Chapter 9: The Hunters Become the Hunted

Cipher and Luna vanished into the neon-lit streets, slipping into the city's underbelly where Echelon’s surveillance held less control. The stolen data drive rested in Cipher’s pocket, its contents worth more than any bounty on his head.

Echelon wouldn't let this slide.

They would come.

And he would be waiting.

Luna glanced at him as they entered an abandoned high-rise. "You haven’t said anything since we left."

Cipher scanned the area, ensuring no tracking devices had been planted. "Talking is inefficient."

She rolled her eyes. "And here I was thinking we were friends."

Cipher paused, then turned to her. "We are not."

Luna exhaled sharply. "Right. Of course. You're just a walking corpse with a gun."

He didn’t respond.

Because emotions didn’t matter.

Only the mission did.

Deep within Echelon's headquarters, a room filled with holographic displays glowed ominously. A man in a sharp black suit watched as red alerts flooded the screens. His expression was calm, but his eyes burned with irritation.

"Cipher has the files."

A woman in a white lab coat leaned against the console. "Then we execute Requiem Protocol."

The man smirked. "You sound eager, Dr. Voss."

She adjusted her glasses. "Cipher is a failed experiment. We replace him with something better."

The man’s fingers tapped against the metal desk. "And if he resists?"

Dr. Voss smiled. "Then we remind him why he was made."

The room darkened as the monitors displayed Cipher’s profile.

[STATUS: TERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE]

The hunt had begun.

Cipher stood on the rooftop, staring down at the chaotic city below. The stolen data had revealed more than just a kill order—it had shown him everything.

Project Requiem wasn't just an assassin program. It was a replacement program.

Cipher wasn’t the first.

And now, he wasn’t the only one.

Luna approached cautiously. "You’ve been standing there for hours. What’s going on?"

Cipher’s voice was devoid of emotion. "They are coming."

She hesitated. "And?"

He turned to her, silver-gray eyes reflecting nothing but cold precision.

"Then we kill them first."

Thunder rumbled in the distance as Cipher prepared for war.

Because this wasn’t just survival.

This was revenge.

The city never slept. Neon lights flickered, casting eerie glows onto the rain-slicked streets. But beneath the chaos of urban life, a silent war was brewing.

Cipher stood at the window of an abandoned high-rise, his gaze locked onto the distant skyline. He could feel it—the shift in the air. Echelon was moving. Their next step would be swift, ruthless, and absolute.

Good. Let them come.

Luna sat on a broken desk, tapping a stolen tablet. "I decrypted more files. This Project Requiem... it’s worse than we thought."

Cipher didn't look at her. "Explain."

She hesitated before reading aloud. "Cipher was never meant to be the final version. You were... a prototype."

No reaction. No surprise. He had suspected as much.

"They made you perfect, but too unpredictable. They couldn’t control you, so they built something else."**

Cipher’s eyes flickered with cold calculation. "A replacement."

Luna nodded. "And it's already active."

For the first time in years, Cipher felt something close to anticipation. "Then we end it before it begins."

Echelon's elite strike team moved through the lower districts in silence. Their leader, a man with a cybernetic implant running down his spine, raised a hand, signaling the squad to halt.

"Target is close," the comms buzzed. "Engage on sight. No hesitation."

A shadow moved.

A heartbeat later, a knife embedded itself into the nearest operative’s throat.

Cipher stepped from the darkness, moving faster than their sensors could register.

The second soldier raised his rifle—Cipher shattered his arm with a brutal twist before finishing him with a headshot.

The third and fourth barely had time to react. Cipher’s movements were a blur, his silencer whispering death in the night.

Only the squad leader remained.

He turned, attempting to retreat—only to find Cipher standing right behind him.

The leader froze, terror creeping into his cybernetic-enhanced gaze.

Cipher’s voice was a cold whisper. "Tell them I’m coming."

The man hesitated.

Cipher shot him in the leg.