The final battle against Dustin had pushed Aditya past his absolute limits. When his vision cracked and faded into a cold, empty blackness, he didn't feel the agonizing pull of his injuries. He didn't feel James dragging his shattered body away from the battlefield, nor did he hear the frantic alarms of the medical transport.
Because of the critical, unprecedented nature of his internal Flux injuries, Aditya had been rushed straight to the high-security medical wing of the
AIEO (America India Europe Organization)
command headquarters. For weeks, his life hung by a single, fraying thread.
Then, after ninety days of static, his eyes violently snapped open.
The harsh, sterile white lights of the AIEO intensive care unit blinded him. His chest heaved, gasping for air that felt heavy and cold in his lungs. Every muscle in his body screamed with a deep, paralyzing stiffness.
"Where... where am I?" Aditya muttered. His voice was a dry, raspy whisper, stripped of its usual calm precision.
A familiar figure rushed to his bedside, frantically checking the holographic vital monitors blinking above his head. It was Jeena—a brilliant Flux doctor, a former peer from his academy days, and one of the very few people Aditya trusted with his life.
"Calm down, Aditya. Don't force your muscles," Jeena said, her voice a mix of profound relief and medical authority. "You're safe. You are inside the AIEO Headquarters Hospital."
Aditya ignored the aching stiffness in his joints, trying to force his body into a sitting position. "How long... how long have I been out?"
Jeena stopped adjusting the IV drips, looking down at him with a heavy, somber expression. "Almost three months."
Aditya's eyes widened, the sharp tactical gears in his mind suddenly grinding to a halt. "Three months? That's good... Wait.
WTF?! Three months?!
" He gripped his temples, a sudden spike of adrenaline forcing his Flux energy to ripple weakly. "Jeena, how do I feel? No, scratch that—what about the mission? What about the data harvest on the NVA Syndicate?"
Jeena sighed deeply, crossing her arms as she leaned against the metal railing of the bed. "You sent barely any data before your vitals dropped to zero, Aditya. We've been operating in the dark. How are we supposed to track a syndicate when our primary operative is in a coma?"
"Why didn't you just interrogate James?" Aditya demanded, his brow furrowing. "He was with me. He has the missing pieces."
Jeena blinked, her confusion completely genuine. "Who is James? The hospital intake logs state that an anonymous old man admitted you through our secure drop-zone. He left your encrypted phone, a young child, and completely vanished into the shadows before security could lock down the perimeter. The emergency response team only knew to contact me because your phone's override system pinged my medical ID."
Aditya's heart skipped a beat. The web of mysteries was only growing wider. "Wait... what child?"
"I've been asking myself that exact question for twelve weeks," Jeena said, her voice dropping to a cautious whisper. "Out of pure suspicion, I ran an advanced genetic sequencing test on the boy. Aditya, the results make absolutely zero logical sense. There is a 0% DNA match to anyone in our global databases, but his cellular structure is actively fluctuating. A forced genetic alteration is happening inside his body right now."
Aditya looked down at his trembling, pale hands, calculating the variables. "Is he safe in the academy ranks for now?"
"Physically, he's stable," Jeena admitted, her eyes darting toward the security cameras in the hallway. "But the higher-ups are getting restless. The research division is already drafting paperwork to take the boy into custody for high-tier experimentation."
Slamming his palms against the mattress, Aditya swung his legs over the edge of the bed, ripping the monitoring patches off his skin. "Then there's no time to waste. I need to report to the command center immediately. My work is incomplete."
Jeena watched him stand, knowing better than to try and restrain the organization's most disciplined soldier. She gave a faint, weary smile. "I just hope I don't see you back in this bed by the end of the week, Aditya."
The AIEO Command Center
Aditya marched through the reinforced steel doors of the central command tier, his posture rigid despite his physical exhaustion. Behind a massive mahogany desk filled with glowing tactical maps sat
Mr. Jones
, the absolute Director and Head of the AIEO.
Jones looked up from his screens, his sharp, calculating eyes locking onto the young soldier. "Aditya. You're awake. How are you?"
"I am functional, sir," Aditya replied, standing at perfect attention.
"Why are you here? A three-month coma warrants an extended evaluation period, not a stroll into my office."
"I am here to finalize my uncompleted assignment," Aditya stated, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. "To dismantle the NVA Syndicate's infrastructure and secure the asset, I require the mobilization of a highly senior, elite tactical team."
Mr. Jones leaned back in his leather chair, intertwining his fingers. A heavy, suffocating silence filled the room.
"I cannot grant you an elite team, Aditya. The board has completely locked down our veteran deployments. Right now, nearly ninety percent of our senior forces are engaged in a massive, black-budget containment operation to hunt down
Vectors
—those catastrophic anomalies where a human body utterly fails to handle the pressure of its own mutated power."
Aditya didn't flinch. He adjusted the cuff of his standard-issue uniform, his mind already pivoting to an alternative strategy. "Then grant me authorization to requisition my previous student, Jeena, and whatever personnel are currently unassigned."
Jones stared at him, weighing the immense value of the soldier standing before him against the political risks of the mission. "Re-entering a live combat zone with rookie assets is a massive gamble, Aditya. But you have been an indispensable, trusted weapon for this organization for years."
Jones tapped a command key on his desk, transferring a digital manifest to Aditya's device. "Permission granted. You may select your squad from the newly graduated passing students. Form your team, train them, and complete the objective."
Jones locked eyes with him, the holographic lights casting deep shadows over his face. "Do not let the syndicate break them