[AFTERNOON – NEIGHBORHOOD SECTOR C]
Sector C looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Rows of houses.
Closed shops.
Children's bicycles leaning against walls.
"This is it?" Lilly asked quietly.
Noah nodded.
"used to walk dogs here"
She slowed her steps.
"…You here?"
They walked side by side, assignment sheets folded in their pockets.
No cameras.
No uniforms.
No visible authority.
Exactly the kind of place where nothing was supposed to happen.
Lilly glanced around, forcing herself to focus.
"Okay," she said. "Observation. What are we looking for?"
Noah stopped near a corner shop.
"Patterns," he replied.
"Who comes and goes. Who doesn't belong."
She raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you've done this before."
"I just… notice things."
They stood quietly.
A delivery truck passed.
Too slow.
Didn't stop.
A man leaned against a lamppost.
Checked his phone.
Didn't move when they walked by.
Lilly felt it then.
The wrongness.
"Hey," she murmured. "That guy's been here since we entered the block."
Noah didn't turn his head.
"I know."
That made her uneasy.
[ROOFTOP – TWO BLOCKS AWAY]
"Targets have entered Sector C."
A voice crackled through a private channel.
"Visual confirmed. Pair moving as expected."
Ms. Mai lowered her binoculars.
No disguise now.
No classroom mask.
Just precision.
"Maintain distance," she said.
"Do not engage."
She watched Noah stop again.
Watched Lilly adjust her position slightly—instinctively placing herself between him and the street.
"…Interesting," Ms. Mai muttered.
[SECTOR C – SIDE STREET]
Lilly scribbled notes.
"Two men loitering. No clear purpose. No interaction."
Noah added quietly, "And the shop owner closed early. That's new."
She looked at him. "You're sure?"
He nodded.
"Normally he stays open till sunset."
A door across the street opened.
Someone stepped out.
Tall.
Thin.
Smile that didn't reach the eyes.
He looked directly at Noah.
Then at Lilly.
Then walked away.
Lilly felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"…Did you see that?"
Noah's jaw tightened.
"Yeah."
[CONTROL ROOM – ALERT STATUS]
"Spike detected," an analyst said.
"Minor, but localized."
The Chief Commander leaned forward.
"Source?"
"Unknown. Sector C."
Silence fell.
"That's their assignment zone," someone whispered.
The Commander didn't hesitate.
"Where's Unit Zero?"
A pause.
"Engaging the primary target," the operator replied.
"Different sector."
The Commander's jaw set.
"Then we wait."
[ROOFTOP – MS. MAI]
Ms. Mai's hand hovered near her earpiece.
She didn't activate it.
Not yet.
Her eyes never left Noah.
The boy was standing straighter now.
More alert.
Like something inside him had recognized the rules of the game.
"He shouldn't be like this," she murmured.
But he was.
And that changed everything.
[SECTOR C – EVENING APPROACHING]
"Let's head back," Lilly said.
"I don't like this place."
Noah hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
As they turned the corner, neither noticed the figure watching from behind a parked car.
Nor the faint mark on his wrist.
A symbol.
Old.
Deliberate.
The first piece on the board had moved.
And Sector C was no longer quiet