Holten and Nolven crouched in the shadowed alley, their breathing steady but tense. The night cloaked them in darkness as they observed their target—a high-security building rumored to house secrets most people couldn't begin to fathom. They had come for one reason, and they knew that the risks were beyond anything they'd faced before. But there was no turning back.
Their plan had required sacrifice, and now they had the access card they needed. The man who had once held it lay somewhere in the shadows behind them, a casualty of their relentless pursuit of the truth. With a silent nod, Holten took the lead, swiping the card through the reader at the side entrance. The lock clicked open, and they slipped inside.
The corridors were empty, save for the faint hum of security cameras tracking their every move. They moved swiftly, shadows among shadows, until they reached the elevator at the center of the building. Holten reached for the button when, suddenly, footsteps echoed from down the hall. A squad of guards rounded the corner, catching sight of them in an instant.
"Go, go!" Holten shouted, raising his leg to deliver a powerful kick to the nearest guard. His boot connected with the guard's jaw, sending him sprawling across the floor.
Beside him, Nolven's fists clenched tight as he drove a punch into the second guard's face, dropping him to the ground. The remaining guards hesitated, just long enough for the two to slip into the elevator, jamming the button for the top floor—the level marked on the map they'd acquired.
The elevator doors slid shut, but their respite was brief. They could hear the guards scrambling, calling for backup over their radios. Holten and Nolven exchanged a tense look as the elevator hummed, each floor bringing them closer to whatever awaited at the top.
Holten held up the map they had risked so much to retrieve, frowning as he traced its pages. Each floor had its own page—a careful layout of rooms, stairwells, and security checkpoints. But something was wrong. He flipped to the top floor, only to find that the page had been torn. What remained was a jagged scrap, enough to read just two haunting words: "Top Secret."
"What do we do now?" Nolven muttered, glancing over Holten's shoulder.
Holten's eyes narrowed. "We go up, just as planned. We don't need a map to find out what's waiting for us."
The elevator dinged softly as it reached the top.