The knock at the door still echoed through the house long after it opened. Kayden froze where he sat, half-turned toward his adopted parents, who were just about to tell him something important—something they had clearly been terrified to say for years.
But the moment shattered when three uniformed officers stepped inside without waiting for permission.
"Kayden Rahl?" the leading officer asked.
Kayden stood slowly. "Yes… is anything wrong, sir?"
"You're coming with us for questioning."
His adopted mother jumped to her feet. "Questioning? About what? He hasn't done anything!"
"We have no intention of harming him," the officer replied in a clipped, professional tone. "He's a suspect connected to the violent incident between him and a student named Ragna. We need his statement."
Kayden was stunned. Suspect? Me?
But he didn't resist. He couldn't—not with the way every choice he made lately seemed to spiral into something bigger, darker.
"I'll go," he said quietly.
His parents exchanged anxious glances as he was escorted out. Kayden wished he could reassure them, but his mind was already drowning in a thousand unspoken questions.
---
The police station buzzed like a hive in alarm. Officers hurried from desk to desk, large monitors displayed frozen images of the masked figure fighting Ragna, and the atmosphere crackled with tension.
Kayden was led into a room with a table, two chairs, and a glowing device shaped like a metallic crescent.
"Sit," an officer instructed.
Kayden obeyed. The other officers whispered among themselves. They had seen the masked figure flip cars, blast shockwaves, and fight a monster like it was nothing. They didn't think Kayden was that person— but he had punched Ragna before. Hard. Too hard for any normal teenager.
A female officer entered with a tablet. "We're running a biometric resonance test. Completely painless. Just put your palm here."
Kayden felt the sigil under his sleeve pulse.
A warning… almost a whisper.
Do not let them see.
The device lit up as Kayden placed his hand on it.
A digital screen blinked.
Scanning…
Resonance level: 87%—
The lights flickered. The officers froze.
A second line began forming on the screen—
Anomaly Detected — Foreign Energy Source—
Suddenly the device sparked. The screen glitched. A shadow flickered across the room—only Kayden saw it. A tall, blurred silhouette behind the officers, touching the machine with one finger.
Then—
RESULT: NORMAL HUMAN BIOMETRICS REGISTERED.
NO ANOMALY DETECTED.
The officers sighed in relief.
Kayden stared in horror.
It changed the results… that thing helped me.
He didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified.
---
In another room, the remaining Vex Crew members sat huddled together—boys who had once acted tough, now pale with fear.
The lead inspector stood before them.
"You all ran away the night several of your friends disappeared. We need information."
"We don't know where they went!" one boy cried. "We swear!"
"The ones you're looking for went willingly," another said hesitantly. "They… they wanted power. Real power."
The inspector narrowed his eyes. "Explain."
The boy swallowed hard.
"There was a man. He came to us the night Ragna lost consciousness. He took the others. He said he could make them stronger."
"Stronger how?"
"He's… he's some kind of engineer. Or scientist. We think he's called the Architect."
The room fell silent.
"And where is he now?" the inspector demanded.
The boys shook their heads.
"That place was dark," one whispered. "A lab or something. We didn't follow. We were scared… it felt wrong."
The inspector sighed in frustration. "Did you see anything? Anything helpful?"
A shaky voice answered, "He had machines. Tubes. Weapons. And he… he upgraded Ragna. That thing Ragna transformed into… that was his doing."
The inspector's expression hardened.
"That makes him a threat to national safety."
"We should warn you," another boy whispered urgently. "He's dangerous. He can give people abilities. If he wants to, he could create an army. The people who went with him willingly… I don't know if they're even human anymore."
The inspector straightened.
"Dangerous or not, he will be found. And he will answer for what he's done."
---
Parents crowded the station, frantic and frightened. Some cried, demanding answers. Others held onto hope.
But one parent did not appear.
Ragna's grandmother.
An officer whispered to the inspector, "We went to check her residence. She passed away days ago. No one noticed until neighbors reported a strange smell."
The inspector closed his eyes briefly. "This case keeps getting darker."
----
Kayden sat alone now. His interrogation was nearly over, but he felt emptier than when it began. The walls pressed in on him, cold and suffocating.
Who was that shadow that helped me? Why? And… why does the Architect want my power so badly?
A knock on the door startled him. The inspector returned.
"You can go home for now," the inspector said. "But you're still under observation. And—Kayden…"
"Yes, sir?"
"If you know anything—anything at all—about the masked figure or that… creature Ragna turned into, now is the time to speak."
Kayden hesitated.
For a moment he felt the weight of two worlds pressing against him.
"I don't know anything," he finally said.
The inspector studied him carefully, like he saw cracks in Kayden's mask but couldn't figure out what was behind it.
"Then we will continue our investigation," he said. "This isn't over."
---
Far away… deep within the Architect's metallic fortress…
Ragna's unconscious body floated in a containment chamber, tubes attached to him, machinery humming like a heartbeat.
Jex and the others stood transformed—new, sharper, weaponized by the Architect's modifications.
The Architect stepped forward, his mechanical eyes glowing faintly.
"So," he murmured, watching a live feed of Kayden walking out of the police station. "They arrested him. They're getting closer to the truth."
He lifted a glowing data core—Kayden's altered test results.
"But someone interfered…"
His voice trembled with controlled fury.
"Something powerful. Something ancient."
He turned to the restrained Ragna.
"The world thinks the masked boy is the threat. They're wrong."
His fingers tightened around the console.
"I am the only one who understands what is coming."
The screen zoomed in on Kayden.
"Kayden Rahl…"
His voice dropped to a cold whisper.
"You are becoming far too interesting."
Behind him, machines roared to life—
and plans for the next operation illuminated the entire room.
Something devastating.
Something irreversible.
Something the world was not ready for.
The Architect stepped into the shadows.