The Veil Of Ages

(Ethan’s POV – Dialing the Devil’s Number)

The business card felt heavier than it should have.

Ethan sat at his desk, staring at the blank white card with a single contact number. No name. No logo. Just a direct line to Voss.

His thumb hovered over the dial button.

Everything in his gut told him not to do this.

But they were out of options.

Nadia was missing. Renji had found altered security logs. Aryan was pushing for action.

And right now, Voss was the only one who might have answers.

Ethan exhaled sharply.

Then, he made the call.

The phone rang once.

Then, a voice answered.

Smooth. Controlled. Amused.

"Well, well. Carter. I was wondering when you’d call."

Ethan’s grip on the phone tightened.

"You knew I would," he said flatly.

"Of course," Voss replied. "You’re predictable. The moment your little researcher friend disappeared, you’d start grasping for answers. And here we are."

Ethan clenched his jaw. He wasn’t going to let Voss control the conversation.

"Where is she?"

A pause.

Then—

"Safe… for now."

Ethan’s stomach twisted. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Voss said, "that your friend stumbled into something much bigger than she realized. And now she’s in a place where the right people can educate her."

Ethan’s mind raced.

They didn’t just take her.

They were trying to recruit her.

---

(The First Game – Voss’ Offer)

"You expect me to believe she just… joined you willingly?" Ethan said, voice sharp.

Voss chuckled. "Believe whatever you like, Carter. But here’s the truth—she came looking for answers, and we provided them. You should be proud. Your little friend has quite the sharp mind."

Ethan exhaled sharply. "If she’s safe, let me talk to her."

Silence.

Then, a slight laugh.

"Oh, Carter," Voss sighed. "That’s not how this works."

Ethan clenched his fist. He knew this was a game.

And Voss was testing him.

"What do you want?" he asked finally.

"Ah, now we’re talking."

There was a faint smile in Voss’ voice. "A meeting. You and me. Face to face. I’ll even let you ask one question. Any question you want."

Ethan’s pulse quickened.

This was a trap.

Aegis never did anything without a reason.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you walk away, stay in your safe little world, and wonder what happened to your friend."

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

Voss knew exactly how to push him.

He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.

"...Where and when?"

---

(The Location – A Risk That Can’t Be Avoided)

Voss chuckled. "Smart choice. Shanghai. The Huangpu River boardwalk. Tomorrow night."

"How will I find you?" Ethan asked.

"You won’t," Voss said smoothly. "I’ll find you."

The line went dead.

Ethan slowly lowered the phone.

His heart pounded.

He had no doubt that this was a setup.

But now?

He had no choice but to walk into it.

---

(Renji’s POV – The Call That Confirmed the Worst)

Renji leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples.

The glow of her multiple screens cast sharp light into her dim office.

Ethan had just sent a single message in the group chat.

> Ethan: "I called him. Meeting set for tomorrow night."

Renji exhaled sharply.

Aryan replied first.

> Aryan: "Are you insane?"

> Aryan: "Tell me you’re not seriously walking into a trap."

> Ethan: "No choice. It’s the only lead we have."

Renji bit her lip, staring at her laptop.

She switched screens, scrolling through Nadia’s last logged movements.

Still no sign of an actual exit from the museum.

Either she never left… or someone didn’t want them to know how she did.

She clicked back to the group chat.

> Renji: "If you’re doing this, you’re not going alone. We need a backup plan."

> Aryan: "Damn right we do. I don’t trust Voss at all."

> Ethan: "Neither do I. But I don’t have a choice."

Renji took a slow breath.

This wasn’t just about Nadia anymore.

This was about control.

And right now?

Aegis had all of it.

-------

Preparing for the Meeting

(Ethan’s POV – The Fallout of the Call)

The moment Ethan hung up, his phone exploded with notifications.

Renji and Aryan had already seen his message. And they were not happy.

> Aryan: "You’re out of your damn mind."

Renji: "Ethan, this is a setup. You know that, right?"

Aryan: "Voss is playing you. He wants you there for a reason."

Ethan: "I don’t have a choice. We need answers."

A sharp ping.

Renji started a video call.

Ethan exhaled, accepting it.

Renji’s face appeared first, glasses slightly tilted, eyes focused on multiple screens behind her.

Aryan joined next, arms crossed, expression dark.

"Alright, explain," Aryan said. "Why the hell are you walking into a trap?"

Ethan rubbed his forehead. "Because it’s the only lead we have. If Nadia really joined Aegis, I need to hear it from him."

Renji typed something rapidly, glancing at another screen. "Even if that’s true, we can’t trust Voss. He wouldn’t offer a meeting unless he thought he had something to gain."

"And you don’t find it suspicious that he just let you choose a question?" Aryan added. "Like he’s giving you control? That’s a classic move to make you think you have power when really, he’s just leading you where he wants."

Ethan exhaled.

He knew they were right.

But that didn’t change the fact that he had to go.

---

(Aryan’s POV – The Backup Plan)

Aryan leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the desk.

Fine.

If Ethan was going to be stupid enough to meet Voss, then they at least needed a plan.

"Alright," Aryan sighed. "We’re doing this your way. But I’m not letting you walk in there blind."

Ethan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we need an exit strategy."

Aryan’s voice turned sharper. "You’re going to Shanghai alone. That means you’re vulnerable. If something goes wrong, you won’t have time to react."

Renji nodded. "Agreed. We need real-time surveillance."

She started typing again. "I can set up remote monitoring. If you share your location, I’ll track movement patterns around you. If I see anything suspicious, I’ll signal you to leave."

"And if things get messy?" Aryan added.

Ethan exhaled. "Then I improvise."

Aryan rolled his eyes. "Great. So your plan is ‘hope nothing goes wrong.’ Very solid."

---

(Renji’s POV – Digging Deeper into Nadia’s Disappearance)

While Aryan and Ethan argued over contingency plans, Renji’s fingers flew across her keyboard.

She had been digging deeper into the museum’s records.

Because something wasn’t adding up.

She narrowed her search. Last known movements. Artifact logs.

Then, suddenly—

A flagged entry.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Nadia didn’t just disappear," Renji interrupted.

The boys stopped arguing.

Ethan sat up straighter. "What did you find?"

Renji’s eyes flicked across the screen. "The last artifact she worked on—it wasn’t officially logged."

Aryan frowned. "Meaning?"

"Meaning someone wanted to erase it. There’s no record of what she was analyzing. No description. No transfer history."

Ethan’s stomach dropped.

Someone had gone through the effort of removing all traces of that artifact.

And Nadia was the only one who had seen it.

"Voss was lying," Renji muttered. "She didn’t just ‘come to them.’ They made sure she had nowhere else to go."

---

(Ethan’s POV – The Last Decision Before Shanghai)

Ethan stared at the data Renji had pulled up.

This wasn’t just about Nadia’s curiosity.

Aegis had been monitoring her. Waiting.

And the moment she got too close to something?

They erased it.

And now?

They wanted Ethan to walk into the same trap.

Ethan exhaled. "I’m still going to the meeting."

Aryan sighed, rubbing his temples. "You’re impossible."

Renji hesitated. "...Then let’s do it right."

Ethan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If you’re meeting him tomorrow night, that gives me one day," Renji said. "One day to dig deeper. Find out what Nadia saw."

Ethan nodded. "Alright. I’ll be careful."

"You better be," Aryan muttered. "Because if you screw this up, we might lose more than just Nadia."

Ethan didn’t respond.

Because he knew Aryan was right.

And now?

All he could do was brace for whatever came next.

---

End of Chapter 10

----------

Side Story: Aryan's Move – Walking Into the Lion’s Den

---

(Aryan’s POV – The Shift Begins)

The world was moving.

And Aryan was done standing still.

For weeks, he had gone through the motions—wake up, work out, scroll through job listings, take interviews, pretend to care.

But now?

Now, things were different.

Ethan was flying straight into a trap in Shanghai.

Nadia had vanished after uncovering something at her museum.

And Aryan?

He was about to do something reckless.

But for the first time in a long time, he actually felt something.

He pulled up his job application for Systic.

This wasn’t just another job hunt.

This was an infiltration.

---

(Why Systic? The Real Reason He’s Doing This)

Systic was the corporate backbone of Argon Corporation.

They handled finance, human resources, internal operations—everything that made Argon function.

And if Argon was involved in artifact research, containment, and security…

Then Systic had to know something.

They were the ones hiring and managing people like Voss.

They were the ones moving resources and covering things up.

And Aryan?

He was going to put himself inside the system.

Not just to find Nadia.

Not just to figure out what was going on.

But because if Ethan was ahead of him in this game, Aryan was going to catch up.

He wasn’t going to watch from the sidelines.

He was going to move first.

---

(The Problem – The One Thing He Hates the Most)

But there was an issue.

A major one.

Aryan hated playing by the rules.

He hated taking orders from superiors who thought they were smarter than him.

He hated corporate culture—empty meetings, fake enthusiasm, endless small talk.

He hated feeling like a pawn.

But to infiltrate Systic?

He had to become the perfect employee.

Which meant:

Acting like he actually cared.

Nodding along in pointless meetings.

Pretending to be the obedient corporate worker.

The very thought made his skin crawl.

But he had no choice.

Not if he wanted to pull this off.

---

(Filling Out the Application – His Mind Fights Against It)

Aryan cracked his fingers and started typing.

He tailored his resume—highlighting leadership, strategic thinking, and conflict resolution.

He adjusted his work history—made himself look like the ideal management candidate.

He crafted the perfect corporate cover letter—filled with all the nonsense HR loved to hear.

Then—he reached the "Team Player" section.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard.

And for a second, he just stared at it.

A deep, burning frustration curled in his chest.

He wasn’t a team player.

He never had been.

He was a strategist, a problem solver, a manipulator when needed.

Not someone who just followed.

But if he wrote that, he wouldn’t get in.

So, after a long moment…

He forced himself to type out something fake.

Something that made him sound like the perfect corporate asset.

And he hated it.

---

(Final Click – The Moment of No Return)

Aryan flexed his fingers over the keyboard.

This was it.

One step closer to the unknown.

His mouse hovered over the submit button.

He should feel excited—he usually loved this kind of game.

But this time?

Something felt different.

Like he was walking into a storm, and he wasn’t sure if he’d come out the other side.

He exhaled slowly, gripping the armrest of his chair.

Then he clicked.

And the game officially began.

---