Chapter 2 - THE SIX SILHOUETTES
The six silhouettes were not people.
Not exactly.
They were ballistic mannequins built with heat signatures, breathing movement, and facial screens.
Every one displayed my face.
The hidden relay had been collecting my firing response.
Marcus had been ordered to provoke me, hand me the altered rifle, and force one shot.
If I fired where the scope had been set, the system would classify me as compliant.
If I corrected toward the official target, it would classify me as cautious.
If I found the relay, it would classify me as compromised.
I had chosen the third option.
The loudspeaker announced:
“Carter profile rejected.”
Marcus looked toward the tower.
“What happens now?”
The answer came from the ridge.
The men beside Ryan raised rifles.
Dylan lifted his own weapon but did not fire.
The rules of engagement remained unclear.
Aaron moved behind the concrete barrier.
I used the damaged optic relay to block the range camera.
Then the target screens displayed Ryan’s Army record.
CAPTAIN RYAN CARTER — DECEASED.
Status beneath it:
CONTINUITY ASSET ACTIVE.
My brother had been kept alive after the “accident.”
His death created legal space for someone else to use his identity.
The black-sealed ammunition linked every future shot to his ballistic profile.
Someone could fire under his name.
Or mine.
Marcus admitted he knew Ryan survived.
He claimed he did not know where he was held.
He had been ordered to help calibrate my response because siblings shared similar stress markers.
The program wanted to use me as the next continuity shooter.
Then Ryan lifted one bound hand toward the white truck.
Three fingers.
Our childhood signal.
Three seconds before danger.
May you like
The truck exploded.
Read Chapter 3 to learn who Ryan protected with the blast.
