Kain's pulse pounded as he stared at the glowing terminal. His own designation—Operative K-03: Scheduled Erasure—was listed among countless others.
A list of dead men walking.
He turned to The Wraith, his voice low. "Explain. Now."
The Wraith exhaled, crossing their arms. "The Cipher Lords control everything. You already know that much."
Kain nodded stiffly. Everyone knew the Cipher Lords were the unseen rulers of the underground—brokers of secrets, manipulators of fate. But this? This was different.
The Wraith continued. "You think you're an operative. A killer. But in their eyes, you're nothing more than an expendable asset—one they erase the moment you learn too much."
Kain clenched his jaw. "I never betrayed them."
A dry chuckle. "Betrayal? No. But you've reached the limit of your usefulness." The Wraith gestured to the screen. "See the pattern? Every operative marked for erasure has something in common."
Kain scanned the list. At first, it was just a stream of names and numbers—but then, he saw it.
Each operative was involved in a mission labeled Project Veil Expansion.
Kain's last mission—the one that went sideways.
His stomach turned. "What the hell is Project Veil?"
The Wraith's expression hardened. "The real power behind the Cipher Lords."
---
The Power Hidden in the Shadows
The Wraith tapped the terminal, pulling up a series of encrypted files. The screen flickered, revealing a diagram—a city map.
Kain's breath hitched. It wasn't just any city.
It was every city under the Cipher Lords' control.
Marked across them were dozens of unseen facilities, hidden zones, off-grid black sites.
And all of them connected to a single underground network.
"The Veil isn't just a name," The Wraith said. "It's a system. A machine designed to control the flow of information, power, and influence. The Cipher Lords don't just kill their enemies—they rewrite reality itself."
Kain narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"
The Wraith leaned in. "I'm saying that the world you know is a fabrication. The Cipher Lords erase people, rewrite events, manipulate history itself. And the moment you stepped beyond your role, they decided you were next."
Kain's mind reeled. He had killed for the Cipher Lords. Bled for them. Spent years clawing his way up their ranks.
And now, he was just another loose end.
He exhaled slowly. "Then why tell me this? What do you want from me?"
The Wraith's eyes burned in the dim glow of the screen. "I need your help to destroy them."