AIDEN
The investigation no longer lingered on the edges of my life. It moved directly into the center, heavy enough that I could feel it before anyone spoke to me about it.
Professional football was built on measurement. Speed, strength, recovery, durability. Everything that mattered was tracked, logged, and compared against baselines that defined what was considered humanly possible. For weeks, I had existed just outside those baselines, and the system had finally noticed.
The notice arrived early in the morning. The league office had expanded its inquiry from routine testing to a full review of my biological passport, including stored samples, recovery timelines, and long-term performance data. Mandatory interviews were scheduled. Game tape was being pulled for reanalysis.
