Silence had a sound.
It hummed in Emma's ears as she stood on the rooftop, rain soaking her hair, the city glowing beneath her like a living circuit board. Neon lights pulsed. Sirens wailed somewhere far below.
She hated heights.
Victor Kane knew that.
Her phone vibrated once.
UNKNOWN: Walk to the edge.
Emma didn't move.
"Try harder," she muttered.
The screen flickered—live footage.
James.
In a hospital bed.
Machines beeping.
A shadow standing just out of frame.
Emma stepped forward.
---
THE OFFER
The voice returned, calm and intimate.
"You have forty-eight hours."
Emma's jaw tightened. "To do what?"
"To disappear."
Coordinates appeared on the screen.
"A man named Hiro Tanaka. Data broker. Former syndicate. Currently protected."
Emma recognized the name.
"Why him?"
"Because he knows how to erase a person completely. Digital. Legal. Biological."
The implication settled like lead in her chest.
"You want me to stop being Emma Hellsing."
"Yes."
A pause.
"After that," the voice added, "your brother lives. Your enemies lose you. Everyone wins."
Emma's reflection stared back at her from the dark glass.
Everyone but her.
---
HIRO TANAKA
Tokyo's underground never slept.
Emma found Tanaka in a biometric vault beneath a closed subway line, guarded by private military contractors and outdated loyalty.
She moved through them like a rumor.
No gunfire.
No witnesses.
Just breath held too long and bodies placed carefully on the ground.
Tanaka was older than she expected. Balding. Nervous.
"You shouldn't be here," he said as she stepped into the room.
Emma shut the door behind her.
"I know."
She slid a photograph across the table.
James.
"I need to disappear."
Tanaka studied her face.
"People like you don't disappear," he said quietly. "You get remembered."
Emma leaned closer, eyes hard.
"Try."
---
THE TRUTH
Tanaka's fingers trembled as he typed.
"You don't just erase a name," he said. "You erase patterns. Medical records. DNA. Travel history. Family connections."
Emma's heart tightened.
"Family?"
He nodded.
"Your brother James would be reassigned. Protected. But legally, he'd be unrelated to you. If you ever approach him again—he dies."
Emma's breath caught.
"And Sam?"
Tanaka hesitated.
"Same."
The room went cold.
So that was the price.
Not just silence.
Severance.
Emma stood slowly.
She could feel it—the weight of every fight, every scar, every person she'd lost.
She pulled out her knife.
Tanaka flinched.
Emma turned the blade around and placed it on the table.
"I'm not doing it," she said.
Tanaka stared at her. "Then they'll kill him."
Emma's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Then they'll have to come through me."
---
THE WARNING
As Emma left the vault, her phone buzzed again.
UNKNOWN: You made the wrong choice.
A second message followed.
A live feed.
James again.
But now—
A red dot appeared on his chest.
Emma stopped breathing.
"Don't," she whispered.
The voice returned, colder now.
"Twenty-four hours. Final offer."
The feed cut.
---
ENDING SHOT
Emma stood in the empty tunnel, fists clenched, city noise echoing like a heartbeat.
She looked up.
Not afraid.
Not broken.
Angry.
"They think silence is power," she said.
She stepped into the darkness.
"Let me show them noise."