Rumors always start small—
a whisper, a joke, a misinterpreted screenshot.
But with Aria Lane, rumors didn't spread.
They detonated.
The spark came from a fan forum.
Someone uploaded a slowed-down clip of Aria catching a falling camera drone during a commercial shoot.
Her hand shot up like lightning.
Her fingers closed around the drone with perfect precision.
The uploader added a caption:
"My dad was special forces. He said this reaction isn't normal civilian speed."
That one comment birthed a monster.
The Conspiracy Flood Begins
By noon, the internet was infested with theories:
• "She used military-grade combat form in the warehouse."
• "Her grip strength is insane—did you see that elbow clip?!"
• "She moves like she's been trained."
• "She reacts before the danger fully appears on screen."
• "She has the calm of someone who's seen real combat."
Fan editors turned her survival footage into analysis videos with arrows, circles, and freeze-frames.
A trending video titled "Is Aria Lane Ex-Military?" hit 10 million views in four hours.
Another titled "The Elbow Heard Around the Nation" hit 20 million.
A retired martial arts coach posted:
"Her footwork is not from movies.
That's real."
A retired soldier posted:
"She's either very experienced or very dangerous. Possibly both."
The public was eating it up.
Her agency was panicking.
Daniel was dying.
Daniel Finds the Rumors
Daniel burst into Aria's apartment holding his laptop like it was evidence in a murder trial.
"ARIA. We have a crisis."
She was on the couch eating crackers.
"What now?" she asked through a mouthful.
"THE INTERNET THINKS YOU'RE EX-MILITARY."
Aria kept chewing.
Daniel paced.
"This is BAD. Very, very bad. They're making conspiracy charts—downloadable PDFs! Someone wrote a 12,000-word essay titled 'Aria Lane: Soldier or Snack Enthusiast?'"
She wiped crumbs off her fingers.
"Snack enthusiast."
Daniel pointed at her face like a detective confronting a suspect.
"Exactly! So why do you MOVE like a trained operative?!"
Aria shrugged.
"Yoga."
Daniel screamed into a cushion.
The Online Community Spirals Harder
Meanwhile, the internet continued its descent into madness.
A famous action choreographer posted a breakdown:
"Look at her stance entering the warehouse—knee rotation, weight distribution.
She's been trained. Period."
Someone else posted:
"When she heard the enemy in the rafters, her pupils dilated exactly like a soldier anticipating an ambush."
A military publication wrote an article titled:
"The Impossible Reflex: Does Aria Lane Have a Classified Past?"
Even journalists joined in.
A news anchor said on live TV:
"She must have some tactical experience. Nobody moves like that without history."
Aria's Response (aka, Zero Damage Control)
Her agency crafted a careful PR statement:
"Miss Lane is a civilian. Any rumors suggesting military affiliation are purely fictional."
Aria retweeted it with the caption:
"Okay."
The internet went wild.
💬 "'OKAY'??? SHE SAID OKAY??? THAT'S CONFIRMATION."
💬 "She didn't deny anything."
💬 "This is how spies respond."
💬 "The silence between her letters is suspicious."
Her manager called her immediately.
"Why would you tweet 'OKAY'?! Why not something better, more professional?"
Aria said, "I was eating."
"That's not— ARIA."
The Wrong People Start Paying Attention
Across the country, in a quiet bar lit by a flickering overhead bulb, a man nursed a drink while scrolling through the rumor threads.
His expression didn't change, but his hand tightened around the glass.
On the screen, a headline flashed:
"Aria Lane: Civilian or Former Operative?"
He knew the answer.
He knew her.
He knew the sound of her breathing when cornered, the rhythm of her feet before she struck, the precise way she destroyed a lock with a single elbow.
And he knew one more thing:
A-01 was alive.
He had always hoped he was wrong.
Now he knew he wasn't.
He closed the article slowly.
"…So it really is you," he murmured.
The shadows of his past shifted.
And for the first time in years, he stood up.
Aria Lane thought she was dealing with fans and rumors.
But the people who used to operate beside her—
the ones who saw her "die"—
had finally heard her name again.
And one by one…
They were beginning to move.