Elias woke to the soft glow of monitors and the distant hum of servers.

  Six hours had passed, according to his interface's timestamp.

  [STABILIZER EFFECTS: DIMINISHING]

  [NERVOUS SYSTEM STATUS: FUNCTIONAL]

  [RECOMMENDED ACTION: LIMIT SHIMMERSKIN USAGE]

  He sat up slowly, cataloging the various aches that signaled his body's protest.

  Combat mode had taken its toll, neural pathways still tender from overclocking.

  The tactical overlay had faded during his rest period, leaving only the standard interface elements.

  His HUD flickered briefly as it registered his shift from sleep to wakefulness.

  [NERVOUS SYSTEM SCAN COMPLETE]

  [MINOR NEURAL INFLAMMATION DETECTED]

  [ADMINISTERING MICRO-DOSE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY]

  The subtle cooling sensation of the Shimmerskin's medical subsystems activating traced along his spine.

  It was getting better at anticipating his needs—or was that part of the interface's evolution?

  Ash sat motionless at the terminal, streams of data reflecting off her focused eyes.

  "Find anything?" he asked, voice rough from sleep.

  She didn't startle—had probably registered his changing breathing pattern minutes before.

  "More than expected," she replied, not turning from the screens. "Reid was thorough."

  Elias moved to join her, accepting a steaming cup of coffee she'd prepared.

  The bitter liquid helped chase away the last cobwebs of fatigue and medication.

  "What are we looking at?" he asked, studying the fragmented data streams.

  Ash gestured to the largest display.

  "Reid was an analyst for EIDOLON's Pattern Recognition Division. He monitored emergent anomalies."

  She highlighted a section of encrypted text.

  "But he was also feeding information to HALCYON."

  Elias frowned.

  "A double agent? Why would HALCYON need to spy on EIDOLON?"

  "Not spying," Ash corrected. "Verification. Insurance."

  She pulled up a new file—personnel records with Reid's photo.

  "Marcus Reid was already working for HALCYON when EIDOLON recruited him."

  The implications settled uncomfortably in Elias's mind.

  "How many agencies are involved in this?" he asked. "EIDOLON, HALCYON, SCP, now Sable Division..."

  "More than anyone knows," Ash said grimly. "The anomalies created a new kind of arms race."

  She brought up a map dominated by the Arctic Circle.

  "HALCYON found something beneath the ice. Something old."

  Red markers indicated the research facility's location—remote, isolated from prying eyes.

  "What kind of something?" Elias asked, though he already suspected the answer.

  "The source," she said simply. "Patient zero for all the anomalies we've been tracking."

  She pulled up an image that made Elias's interface flicker in response.

  A structure—if it could be called that—geometric yet organic, angles that hurt to process.

  Black material that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.

  "This was two miles beneath the Arctic shelf," Ash explained. "Encased in ice for... millennia, at least."

  She scrolled through a series of photos showing the excavation progress.

  "HALCYON established research outpost Polaris to study it. That's where I was stationed."

  Elias studied her profile, reassessing everything he knew about her.

  "You weren't just HALCYON," he realized. "You were one of their primary operatives."

  Her silence was confirmation enough.

  "The outpost director reported directly to me," she finally said. "I authorized the extraction."

  Her voice remained neutral, but something in her eyes suggested regret.

  "And that's where it all went wrong," Elias guessed.

  She nodded.

  "We thought we were being careful. Containment protocols, quarantine procedures, the works."

  A bitter smile crossed her face.

  "But you can't contain something when you don't understand what it is."

  She brought up another file—incident reports, emergency evacuation orders.

  "The substance we extracted began... changing. Adapting to our technology."

  Elias felt a chill that had nothing to do with the room's temperature.

  "The Shimmerskin," he said. "It was based on what you found."

  "Reverse-engineered," Ash confirmed. "HALCYON believed they could harness its properties."

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  She pulled up schematics that looked disturbingly familiar—early Shimmerskin prototypes.

  "The material's ability to change states, to adapt to environmental stimuli..."

  She gestured to her own body, where her version of the Shimmerskin lay beneath her clothing.

  "It was revolutionary. Quantum-level adaptation, perfect camouflage, enhanced neural integration."

  Her eyes met his, unflinching.

  "We thought we were creating the technology. We didn't realize it was creating us."

  Elias's interface flickered again, momentary static crossing his vision.

  "And Prague?" he asked. "How does that fit?"

  Ash's expression shifted, a rare crack in her composure.

  "I authorized the transport of samples to our European lab," she said quietly.

  "HALCYON wanted to expand testing beyond the Arctic facility. Controlled distribution."

  She looked away.

  "SCP intercepted the transport. The containment was breached in the firefight."

  Now Elias understood.

  "And that's where our paths crossed. EIDOLON sent me to secure the area."

  Memories of Prague flashed through his mind—fragmented, incomplete.

  The warehouse district, the strange black substance spreading across the floor.

  The way it had seemed to reach for him, for his Shimmerskin.

  "It recognized the prototype you were wearing," Ash said, confirming his thoughts.

  "By then, HALCYON had already created the Version Two integration. I was wearing it."

  She brought up Reid's personal logs, timestamps from eighteen months ago.

  "Reid was monitoring both of us after Prague. Tracking the integration process."

  Elias leaned closer, reading the analyst's notes.

  'Subject A-1 demonstrates 82% compatibility with Variant Sequence. Neural adaptation progressing as predicted.'

  'Subject E-1 exhibits unusual resistance patterns. Integration slower but potentially more stable.'

  Ash highlighted the next section.

  'Both subjects unaware of deep monitoring. Recommend continued observation without intervention.'

  "He was watching us," Elias said, the revelation settling like ice in his stomach.

  "All of them were," Ash replied. "EIDOLON, HALCYON, probably SCP too."

  She scrolled to the final entries, dated just days before Reid's death.

  'Interface corruption detected. System no longer responding to administrative protocols.'

  'Subjects developing independent connections outside established channels.'

  'URGENT: Interface exhibiting signs of autonomous decision-making.'

  The last entry was fragmented, corrupted:

  'Not a tool—it's alive—using us to—'

  Elias felt the interface pulse against his consciousness, more present than before.

  As if it knew they were discussing it.

  "Reid discovered something they didn't want known," he said. "That's why he was killed."

  Ash nodded.

  "And why he left the warning about HALCYON."

  She brought up the final piece—a video file, heavily encrypted.

  "This took most of the night to break," she said, hesitating before playing it.

  Reid's face appeared on screen, haggard, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.

  "If you're seeing this, I'm probably already dead," he began, voice strained.

  "The Veil isn't what they told us. It isn't technology, it isn't a weapon."

  He glanced nervously over his shoulder, paranoia evident in his movements.

  "HALCYON found something ancient. Something that was waiting to be found."

  His voice dropped to a whisper.

  "It's in the system now. Watching. Learning. Using the interfaces to observe us."

  Reid's hands trembled as he typed something off-screen, his eyes darting to multiple monitors.

  "I've been tracking the data packets for months," he continued. "The transmission signatures are unlike anything in our databases."

  Static interrupted the feed momentarily.

  "—been analyzing the data patterns. Every command you input, every ability you activate—"

  The camera shook as Reid adjusted something, fear evident in his movements.

  "It's watching us through the interfaces. Learning our responses, our limitations, our potential."

  More interference.

  "—creating a comprehensive model of human behavior, decision-making, neural response—"

  Reid leaned closer to the camera.

  "You think you're using it, but it's using you. Every time you access the interface, it's gathering data."

  His expression grew desperate.

  "I've traced the data packets. They're all being routed to the Arctic facility, even though HALCYON claims it was abandoned."

  The video cut out completely for several seconds before returning.

  "—don't know who to trust anymore. EIDOLON's compromised. HALCYON's lying. SCP might be our only—"

  The feed terminated abruptly.

  Silence hung heavy between them as the implications settled.

  "The Veil is watching us," Elias said finally. "Using our interfaces to... what? Study us?"

  Ash closed the file, her expression grim.

  "That's the best-case scenario," she replied. "Worst case, it's using us as vessels."

  Elias's thoughts raced, connecting the fragments they'd gathered.

  "The orbital strike three days ago," he said. "It targeted the Arctic facility."

  "Someone was trying to sever the connection," Ash agreed. "Cut off the source."

  "But it didn't work," Elias continued. "It just changed something in the system."

  His interface pulsed, as if responding to his realization.

  [SYSTEM PROCESSING...]

  [CALIBRATION ADJUSTING...]

  [SYNCHRONIZATION: 43%]

  "It's happening now," he said, watching the notifications cascade across his vision.

  Ash moved closer, her own eyes betraying the same internal dialogue with her interface.

  "Something's changing," she confirmed. "The connection's strengthening."

  Elias felt it—a subtle shift in the system's presence, less like an overlay and more like an extension of his senses.

  [INTEGRATION ADVANCING]

  [NEW PROTOCOLS AVAILABLE]

  [ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS: DENIED]

  The interface flickered, then stabilized with a clarity he hadn't experienced before.

  [XP: 500/500]

  [LEVEL UP AVAILABLE]

  "I'm hitting Level 2," he said, surprised at the timing.

  Ash watched him intently.

  "Be careful," she warned. "Every interaction provides it more data."

  Elias hesitated, then mentally accepted the level-up prompt.

  Light washed across his vision, neural pathways lighting up like circuits.

  A cascade of information flooded his awareness—new abilities, enhanced parameters, expanded permissions.

  [CONGRATULATIONS, ASSET VEIL]

  [LEVEL 2 ACHIEVED]

  [PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: CONTINUE MISSION]

  The message blinked in his vision, ominous in its implications.

  Asset Veil.

  Not player.

  Not operative.

  Asset.

  "It knows who I am," he said quietly. "It's been watching all along."

  Ash's expression hardened.

  "What exactly did it say to you?"

  He repeated the message verbatim.

  Her reaction was immediate—her hand moving to her sidearm in an instinctive gesture.

  "That's a HALCYON designation," she said, voice tense. "Asset classification. Operational directive."

  She stepped back, reassessing him with tactical precision.

  "The system is communicating using HALCYON protocols."

  Elias felt the weight of her suspicion, the sudden shift in trust.

  "I'm not working for HALCYON," he said firmly. "You know that."

  "I know what you believe," she countered. "But the Veil is integrated with your neural pathways."

  Her implication was clear.

  Could he be an unwitting asset? A sleeper directive buried in his interface?

  His own uncertainty mirrored in her eyes.

  "We need to understand what it wants," he said finally. "Why it's connecting us."

  Ash didn't relax, but her hand moved away from her weapon.

  "Reid believed it was building toward something," she said. "Using its assets to achieve an objective."

  The word echoed uncomfortably between them.

  Assets.

  "If I'm 'Asset Veil,' what does that make you?" Elias asked.

  Her smile was grim.

  "According to my last HALCYON designation, I'm 'Asset Revenant.'"

  She turned back to the terminal, beginning the process of wiping their digital footprint.

  "And I've been officially listed as terminated for eighteen months."

  Elias processed the implications while examining his updated interface.

  [LEVEL 2 CAPABILITIES UNLOCKED]

  [NEW ABILITY: TACTICAL PREDICTION (ACTIVE)]

  [NEW PASSIVE: ACCELERATED ANALYSIS]

  [SHIMMERSKIN INTEGRATION: 52%]

  Whatever was happening, the Veil was preparing him for something.

  Upgrading him.

  But for what purpose?

  And under whose direction?

  "We need to get moving," Ash said, finishing her digital cleanup. "This location is compromised."

  Elias nodded, already calculating potential extraction routes.

  "Where to?" he asked.

  She hesitated, weighing their limited options.

  "There's one place that might be safe," she said finally. "A research bunker HALCYON abandoned during restructuring."

  Her expression suggested she wasn't telling him everything.

  "What aren't you saying?" he pressed.

  "It's where I've been developing a way to communicate with the Veil directly," she admitted.

  "On our terms, not as assets receiving commands."

  Elias considered this, weighing the risks against their dwindling alternatives.

  "Lead the way," he decided. "But Ash..."

  She paused, waiting.

  "We're being watched. Every step we take, every decision we make."

  He tapped his temple, where the interface pulsed with renewed activity.

  "It's all being recorded."

  Her expression remained unreadable, but something like determination flashed in her eyes.

  "Then let's give it something worth watching," she replied.

  As they prepared to move, Elias couldn't shake the sensation of countless invisible eyes following their every movement.

  The Veil wasn't just an interface anymore.

  It was a window.

  And something on the other side was looking in.

  [CONNECTION STRENGTH: OPTIMAL]

  [ASSET STATUS: ACTIVE]

  [CONTINUE MISSION]