CHAPTER 31
[ROUTINE INVESTIGATIONS — AT OPERATIONS CONTROL]
Operations Control receives Wraith's report:
• Male.
• Approximately thirteen years old.
• Extremely dense divine energy.
• Knows about S.C.U.L.A.A.R.S.
At Operations Control, several top analyst were working on Wraith's report. They weren't scared yet but annoyed. Their mindset was:
"Somebody's leaked classified information"
They began their search for any information on the child Wraith spoke of. And so they search:
• Solarian criminal databases
• Art practitioner registries
• Government surveillance records
• Missing persons reports
• Ancient bloodline records
And they found nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was not a name, nor face, nor name or bloodline. No records of a practitioner matching the description. It became apparent to them, that the issue was much more serious than they thought.
The room starts getting quiet.
"Expand the search"
"Access foreign intelligence archives"
A senior analyst said
Authorization to access international databases in regards to the child anomaly was established.
"Wait... Does he mean..."
An analyst said.
"... The Black Archives"
Another responded.
The room immediately changes after the order to open the Black Archives. Everyone understood what that meant and they scrambled to have the order met. The Black Archives isn't used for ordinary investigations. But it was a matter of urgency. They needed to know what they were actually dealing with.
THE BLACK ARCHIVES
The Black Archive was not a database known to the public.
In fact, most government officials were unaware of its existence.
Created through a classified agreement between several world powers, the Archive served as a centralized repository for information deemed too dangerous, anomalous, or politically sensitive to exist within conventional intelligence networks.
Its records contained reports on unidentified entities, forbidden bloodlines, failed containment operations, lost expeditions, Divine Energy anomalies, Calamity-Class sightings, and incidents that defied established understanding of the Ancient Arts.
Many of the files stored within the Archive lacked conclusions. Some ended abruptly. Others contained only fragments recovered from destroyed facilities, missing military units, or dead reconnaissance teams.
The purpose of the Archive was not to provide answers.
It existed because too many questions had survived their investigators.
Within intelligence circles, access to the Black Archive was considered a last resort. Analysts often joked that if a search led them there, they had already exhausted every explanation they wanted to believe.
Unfortunately for Operations Control, Agent Wraith's report had just done exactly that.
It was no ordinary database. It was rather a collection of reports nations don't want the public to know exists. Several list of those reports includes:
• Unidentified entities
• Failed containment operations
• Entire military units lost
• Cities abandoned
• Divine anomalies
• Calamity sightings
And so the analysts began searching. Still they found nothing. There was no child, no image, no name and there certainly was no match.
Amongst the team of analyst, one had an idea. Instead of searching for the child why not search the phenomena. And so they entered:
• Environmental suppression.
• Sudden wind cessation.
• Wildlife silence.
• Divine interference.
• Failed perception fields.
• Signal degradation.
And suddenly a match was found. But it wasn't to the child anomaly but to incidents that had occurred. Multiple incidents. Across different nations and across different decades.
What they found to be strange, was each reports ends badly:
The first report:
• Incident Report 141
• Northern Federation of Diigrall
• Recon Team Missing
• Status: Unresolved
Another
• Incident Report 203
• Kingdom of Asteron Senkar
• Three Behemoths Deployed
• Status: No Survivors
And another
• Incident Report 916
• Redacted
• Threat Assessment Failed
• Status: Archive Sealed
INCIDENT REPORT 170
...
• Subject maintained downward gaze throughout initial contact.
• Team Leader ordered visual confirmation.
Subject complied.
• [REDACTED]
• [REDACTED]
Remaining personnel lost access to their Arts shortly thereafter.
The same assumptions kept appearing. Then suddenly an analyst noticed something:
• Failed perception
• Communication interference
• Environmental silence
Were exactly what Wraith described. The room went silent for a moment. Someone whispers:
"This isn't the first time"
Another analyst notices something worse. The incident becomes more frequent the closer they are to the present.
Near the bottom of the archive sits a file. Which was heavily restricted and required special authorization to access. The file name was enough to make everyone uneasy. Boldly written was the name of the file that sat at the bottom of the archive:
[SUBJECT UNKNOWN]
They went ahead to open the file, and discovered it's contents were heavily redacted. But several lines remained visible.
═══════════════════════════════════════
BLACK ARCHIVE DOSSIER
ARCHIVE ID: BA-666
CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN
THREAT LEVEL: UNDETERMINED
STATUS: ACTIVE
ACCESS LEVEL: OMEGA BLACK
═══════════════════════════════════════
FIRST RECORDED SIGHTING:
Year 114 A.F.
Location: Redacted
Reporting Authority: Redacted
═══════════════════════════════════════
SUBJECT DESCRIPTION
Sex: Male
Estimated Age: 12–15
Height: Unknown
Identity: Unknown
Origin: Unknown
Bloodline: Unknown
Classification: Unknown
The subject consistently manifests as a juvenile male.
No evidence of aging has been documented across multiple recorded sightings.
Attempts to determine lineage, nationality, or affiliation have failed.
═══════════════════════════════════════
OBSERVED PHENOMENA
• Sudden atmospheric suppression.
• Wildlife silence within the immediate area.
• Communication degradation.
• Failure of high-perception fields.
• Abnormally dense Divine Energy concentrations.
• Unexplained fluctuations in local environmental conditions.
• Subjects reporting an overwhelming sensation of being observed.
═══════════════════════════════════════
FIELD NOTES
The subject frequently remains passive during initial contact.
It rarely initiates conversation.
However, when communication occurs, the subject demonstrates knowledge it should not possess.
Multiple reports indicate the subject was aware of classified information unavailable to the public.
In several cases, the subject appeared aware of ongoing operations before deployment occurred.
═══════════════════════════════════════
CASUALTY REPORT
Incidents Associated: 21
Successful Containments: 0
Successful Captures: 0
Confirmed Eliminations: 0
Survivor Accounts: Limited
═══════════════════════════════════════
FINAL RECOVERED STATEMENT
Source: Redacted
Status: Deceased
"We thought it was a child."
═══════════════════════════════════════
ARCHIVE NOTE
The subject remains unclassified.
All predictive models have failed.
Further investigation is discouraged.
═══════════════════════════════════════
The operations room fell silent. No one spoke. No one moved.
The only sound came from the low hum of processing terminals and the distant clicking of keyboards.
The analyst stared at the date displayed on the dossier.
"That can't be right"
"Another operator leaned over his shoulders"
"What?"
"The first sightings"
The analyst swallowed
"This file is over three hundred years old"
A cold feeling spread through the room.
Someone else quickly pulled up the attached incident reports.
It was different nations. Different continents and different centuries.
And yet every witness described the same thing.
A boy. And it was always a boy, never younger, never older.
The room's tension grew heavier with each page
Operations control felt their stomach drop.
Agent Wraith's report matched the dossier almost perfectly.
Operations Control finally understood, then the room erupts. It was a matter of urgency as they frantically tried to get Wraith and the other agents on the line. Someone shouts:
"Get Wraith and the others out of there!"
Another:
"Now!"
Operations Control immediately opens the neural link.
"Agent Wraith, this is Operations Control"
Static.
"Wraith, respond"
More static.
The interference had become noticeably worse.
The analyst voice rose.
"Wraith, Withdraw immediately."
The transmission crackled.
Fragments of the message disappeared into the wall of distortion.
"Do not engage..."
"Repeat—"
Static.
"Immediate—
Static
Do not —
Static.
The signal begins breaking apart. The connection is degrading quickly. The analysts desperately tried to re-establish the neural link connection but fails.
Across the operations room, personnel rushed between terminals as technicians attempted to stabilize the neural-link connection.
Another burst of static erupted through the speakers.
The channel eventually erupted into a violent burst of noise.
Then silence... Absolute silence. Every screen in operations control froze for half a second.
And for the briefest moment, before the connection died completely, Wraith's channel transmitted one final sound. Not words, not static, but rather the child's voice. Very calm and very close, as though he was standing beside Wraith.
"Too late"
Connection lost.
Moments later...
A heavy silence settled over Operations Control.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking.
The senior analyst slowly lowered his headset.
"We lost them."
Miles away, deep within the eastern woodlands outside Notash, Agent Wraith instinctively touched the side of his visored helm.
The neural-link crackled violently.
"...mediate..."
Static.
"...draw..."
Another burst of distortion swallowed the message.
Wraith frowned.
"Operations Control?"
No response.
The connection dissolved into a wall of static before abruptly falling silent.
The woods became unnaturally quiet.
Slowly, Wraith lowered his hand from his visor.
Something was wrong.
Operations Control lost the signal.
After Agent Wraith's visor emitted one final burst of interference before falling silent;
The child stopped scribbling.
For the first time in several minutes, his finger became still.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"It seems," he said quietly,
"your friends finally figured it out."
He resumed his scribbling.
Agent Wraith's eyes narrowed beneath his visor.
The connection was gone.
And somehow...
the child knew.
The static inside Wraith's visor abruptly died.
There was silence.
No response came from Operations Control.
Wraith stared at the child.
The pieces were finally beginning to fit together.
The impossible perception breach.
The overwhelming divine energy.
The classified information.
The sudden interference.
And now...
the warning that never arrived.
"I see..."
For the first time since arriving in the woods, uncertainty crept into Wraith's voice.
"You're not human, are you?"
The child's finger stopped moving.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Slowly, he rose from his crouched position.
For a brief moment, the night itself seemed to grow heavier.
"This is where our little chat ends," he said calmly.
The smile never left his face.
"I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now."
A cold wind swept through the woods.
The child tilted his head slightly.
"All three of you."