07:18 p.m.
Paradise Island.

Restored.

Lights—
back.

Crowds—
returning.

Sound—
alive.

Coffee.

Laughter.

Traffic.

Everything—

looked untouched.

But we knew—

it happened.

And it wouldn’t be forgotten.

SID Operations Room.

Quieter.

Screens—

fewer.

For the first time—

we stopped.

Not working.

Not chasing.

Just—

breathing.

“Is it over?” Lee Wai Hing asked.

I paused.

“Phase complete.”

No one argued.

8:42 p.m.

National Night.

The city—

bright.

People—

closer.

They walked.

Laughed.

Took photos.

As if proving—

we’re still here.

Fireworks—

rise.

Explosion.

Light.

Red.

Gold.

Blue.

White.

The sky—

alive.

I watched.

Silent.

“Beautiful?” Chang Hsin-Yan asked.

“Yes.”

“People forget easily.”

“They move on easily too.”

She looked up.

“That’s the danger.”

I turned.

“They think nothing happened.”

Pause.

“So it can happen again.”

Silence.

The fireworks peaked.

The entire sky—

burning light.

Everyone—

looking up.

No one—

looking down.

This moment—

belonged to them.

Then—

Beep.

Wrong sound.

Not the sky.

Mine.

I looked down.

Red.

LEVEL 1 RED ALERT

Time:

20:59

I turned.

“Roll Out.”

No questions.

Voices came alive.

“System online.”

“New signal detected.”

“Location?”

“Central district.”

The air—

changed.

The fireworks—

continued.

The city—

celebrated.

But we knew—

It had started.

Again.

I looked at the sky one last time.

Light—

falling.

“This time—”

pause—

“we stop it before it reaches them.”

We disappeared—

into the crowd.

Like we were never there.

And the fireworks—

kept burning.

Like nothing had changed.

But everything—

had.