[Chamber X Viper] Begins at the End

Murder (II)

Although they had read about it countless times in intelligence reports, when the Valorant agents actually saw Abyss from the plane, they were still stunned by the scene before them.
Bottomless cliffs, bridges so narrow that only one person could pass at a time, and pathways where a slight misstep could lead to a fall to the valley floor. All these complex terrains were interconnected by secret passages and hidden rooms, blending into this isolated structure.
"There—," the new agent Clove pointed to a cave entrance not far away.
As the plane slowly approached, the agents felt the true depth of these cliffs for the first time.
"Prepare for landing!" Viper commanded the agents behind her, "And watch your step!"
Jett, Omen, Clove, Chamber, and Viper came to the entrance of Abyss in turn.
The agents checked their equipment and guns, set up the necessary props for the mission, or warmed up by running.
Only Chamber seemed leisurely, standing there with a hunter in his hand, not loading it, but looking towards Viper.
"You have words to say to me," Chamber confidently said.
"How about we go dancing again after this mission?" Chamber persisted.
"I'd rather drink my own poison," Viper retorted grudgingly, "Remember our promise—less flirting, more focus."

Chamber vaguely agreed and then went aside to load his hunter.
Viper was somewhat puzzled by what he was really thinking. She had given such a clear hint last night, yet it seemed like he hadn't heard at all, still having the leisure to flirt here.
"Viper, what's the plan this time?" Jett's voice came from beside her.
Viper suddenly looked up, realizing she had been distracted.
"Follow the plan on Site A," Viper answered simply.
Besides the cliffs, another feature of the Abyss was a secret passage between Sites A and B. Breaking through the small doors at both ends allowed passage through it, greatly reducing the time rotating from Site A to Site B.
Thus, the plan for the team was for Omen to use his shrouded step to quickly clear the secret passage, with Clove leading the team in a fake attack on Site B. Once the enemy's firepower was drawn to Site B, Omen would then lead the team rotating through the secret passage to Site A. Finally, Viper would plant the spike on the broken bridge in Area A and use the vision-blocking effect of Viper's Pit to cut off the enemy's reinforcements.

"3, 2, 1—"
The smoke descended simultaneously in both Sites, and the agents started their mission as planned.
Just like the previous mission in Icebox, this operation also went smoothly. Under the confusion of smoke and various props, the enemy was quickly gathered in Site B. Jett initiated the Tailwind to attract fire, then quickly dashed away, sounding the horn for the rotating.
Under Omen's leadership, everyone smoothly entered the deserted Site A. Viper used her agility to jump onto the broken bridge and placed the Spike in the narrow stretch of the bridge.
"Welcome to my world—" Viper deployed her Viper's Pit at the planned spot.
Due to the vision obstruction and the special ability to highlight enemies, Viper was almost invincible inside her Viper's Pit, with the only threat coming from behind.
Thus, Chamber stood opposite her, and the two formed a 180-degree crossfire.
Seemingly wary of the Viper's Pit, and despite the Spike being placed, the enemy did not appear for retake.
"Could they have been scared off?" the new agent, Clove, said cheerfully.
However, Viper's face remained grim, silently staring in the direction of the broken bridge.
"Beep, beep, beep—" The Spike's countdown had entered the red zone.
The agents in the Site began to retreat towards the passage to avoid being killed by the Spike's explosion.
"Boom—Boom Boom—"
Inside the Viper's Pit, Viper immediately became alert; she knew these were the sounds of Raze's Paint shells, coming from behind Chamber.
Viper counted down, 3, 2, 1, and emerged from cover only to see Chamber forced back onto the broken bridge by the Paint shells.
Worse yet, unbeknownst to him, a Star had appeared beneath his feet.
The so-called Star, summoned by agent Astra, is a special trap that can turn into a Nebula or Nova Pulse, or even a Gravity Well. The gravity well pulls people towards the center of the orb, with stronger suction at the edges than the center, making it difficult for most to resist.
In other words, next to a cliff, a person caught by the Gravity Well is likely to fall off the cliff.

Despite the dwindling countdown of the Spike, Viper calmly picked up her Vandal and used her ability to highlight enemies to locate Raze. However, just as she was about to take aim at Raze, Astra activated her Gravity Well.
Chamber, caught in the Gravity Well, struggled painfully towards its edge. The gravity made it difficult for him to aim at the enemies. Jett and Clove had already retreated outside the site to block any enemies trying to retake, and even if they rushed, they couldn't reach the site before the Spike exploded. Meanwhile, Omen was still near a secret passage, and he had already used up both charges of his teleportation ability during the initial push, making it impossible for him to quickly reposition next to Chamber.
Viper knew that she was the only one who could protect Chamber now. She raised her gun and headshot Raze who was trying to finish off Chamber. Then she turned her aim towards the owner of the Star—Astra.
However, the Star itself is indestructible; even if its owner falls, the Gravity Well continues to pull people in.
If this were on flat ground, those caught could simply stay at the center of the gravity well and wait for it to dissipate naturally. But on the broken bridge, the center was over the cliff, and Chamber could only struggle against it. Despite his efforts, the tiny Star still pulled him towards the edge of the bridge.
"Forget about me, just run—" Chamber shouted to Viper.
Viper had just run a few steps when she heard the sound of a hunter.
She looked back at the broken bridge, where her teammate Chamber had disappeared, replaced by a man looked just the same. This man, smirking at her, was Omega's agent Chamber.
A meaningful smile spread across that man's face, seemingly saying something.

"What's wrong, Viper? Why did you come out so late?" Jett asked with concern as she saw Viper running out of the Site.
Before she could explain anything, a loud "Bang—" was heard as the Spike exploded.
Moments later, the earth returned to calm.
"Search for the wounded and dropped weapons," Viper said calmly.
The agents dispersed, returning to the site of the recent battle to collect dropped weapons.
Viper walked alone towards the site where the Spike had just exploded. Even though she had watched Chamber fall off the cliff just seconds before, she still harbored a sliver of unrealistic hope as she walked towards the broken bridge.
Below the broken bridge, the cliff was bottomless, visible only as a few swirling mists.
She crouched next to a now inactive teleport anchor in the Site, where there was nothing left.
Viper stared at the anchor, seemingly lost in thought.
"There are no enemies left." Jett came over and patted the crouching Viper.
"Is Chamber—" Clove started to speak, sensing the mood was off, she quickly stopped herself.
"I'm sorry, I..."
"Retreat!" Viper did not let Clove finish her sentence, issuing the order coldly.
The sound of engines roared as Abyss faded from view.


At 3 a.m., Viper was still at her computer, typing like a zombie.
"Chamber, KIA. Body not found."
Mechanically hitting the "Send" button, Viper continued to sit by her desk, devoid of any hint of sleepiness.
There were already four empty coffee cups on her desk.
It wasn't that there was so much work to do; she just didn't want to sleep.
Because as soon as she closed her eyes, the scene from the day would replay in her mind.
In the Pit, Chamber struggled desperately before falling off the cliff.
Just like years ago in that laboratory, where Omen, struck by her, screamed in agony.
Flames soared, sorrow was everywhere...
The images in her memory overlapped continuously with those before her eyes.
Anger, pain, despair...
Like that night years ago, Viper faced devastation but was powerless to stop it.

At 5 a.m., Viper's bed felt as if it were studded with nails, making it unbearable.
Having not slept all night, she got up and, in the dim light, opened the love letter on her desk.
"Dear Sabine,
By the time you receive this letter, I'm likely in a dire situation, so I entrust this list of last wishes to you. If possible, I hope you can fulfill them for me."
"Idiot!" Viper muttered to herself.
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and continued reading.
"Chamber's last wishes:
May you find the truth and live well, Sabine.
Yours, Vincent (P.S. or Idiot)"
"What an idiot." Viper gritted her teeth as she spoke.
In fact, Chamber had guessed right during the day. Viper did have something she wanted to ask him; she wondered whether she should soak this love letter in poison as well.
But Viper already knew the answer.
She carefully put the letter away in her pocket, planning to take it to the lab when daylight came.

"
"We have temporarily lost a comrade." Brimstone said with a heavy tone during the tactical meeting, "We are fully committed to the search for Chamber. Agent Killjoy is exploring safe methods to reach the bottom of Abyss's cliff. Until then, we will proceed with operations without Chamber."
Viper listened to the tactical meeting distractedly, hastily jotting down the main points on paper.
For the first time, she felt Brimstone was utterly hypocritical.
She was angry about Brimstone's decisions and regretted not speaking the truth at the time.
"Maybe Cypher was right; just because we suspect an agent of betrayal, we let him be killed off like this, such protocol will eventually drive people away," Viper thought to herself.
Realizing her own dissatisfaction with Brimstone, Viper unconsciously stopped her note-taking.
Viper was among the first batch of agents to join the Valorant protocol.
In her eyes, Brimstone had been the most trustworthy comrade.
When Chamber first joined the Valorant protocol, Viper had told Brimstone that she did not trust Chamber and was always ready to "take care of" him if he acted suspiciously.
However, at this moment, she was angry with Brimstone over Chamber's death.
Anger, pain, despair... Where do these emotions truly come from?
Realizing the answer, Viper sank into deeper despair.
At this moment, just like then, Viper walked out of the now-ruined laboratory, her heart aching as if being sliced, for the first time realizing how much she truly cherished in her life.

After the meeting, Viper walked to the laboratory alone.
She skillfully put on her protective suit, skillfully took out a bunch of bottles and jars from the cabinet, and skillfully assembled the experimental apparatus.
Green liquid slowly flowed from one end of the tube.
She put the love letter in it, just as she had done countless times before.
However, there was no other person in a protective suit watching her.
Viper forced herself not to mind these things.
However, in front of the waste tank, she hesitated.
"What's the point? the letter is dissolved. Keeping a bottle of poison mixed with impurities, what for?" Viper said to herself.
Taking a deep breath, Viper tried to steel herself.
She poured everything from the bottle into the waste tank, and the green liquid cascaded down the drain rod.
However, at the bottom of the bottle, a small clump of white material remained inside.
Viper immediately understood what it was.
"This idiot," Viper muttered under her breath.
Even though she had thought of it when Chamber asked her to soak the love letter in poison, even in a life-or-death situation he thought to make such a joke. Only now, this joke brought Viper no comfort whatsoever.

Viper used special tweezers to pick up what was actually a piece of fabric, and, having had experience as a doctor, and to prevent accidents, the laboratory always kept reagents that could wash out poison.
"Let's treat it as if it were the clothing of the wounded."
Talking to herself, Viper unconsciously used this seemingly light-hearted self-dialogue, much like Chamber would have, to get through this sad moment, believing that only in this way could despair not truly break her.
Viper clamped out the fabric, applied a small amount of reagent to cleanse it from the poison, then rinsed it thoroughly with plenty of water.
Finally, she hung the fabric on a clothes rack on the laboratory's outdoor terrace.
Looking at the blue-skied world outside the window, Viper sighed deeply.
"If Chamber were here now, what would he say?"
Perhaps he would invite her to dance, or to dinner.
Then Viper would refuse with a look of disdain.
She was old, no longer interested in such things.
Though the little girl inside her heart might not really hate these things so much.
But all that was in the past.
Years later, would she regret not taking up one serious invitation?
Like that year, after the lab attack...
"Enough." Viper forced herself to stop, not to dwell on those painful memories.
She cleaned up the laboratory items and returned to her room before it was fully dark. She numbed her aching nerves with alcohol and soon fell into a deep sleep.

At the crack of dawn, Skye was inappropriately training her hawk trinket again, its piercing cries waking Viper from the same nightmare that had been plaguing her.
Tossing and turning in bed, Viper realized she couldn't fall back asleep.
So, she decided to get up and head to the laboratory to uncover whatever secrets might lie on that piece of fabric.
By the morning light, she walked out to the terrace to take down the now-dried cloth.
On the slightly faded fabric, a few lines of English were scrawled awkwardly.
Viper quickly understood his message.
"Idiot," Viper cursed again.
As usual, her tone was cold yet magnetic.
Only this time, she couldn't stop the tears already streaming down her face.