A week later.
Daniel closed his right eye.
Opened his left.
Blurred.
A silhouette.
Two fingers.
He blinked.
“Two.”
The doctor lowered his hand.
“Again.”
Changed.
Daniel focused.
“Four.”
The light passed in front of his face.
Daniel gritted his teeth slightly.
“It still bothers me.”
“That's normal.”
The doctor switched off the torch.
“The swelling has gone down quite a lot. Your vision is responding well.”
Daniel let out a breath.
“So?”
“We see no signs of permanent loss.”
Daniel nodded.
Once.
Slowly.
“Good.”
The doctor pointed at his arm.
Still in a sling.
“The shoulder is another story.”
Daniel looked at him.
“How long?”
“Weeks.”
“That's very vague.”
“On purpose.”
Daniel smiled.
The doctor did not.
“No A.R.E.”
“All right.”
“No physical training.”
Daniel stopped smiling.
“All right.”
“And no trying to see if you can repeat what happened at E-47.”
Daniel looked up.
Silence.
The doctor closed the folder.
“That last one wasn't in my instructions.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“I thought as much.”
“But it seemed appropriate.”
Daniel looked towards the door.
“Everyone knows more about E-47 than I do.”
“Then you must have a lot of questions.”
“That's the problem.”
When the doctor left, Daniel stayed in front of the mirror in the consulting room.
His face was no longer covered.
The wound had closed.
Still red.
Uneven.
It began above his eyebrow.
Ran down one side of his face.
His eye looked tired.
But he could see.
Daniel tilted his head slightly.
The mark moved with him.
It would not disappear completely.
They had already told him.
He passed a finger close to it.
Without touching it.
“It suits you.”
Daniel looked towards the door.
Xenya was leaning against the frame.
Daniel lowered his hand.
“That sounded pretty bad.”
“I was trying to be nice.”
“You're not good at it.”
“I know.”
Xenya came in.
No operational uniform.
No daggers.
Daniel watched her.
“What are you doing here?”
“They called me in.”
“Because of me?”
“Not everything revolves around you.”
Daniel smiled.
“So no.”
Xenya shook her head.
“Training posting.”
Daniel's smile faded a little.
“Ah.”
They went out into the corridor together.
Daniel walked more slowly than usual.
So did Xenya.
He noticed.
Said nothing.
“Have they told you anything yet?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
“Alyra's going back to Nerea.”
“Iskander?”
“Him too.”
“Melisa.”
“U.A.O.”
Daniel looked at her.
“That was easy.”
“Very observant.”
“And you?”
Xenya put her hands in her pockets.
“Voltris.”
A pause.
“A different programme.”
“Here?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel nodded.
They reached a door.
ROOM 4 — POST-OPERATION REVIEW
Xenya stopped.
So did Daniel.
“I suppose it's here.”
“Looks like it.”
Neither opened it.
Xenya looked ahead.
“How strange.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That never means nothing.”
Xenya let out a breath.
“Two weeks ago, I didn't even know who any of you were.”
Daniel did not answer.
“And now Iskander owes me a dagger.”
“It was yours.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel smiled.
Xenya looked down for a moment.
“And now we all go back to what we were doing.”
Daniel watched the door.
“So it seems.”
“We might cross paths.”
“We might.”
Daniel looked at her.
“That didn't sound very convinced, either.”
Xenya gave him a small nudge with her shoulder.
On the right.
“Open it.”
The others were inside.
Alyra.
Melisa.
Iskander.
Iskander was no longer using a wheelchair.
Two crutches.
Daniel looked at him.
Iskander raised one.
“I've improved.”
“Clearly.”
“Don't even start.”
Alyra shook her head.
“He's been waiting all morning for someone to say that.”
“That's not true.”
“It's completely true,” Melisa said.
Daniel sat down.
Xenya beside him.
An A.E.E. official stood in front of them.
On the screen:
E-47
MISSION REVIEW
“Before we begin, I want to make one thing clear.”
All five looked up.
“The training group officially ends today.”
Silence.
Iskander raised a hand.
“What a way to start.”
The man continued.
“E-47 was part of an integration programme. Different Houses. U.A.O. Different roles. Different profiles required to operate together.”
He looked at the files.
“You do not constitute a permanent unit.”
Daniel looked at the others.
No one seemed surprised.
Even so:
hearing it was different.
“Your next postings will be arranged individually.”
The screen changed.
ALYRA — NEREA
ISKANDER — NEREA
XENYA — VOLTRIS
MELISA — U.A.O.
The final line took a moment.
DANIEL RODRÍGUEZ — MEDICAL REVIEW / STATUS PENDING
Iskander turned his head.
“That's unfair.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
“You get more words.”
Alyra closed her eyes.
Xenya gave a small laugh.
The official continued.
“The mission will formally conclude when the final report is closed.”
Daniel looked up.
“And the Alpha?”
“Not located.”
The atmosphere changed.
“We have blood, movement trails and signs that the pack withdrew north.”
Alyra asked:
“Is she alive?”
“We can't confirm that.”
Daniel fell silent.
Those eyes.
The final moment.
“But we don't have a body, either.”
Xenya folded her arms.
“Then she's alive.”
The man looked at her.
“That is not an official conclusion.”
“I didn't say it was.”
The screen changed.
OPERATIONAL RESULT
EVACUATION COMPLETE
NO HUMAN FATALITIES
ALPHA / PACK — WITHDRAWAL
Daniel read the second line twice.
No fatalities.
Melisa was looking at it too.
Iskander stopped joking.
Alyra breathed.
Xenya leaned back slightly.
No fatalities.
Daniel looked down.
For the first time since waking up:
he smiled without effort.
“You made mistakes,” the official continued.
Iskander murmured:
“Here it comes.”
“Many.”
“Yes.”
“You broke formation.”
Xenya looked away.
“Ignored protocols.”
Melisa raised an eyebrow.
“Lost equipment.”
Iskander adjusted one of his crutches.
“And forced two experienced leaders to continue directing the mission while injured.”
Silence.
The man closed the report.
“And you brought every member of the deployment out alive.”
All five looked up.
“That will be recorded too.”
No one made any jokes.
“You may go.”
Iskander blinked.
“Already?”
“Yes.”
“I was expecting something more...”
“Dramatic?”
“A little.”
The man pointed at the door.
“Out.”
In the corridor:
no one quite knew what to do.
Iskander looked one way.
Then the other.
“Well.”
Alyra looked at him.
“Well.”
“It's been...”
Xenya raised a hand.
“If you say ‘a pleasure’, I'll hit you.”
“I wasn't going to say that.”
“What were you going to say?”
Iskander thought.
“Horrible.”
“Better.”
Melisa smiled.
Alyra came over to Daniel.
“Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
“And don't try to train.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why does everyone say that?”
“Because we know you now.”
Iskander raised a crutch towards Daniel.
Daniel bumped his right fist against it.
“Next time, I'll try not to get broken.”
Daniel smiled.
“I'd appreciate that.”
“No promises.”
Melisa was next.
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Melisa.”
She smiled.
“The claw is safe.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“That wasn't what I was going to ask.”
“But it was what you wanted to know.”
Daniel could not argue with that.
“Thank you.”
“We'll see if you're still thanking me when we have to explain why it exists.”
Alyra and Iskander began to walk.
Very slowly.
“I don't need help,” Iskander said.
“I'm not helping you.”
“You're holding me.”
“Because you're going to fall.”
“That's helping.”
Their voices receded.
Melisa looked at her phone.
“They're waiting for me downstairs.”
Daniel nodded.
“See you.”
“Probably.”
Melisa left.
Daniel and Xenya were left.
Xenya pointed at his face.
“Don't cover it.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“The scar.”
“It isn't a scar yet.”
“You know what I mean.”
Daniel watched her.
“Why?”
Xenya shrugged.
“Because you earned it.”
Daniel watched her.
“That was almost kind.”
Xenya went still.
Just for a second.
“Shut up.”
Daniel smiled.
Xenya turned.
“See you, Zero.”
Daniel looked at her.
Months ago:
that word would have hurt.
Now:
it did not.
“See you, Xenya.”
She raised a hand without turning round.
And kept walking.
Daniel stayed there.
Alone.
For the first time since E-47.
He looked at his hand.
Nothing.
Then walked in the opposite direction.
Later.
AERIS.
Nair held out a hand.
A current crossed the room.
The ribbon suspended in front of him steadied.
An instructor made a note.
Nair looked at the result.
Took his position again.
“Again.”
IGNIS.
Ander closed his fist.
Controlled fire around his knuckles.
A blow.
The flame disappeared before reaching the target.
“Too soon,” the instructor said.
Ander breathed.
Raised his hands again.
AERIS.
Three small pieces of paper floated around Arisha.
One fell.
Then another.
The third remained suspended.
A notification appeared on her terminal.
CALL-UP — NEXT CYCLE
Arisha looked up.
NEREA.
Armando closed a locker.
On the nameplate:
HARMONDEZ
He looked at it for a moment.
Then left.
SYLVAR.
Flora looked at her phone.
A message.
DANIEL: I'm still alive.
Flora typed.
Unfortunately.
She smiled.
Put her phone away.
AUREL.
Clara walked along a wide corridor.
Pale walls.
Light coming in through large windows.
Aurel's emblem on the doors.
At the end of the corridor:
a man waited.
He needed no introduction.
The members passing him changed their posture slightly.
Some bowed their heads.
Others simply fell silent.
The leader of Aurel.
Clara stopped in front of him.
“They told me you wanted to see me.”
“Yes.”
The man pointed towards the room.
“Come in.”
Clara did.
Then she saw the other man.
Military uniform.
Standing beside a table.
More grey hair than last time.
The same posture.
The same gaze.
Clara stopped.
She knew him.
Not his name.
His face.
Rubble.
Dust.
A weapon.
The day of the Fall.
The soldier.
He recognised her too.
It was barely a change in his eyes.
Nothing more.
Several files lay on the table.
One remained closed.
Clara managed to see a single reference:
E-47
The leader of Aurel sat down.
The soldier remained on his right.
He did not seem to be there by chance.
“Sit down, Clara.”
She obeyed.
Looked at the soldier once more.
He said nothing.
The door closed.
SERPENTIA.
A training room.
Minimal light.
Long shadows on the floor.
Darian struck.
His opponent stepped back.
Another attack.
The fight ended.
Darian breathed.
“Again.”
No one stepped forward.
Footsteps.
Not fast.
Not loud.
But enough.
Darian turned.
A man had entered.
The others moved aside without being asked.
The leader of Serpentia.
He wore dark clothes.
No unnecessary adornments.
The House emblem on his chest.
Darian watched him.
Did not lower his gaze.
Neither did the man.
“Darian.”
“What?”
The leader held a folder.
NEXT CYCLE
“You're finished here.”
Darian looked around.
Then at the man.
“You think so?”
A pause.
The leader of Serpentia opened the door.
“Come and find out.”
Darian smiled.
Very slightly.
He followed him.
The door closed.
Barcelona.
02:41.
Blue lights.
Police.
A.E.E.
A closed street.
A covered body.
An officer watched the technician kneeling beside the wall.
A scanner moved over the cement.
To the naked eye:
nothing.
On the screen:
three residual lines crossed at the same point.
ETHER RESIDUE DETECTED
The officer looked at the reading.
“The same mark?”
The technician opened an image.
Another scene.
Another victim.
The same shape.
“Yes.”
The officer looked at the body.
“And does it match the previous ones?”
“The same residue pattern.”
“Cause of death?”
The technician looked towards the forensic team.
“Consistent.”
Silence.
The officer lowered his voice.
“Then we have the same killer.”
The technician did not answer immediately.
Saved the reading.
“It's been the same killer since shortly after the Fall.”
The man looked at the earlier photographs.
Too many.
“A serial killer.”
The technician put the device away.
“Yes.”
The officer looked at the mark again.
“Affinity?”
“Unconfirmed.”
“House?”
“None attributed.”
Another photograph.
Another wall.
The same trace of Ether.
“And are they still active?”
The technician looked at the body.
“You've just seen it.”
A.E.E.
RESTRICTED AREA.
A screen.
RODRÍGUEZ, DANIEL
S.E.E.: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Raw data.
Interference.
Incomplete readings from E-47.
One position.
Another.
The system had marked both:
READING ERROR
A person was watching the screen.
A lab coat.
Hands still on the table.
Identification turned away.
The name could not be seen.
Another person entered.
“I've reviewed the files you requested.”
“Barcelona?”
“Yes.”
The figure in the lab coat looked up.
A folder appeared on the table.
DAY OF THE FALL
Images of Barcelona.
Clear sky.
The daylight broken by what was descending over the city.
Fragments.
Chaos.
Saturated readings.
The person turned a page.
Another.
Another.
“Here.”
A record.
HOURS AFTER THE MAIN IMPACT
Distortion.
Interference.
Data the system had discarded.
The figure compared the two screens.
E-47.
The Fall.
They were not the same.
But something did not fit in either of them.
“Who reviewed this?”
“It was filed as an instrument error.”
“And afterwards?”
“Nothing.”
The figure zoomed in on the data.
UNCLASSIFIED
Then looked at Daniel's file.
0 / 0 / 0 / 0
“Keep it outside the general file.”
The other person hesitated.
“Under what classification?”
Silence.
The person in the lab coat closed the file.
“None.”
“And Rodríguez?”
The hand rested on the file.
“Not yet.”
The screen went dark.
AUREL.
Clara remained seated in front of her leader.
The soldier was still on his right.
White light passed through the window.
Clara looked at the soldier.
He held her gaze.
SERPENTIA.
Darian walked behind his leader.
A dark corridor.
A door at the far end.
The leader opened it.
Darian went in.
The door began to close.
Before disappearing:
Darian looked back.
AUREL.
SERPENTIA.
CUT TO BLACK.
END OF SEASON 1 — THE AWAKENING