The rain at Pier 4 was heavier than in the city. It smelled like salt and old oil.
Kael checked his gun. It was a standard-issue revolver. Heavy. Reliable. Unlike his memory.
He walked past the shipping containers. The Oracle had been specific: Midnight. Red Jacket. Pier 4.
Kael looked at his watch. 11:58 PM.
He waited in the shadows. His head still throbbed from the memory he had sold. He tried to think of his sister again, but there was only a gray static in his mind. He felt a flash of anger. He had sold a piece of his soul to catch this guy.
He better be here, Kael thought.
At 11:59 PM, footsteps echoed on the metal grate.
A man walked into the light. He wore a red jacket, just like the vision. He was smoking a cigarette. He looked nervous. He kept checking behind him.
This was Subject 89. A low-level thief who had killed a rich merchant's daughter. The reward for his capture was high. High enough to buy a week's worth of food.
Kael stepped out of the shadows. He raised his gun.
"Don't move," Kael said.
Subject 89 spun around. His eyes went wide. "You! You're a Hunter!"
"On the ground," Kael ordered. "Now."
"No!" the man screamed. "I didn't do it! The Oracle is wrong!"
Kael didn't blink. "The Oracle is never wrong. It sees all."
"It didn't see this!"
Subject 89 pulled something from his pocket. It wasn't a gun. It was a blue crystal. It glowed with a strange, pulsing light.
Kael hesitated. He had never seen a crystal like that. The Oracle hadn't shown him that part. The vision had ended with the man standing there.
Why didn't I see the crystal? Kael thought.
Subject 89 crushed the crystal in his hand.
BOOM.
A shockwave of blue energy blasted outward. Kael was thrown back against a metal container. His ears rang. His vision blurred.
He looked up. Subject 89 was running. He was fast. Unnaturally fast.
"Damn it," Kael gritted his teeth.
He aimed his gun. The target was moving zig-zag. A hard shot.
Kael didn't think. He let his instinct take over. The instinct of a man who had sold a thousand memories to become the perfect weapon.
Bang.
The shot echoed over the water.
Subject 89 stumbled. He fell forward, sliding on the wet concrete. He didn't move again.
Kael stood up, groaning. His ribs hurt. He walked over to the body. The man was dead. The job was done.
But something was wrong.
Usually, when a target died, the air felt empty. But now, the air was vibrating.
A blue light floated above the dead body. It wasn't a ghost. It looked like... text.
Kael rubbed his eyes. He thought he was hallucinating. The memory loss was making him crazy.
But the text didn't disappear. It floated in the air, clear as day.
[Target Eliminated: Subject 89]
[Anomaly Detected.]
[System Awakening...]
Kael stared. "What the hell?"
Another line of text appeared.
[You have killed a Fragment Holder.]
[Reward: Memory Refund.]
[Would you like to reclaim your lost memory? Y/N]
Kael's heart stopped.
Reclaim? That was impossible. The Oracle's first rule was absolute: A memory sold is gone forever. You can never get it back.
Kael reached out his hand toward the floating blue "Y". His fingers trembled.
If this was real... if he could get his memories back by killing targets...
Everything changed.
He touched the "Y".