<<Tom? Please answer me..>> A-01’s voice echoed as she knocked on his door. No response.


Her hand instinctively reached for the handle, pressing it slightly downward, ready to burst into the room just to see him. But respect held her back. As much as she longed to speak to him, she couldn’t violate his personal space or choices. She left a tray of food on the doorstep and quickly walked away.


Tom was inside. He heard her, but ignored her. He had chosen to lock himself in that room for a day.. and days passed, turning into a week. He didn’t appear at the morning gatherings, didn’t answer when she came by to check on him. His body lay on the bed, but his mind was elsewhere. A fog of guilt and betrayal had cast him into a trance of inactivity. He thought about the shame he would frel facing his kind- Lancer. How he could allow himself to be weak ? How could he let his emotions surface? He was a killing machine, a soldier! Not some ordinary man blindly enjoying the company of a woman! And especially a woman he was sent to eliminate! He was a traitor!


He looked at the carved statue of the couple dancing. Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths, trying to descend into deep reflection. For a week now, he had used this technique in a desperate attempt to reboot his military instincts. Whenever A-01’s face appeared in his mind, with her smile, he would erase it, replacing it with thoughts of Lancer. He clung to Lancer’s words “ Nothing can deceive you! “ repeating them like his national anthem.


Tom sat up on the bed with an electric fury surging through him. An uncontrolled scream tote from the depths of his soul, an expression of everything raging in his mind. He had to win this battle with himself! He slapped his face and clenched his fists. A headache thundered in his skull, and anger rippled through his muscles. His breathing settled into a slow, heavy rhythm, like a wild beast ready to rise after a defeated battle, poised to devour its enemy. He lifted his gaze, his pale eyes now clouded in darkness.


His whole body trembled under the pressure he exerted. His head jerked every second from the strain he placed on his mind. Oh, yes! His old self had taken over, and his obsessive sense of Purpose conquered his reasoning. He crushed every weak part of himself that A-01’s manipulation had brought out! Because that’s what it was- a deception, a manipulation! That’s why she, and all her people, were so dangerous! If he continued opening up, they’d slaughter him in his sleep.! No! He was sent to do that! And he would complete his mission tonight!


A sharp siting drew his attention. He opened his hands to find broken ice fragments, streaked with red. He let the pain pierce him undisturbed, using it to fortify his mind and body. This was what he knew best.


Clenching his fist even tighter, he held it until it shook. A thin stream of blood trickled from his grip and slid down his wrist. Chilled, he let the ice fragments fall, picking out the sharpest one.


This would be his weapon for the act he would commit in just a few hours!