10:03 a.m.
SID Operations Room.

The lights were brighter.

Not for visibility.

But because—

no one wanted to miss a second.

On screen—

a face.

Lin Yuqing.

“Confirmed,” Yong Tin Kei said.

“She is the fifth.”

No one questioned it.

The data had already spoken.

Timelines.
Routes.
Habits.
Contact points.

All aligned.

“They will come,” Chang said.

“When?” Lee asked.

Tan was already calculating.

“Not when.”

He looked up.

“When she enters the condition.”

Silence tightened.

“Condition?” Yim Bing asked.

“Fixed route.”

“Fixed time.”

“Fixed behavior.”

“Like a trigger.”

“Yes.”

“And today?” Yong asked.

“She is already on the path.”

Live feed.

Lin Yuqing—

walking.

Same route.

“Begin.”

Everyone moved.

Not chaos.

Synchronization.

“Perimeter sealed.”

“West overwatch ready.”

“Drone active.”

“System control online.”

Chang—

already in the field.

Campus.

Crowded.

Too crowded.

Problem.

And cover.

“Remember,” Yong said.

“We are not here to catch.”

“We are here to wait.”

Wind moved.

Lin Yuqing walked.

Unaware.

10:12.

She paused.

Checked her phone.

Continued.

No deviation.

“She’s close,” Tan said.

“Distance?” Lee asked.

“Sixty meters.”

Chang stood in the crowd.

Not watching Lin Yuqing.

Watching—

everyone else.

Who was watching her?

A man.

Paused.

Too short.

But wrong.

“Left. Three o’clock.”

“Seen,” Yim Bing replied.

“Target?”

“Unconfirmed.”

The man walked on.

Too clean.

“Not him.”

Then who?

No answer.

Because—

no one.

“Too quiet,” Yim Bing said.

“They won’t not come,” Chang replied.

“Unless—”

Her eyes changed.

“They’re already here.”

Everything tightened.

“Tan!”

“Scanning—”

“Airflow shift—”

“Particle detection—”

Pause.

“Got it.”

“What?”

“Airborne compound detected.”

“Low concentration.”

“But rising.”

Everyone understood.

“The scent.”

The wind passed.

Chang smelled it.

Faint.

But real.

“Direction!” Yong.

“Cannot isolate.”

“Diffuse release.”

“They’re not here,” Lee said.

“They’re farther.”

“Or closer,” Yim Bing said coldly.

Lin Yuqing—

approaching the stairs.

“Twenty meters.”

“Ten.”

Chang moved.

Cut through the crowd.

Fast.

“Move?” Lee asked.

“Wait,” Yong said.

“One more second.”

That second—

stretched.

Air thickened.

Lin Yuqing slowed.

Frowned.

“Now.”

Chang moved.

Grabbed her.

Pulled her off path.

At that instant—

She saw him.

Across the stairs.

Standing.

Watching.

Not the target.

Them.

Next second—

gone.

“Lock him!” Yim Bing.

She moved.

Too late.

Gone.

“Target lost.”

Silence.

Lin Yuqing—

alive.

“Failure?” Lee asked.

“No.”

Yong said.

“Success.”

Confusion.

“We didn’t catch him.”

“But we made him act.”

Pause.

“We know now.”

“He comes.”

Another pause.

“And he knows—”

“We’re here.”

Silence.

Chang looked at the stairs.

“This isn’t hunting.”

“It’s eye contact.”

The wind moved.

The scent—

lingered.

Faint.

But no longer unknown.

The game—

had changed.