Aegis Core

The Sinner

I stepped into my cabin, my mind spinning from the meeting. Xena’s glares, the new mission roles, the tension—it was all too much. I needed a moment to think, to plan. My eyes landed on a small leather-bound book on the shelf, its worn edges familiar.

Without thinking, I reached out and flipped the book around. The moment I did, a low hum vibrated through the room. The floor beneath me shifted, the walls pulling apart, transforming the cozy cabin into something far more elaborate.

The familiar space morphed into a sprawling, high-tech command center. Holographic maps flickered to life, their glowing lines casting an eerie light on the now-glass floor. Monitors covered the walls, displaying streams of encrypted data, mission logs, and security feeds.

In the center of it all was the riddle. A massive, tangled web of characters, images, and clues floated in midair. It had haunted me for years, an unsolved puzzle that no amount of logic or strategy could untangle. I stepped closer, eyes scanning the fragments—names, coordinates, maps, people—all connected, but not in any way that made sense. What was I missing?

My fingers grazed the edges of the holograms, frustration boiling inside me. The autonomous recruitment room sat eerily still in the corner, its sleek design promising solutions I couldn’t seem to reach. The riddle mocked me.

And then, I heard a noise—a faint shuffle behind me.

My heart skipped a beat. No one was supposed to know about this place. I turned, instinctively reaching for my gun, but froze when I saw her.

“Samantha?” I breathed, eyes narrowing.

She leaned casually against the doorway, her smirk as infuriating as ever. “Well, Leo,” she said, her voice dripping with amusement, “it looks like you could use a hand.”

Samantha Rayn—Sam. The one person I hadn’t expected to see here. And just like that, the puzzle in front of me felt even more complicated.

Samantha’s eyes gleamed as she took a step closer, arms crossed, her smirk deepening. "Leo, I’m not very surprised to find you in this… disposition." Her voice was sharp, laced with amusement, like she’d expected to catch me red-handed. "And well, well, well," she continued, circling the room slowly, "I think it’s time for you to explain everything. To me… and Draco."

I clenched my jaw, my eyes following her movements. Of course Draco was involved. He probably knew more than I did at this point. Sam stopped right in front of the holographic puzzle, her gaze flickering over the tangled mess of clues and characters.

“Does Xena know about this?” she asked, her voice softening, but there was an edge to it. "And what about the full supreme head and the board of directors? Do they know about your little secret?"

The air between us was thick with tension, her questions hanging like a challenge. I knew this moment was coming—being found out. But the last person I wanted to answer to was Sam, especially with Draco likely lurking in the background.

I met her gaze, my mind already racing for the right response. Because this? This was far from over.

I took a deep breath, my eyes locking with Sam’s, her expression unreadable as I spoke.

“Well, Sam… I don’t know how to explain this, but I have a strategy.” I paused, watching her closely, gauging her reaction. “And I want our teams—yours and mine—to collaborate. This is bigger than anything we’ve ever dealt with. Bigger than we can imagine.”

Her brow arched slightly, but she stayed quiet, waiting for me to continue.

“This involves mafias, drug dealers, celebrities, politicians, presidencies, entire countries, parliaments, NGOs, businessmen—every major power player you can think of. And let me tell you, vengeance will be at the heart of it. People are going to be killed, there will be countless injured, and the public… they’ll lose their minds. Bizarre, chaotic—no one will have seen this coming.”

I took a step closer, my voice dropping lower. “The Shadows… we know nothing but the name. The supreme council keeps throwing rants around like they’ve got all the intel, but trust me—they’ve got nothing. All they know is the name. They have no idea what kind of storm is about to hit. If the Shadows, along with their collaborators—mafia leaders, politicians, celebrities, all those in power—aren’t stopped, everything we know will be destroyed.”

Sam’s eyes flickered, but she didn’t say a word. Not yet.

“The world will fall apart,” I said, my tone more urgent now. “There’ll be bloodbaths, chaos in the streets. Power will come from both sides, and it will be a war like nothing we’ve seen before. But there’s something else—a secret. Something so dangerous, so destructive, that if it falls into the wrong hands, it will ruin the world.”

I leaned in, my voice barely above a whisper. “You’re the first to know about this, Sam. So consider yourself lucky. But don’t think for a second that this was something you were ready for. No one is.”

She didn’t respond immediately, but I could see the gears turning in her head. She knew, just like I did, that we were about to face something far bigger than anything we’d ever been trained for. Something beyond control.

Sam’s eyes narrowed, her voice sharp as she shot back, “What do you mean, Leo? What exactly is about to come? Do we even know anything, or are we just throwing arrows in the dark?”

I couldn’t help but smirk at her question, the weight of it hanging in the air between us. Typical Sam, always needing control, always needing answers. I leaned back slightly, letting the tension build for just a moment.

“Well,” I said, my tone deliberate, teasing even. “Gather the team. I’ll tell you everything right away. And then…” I paused, the smirk deepening, “you’ll understand exactly how deep this goes.”

She stared at me for a second longer, her frustration barely hidden behind that cool exterior. But she knew I wasn’t bluffing. I could see it in her eyes—the curiosity, the need to know, the recognition that this wasn’t just another mission.

This was the beginning of something far darker. Something neither of us could turn away from now.