero. He tried to expose our operations here, our work with Cerberus Robotics. He thought he could give Pariaha Industries our secrets. He was going to expose the whole 'Phantom Project.' He thought he could play both sides."
His words hit me harder than any punch. Elen wasn't just a scientist. He was a double agent. He was a traitor, but not to me. He was a traitor to them. He was trying to bring them down from the inside. He had pretended to work for them, to give them information, but it was all a cover. He was trying to stop them. That's why he was killed. He didn't just fail; he died trying to win.
The leader raised his knife. I closed my eyes. Aura was still screaming, but it was getting weak. "User Balen... critical injury detected. Loss of consciousness imminent."
I felt a sharp pain in my side, a burning fire. Then, nothing. The world went black.