Location: Ravenview City Hospital, Tavara – 11:35 PM
The soft beeping of the monitor was the only sound in the dimly lit room. Nora stood at the window, her hands tucked into the sleeves of her long white coat, watching the city below as it buzzed beneath cold streetlights.
She should have been relieved. The surgery on the intelligence officer had been successful. They had retrieved a data chip from the man's chest cavity—proof of Cassian Wolfe's infiltration into Tavara's pharmaceutical distribution systems.
But her mind was elsewhere.
The door clicked behind her. It was Sophia—her right-hand nurse, who had become more than just medical support over the years. A trusted ally.
"You're still here?" Sophia asked gently. "You've been on your feet for almost sixteen hours."
Nora didn't turn. "This war isn't fought only on battlefields. It's inside labs. In hospitals. In data cores hidden inside a man's heart."
Sophia stepped closer. "Is it about Damien?"
Silence.
Then, Nora exhaled, "Yes. And no. He's walking into fire. I can feel it. He's moving closer to something… dangerous."
Sophia hesitated. "Do you trust him to make it out?"
"I trust him," Nora said, eyes flickering. "But it doesn't mean I'll sit here waiting like a ghost."
She turned to the table where the data chip now sat sealed in a containment drive. "What we found—this chip—it points to the Ashvine Trials. Secret experiments, human trials… and a direct connection to the Vale Institute."
Sophia's eyes widened. "Isn't that where your father was treated before he died?"
Nora nodded slowly. "And where Damien's mother once disappeared."
She picked up the drive and looked at Sophia with burning resolve. "Cassian's roots go deeper than we thought. I'm activating Protocol Echo."
"You haven't touched that in five years. Are you sure?"
"I was too scared before," Nora said. "But now… it's personal."
Sophia nodded. "What do you need?"
"A private jet. Two contacts in Geneva. And access to every locked medical record from the Vale Institute."
"What should I tell Damien if he calls?"
Nora's eyes turned steely. "Tell him I'm chasing ghosts of my own."