The sky over Virellian City was filled with dark clouds. Rain poured down, hitting rooftops and streets. Lightning flashed now and then, followed by loud thunder. The whole city looked like it was holding its breath.

Ash sat alone in a quiet café. He wore a black coat and sat near the window, watching the rain run down the glass. The coffee in front of him had gone cold. His eyes were tired.

He had stopped his brother, Orion. The plan to wake all the hidden agents had failed. The Spire had fallen. But Ash didn’t feel victory. He felt... empty.

Sable came in, shaking rain from her coat. She looked at Ash, then sat down across from him.

“It’s done,” she said. “The Bureau cleaned up the last of the Spire. No more data links. No more guards. They’ve sealed the place.”

Ash gave a slow nod. “But it’s not over.”

Sable frowned. “You think there’s more?”

“There’s always more,” Ash said softly. “Orion was only one piece.”

They sat in silence. The sound of rain filled the space between them.

“You look tired,” Sable said.

Ash gave her a weak smile. “I’ve been tired a long time.”

---

In the Cipher Bureau

Orion sat in a small room with white walls and a metal chair. His hands were locked in cuffs. He didn’t move when the door opened.

A woman in a black suit stepped inside. Agent Kesh. Two guards followed her.

She looked at Orion. “You’ve lost. Your network is gone. The agents are inactive. We know everything.”

Orion opened his eyes slowly. “No,” he said. “You know nothing.”

Kesh crossed her arms. “We know you were the leader.”

He smiled. “Leader? No. I was only a voice. The real leader… he’s still out there.”

Kesh narrowed her eyes. “Who?”

Orion leaned forward. “The one who taught Ash. The man who built the Order before it even had a name.”

Kesh froze. “That man is dead.”

Orion’s smile grew colder. “That’s what we all thought.”

---

Back at the Safehouse

Ash opened a sealed envelope Nell had brought. Inside were two pictures.

One showed a dockyard near the ocean. Cargo containers and cranes filled the image.

The other picture was blurry. It showed a man stepping off a ship. The man’s face was partly hidden, but something about him made Ash’s heart stop.

The man wore a silver ring with a strange symbol—the same ring Ash’s old mentor used to wear.

Sable came over. “Who is that?”

Ash stared at the photo. “The man who trained me. The one who made the Order. I thought he died years ago.”

He looked up. Rain still hit the windows hard, but something else now filled the air—a sense of coming danger.

“If he’s back,” Ash said, “then everything we just stopped was only the beginning.”