Chapter 5: Ghost Protocol

They moved through the city unseen. Cipher's precision made evasion effortless. Every alley, every street, every blind spot in surveillance-he calculated it all without hesitation.

Luna struggled to keep up. Her injuries slowed her, but Cipher neither offered help nor adjusted his pace. If she fell behind, that was her problem.

By the time they reached an abandoned metro station, Luna was out of breath. She slumped against a rusted pillar, glaring at him. "You know, normal people check if their allies are okay."

Cipher merely looked at her. "You are not my ally. You are an asset."

She scoffed, shaking her head. "Right. Forgot I was traveling with a human-shaped computer."

Cipher ignored her and turned his focus to their surroundings. His instincts sharpened. Something was off.

He pulled his silencer. "We are not alone."

Luna stiffened. "What? I don't-"

A bullet grazed the pillar beside her.

Cipher moved instantly. He grabbed Luna and shoved her down as a second shot ripped through the air. In the next fraction of a second, he had already drawn his sidearm, aimed, and fired.

The sniper fell without a sound.

Luna barely had time to register what had happened before Cipher was moving again. "Stay down."

She obeyed-partly because she was still processing the fact that he had just sniped a sniper with a pistol.

More figures emerged from the shadows. Elite operatives. Echelon's best.

Cipher didn't flinch. He stepped forward, completely unfazed, eyes cold.

The enemy surrounded him, weapons drawn. One of them spoke. "Cipher. Surrender."

Cipher didn't answer. He simply raised his gun.

The first man died before he even registered the movement.

The second one lunged. Cipher sidestepped, grabbed his wrist, and snapped it effortlessly before shooting him in the head.

The third hesitated-fatal mistake. Cipher seized his knife, spun it, and drove it into his throat before using the body as a shield against incoming fire.

It took less than five seconds.

Five men, dead.

Luna watched in stunned silence. It wasn't just that he was efficient-it was the way he moved. No hesitation. No wasted effort. Every motion was absolute.

A killing machine.

Cipher turned to the last operative, who was frozen in place.

"You are already dead," Cipher stated simply.

The man barely had time to react before Cipher closed the distance and snapped his neck.

Luna swallowed hard. "You... you took them apart like they were nothing."

Cipher reloaded his gun without looking at her. "Because they were."

She exhaled. "And what am I?"

He glanced at her. "A liability."

Luna clenched her jaw. "You could've left me."

Cipher turned back to the bodies, looting ammo with the same efficiency he applied to killing. "I could have."

She waited for an explanation. None came.

Because Cipher never explained himself.

Because Cipher didn't feel.

At least... that's what he kept telling himself.

Chapter 6: The Line Between Hunter and Prey

Cipher moved through the tunnels without hesitation, his footfalls silent, his mind calculating the most efficient path forward. The mission had changed, but his approach remained the same: eliminate obstacles, achieve the objective.

Luna limped behind him, struggling to keep up. "How many of those guys does Echelon have?"

"Enough." Cipher didn't slow down. "They will keep coming."

She exhaled sharply. "And you don't care?"

He didn't answer. Because the truth was simple-he didn't,

Luna gritted her teeth, forcing herself to move faster. "At least tell me where we're going."

"Somewhere they cannot reach."

She huffed. "Vague. Helpful."

Cipher ignored her sarcasm. His mind was already focused on the next threat. They had been too easy to track. Which meant more would come. Stronger, smarter, faster.

His instincts flared.

Hostiles detected.

In one motion, he pulled Luna against the wall, his silenced pistol already aimed. The moment a shadow moved at the tunnel's entrance-he fired.

A body dropped.

Another figure lunged from the side. Cipher reacted instantly, catching the attacker's wrist mid-swing. A knife gleamed in the dim light, inches from his throat.

Cipher twisted the man's arm, shattering bone, then used the same knife to drive it through his skull.

Luna flinched as blood splattered onto the wall.

Cipher stepped over the fresh corpse, eyes cold. "Move."

Luna hesitated. "Do you ever hesitate?"

Cipher turned his empty gaze to her. "No."

That was the difference between him and the rest of the world.

He never hesitated.

He never failed.

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