The coffee sat untouched now.Steam rising slowly.A thin fog drifting around their small corner of the world.
Jin stood across the table, staring at the woman in the black mask—the same one from every encrypted video, every threat, every whisper.
She looked up at him at last.
Eyes still hidden.But voice steady. Smooth. Calculated.
"You're sharper than they give you credit for, Detective," she said."I was almost sure you wouldn't come."
Jin didn't sit.Didn't blink.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
She stirred her coffee gently.
"Because we have more in common than you think."
"You want to protect Lisa.I want to unlock her."
Above them, three rooftops over, behind a glass scope—
Kai Ren watched every movement.Sound streamed to his earpiece via a micro-drone tucked in the café's gutter.
His trigger finger hovered—not on a weapon, but on a decision.
Not yet.
Back at the table, Jin's fists were tight in his coat pockets.
"So this is it?" he asked."Some grand reveal? Threaten me? Recruit me?"
The woman tilted her head, her voice still calm.
"Recruit is a strong word.Let's call it an… opportunity."
She leaned forward just slightly.
"You were never supposed to be a detective, Jin.You were bred for more. You just forgot."
Jin's brows furrowed.
"What are you talking about?"
She continued:
"Before the world labeled you 'protector,' someone labeled you… 'potential.'There's a reason you're so good at what you do."
"You've been used before.By governments. Agencies. A forgotten program.They erased it from your memories."
"But I didn't."
Jin's voice dropped to a near whisper.
"You're lying."
The woman chuckled softly.
"Am I? Or is your mind finally waking up?"
She set her spoon down.
"I'm not asking for your soul, Jin.I'm asking for your skills. Join me.There's more at stake than Lisa.I'm working for something bigger.Beyond syndicates. Beyond nations."
"I don't want to destroy the world.I want to control who does."
High above, Ren's breath stopped for a second.Even he wasn't expecting this.
A government? A program? A buried identity?It was more than war.This was something older. Deeper.
Jin slowly pulled out the chair and sat across from her.
But his face was stone.
"No."
"You built this war. You auctioned her.You baited monsters just to see who would bite.You don't want to save the world, you want to play god."
The woman was still for a long moment.
Then… she reached up.
Her fingers gently unclipped the sides of her mask.
Ren tensed.
Jin froze.
And then—
The mask came off.