The Suit of Sins

Chapter 13: Midnight at the Victory Column

The Victory Column stood tall in the heart of Berlin's Tiergarten, its golden angel shimmering under the pale moonlight. Adam arrived ten minutes early. He didn’t stand in the open; instead, he blended into the shadows of the surrounding trees, his eyes scanning the perimeter for any sign of a trap.

The air was still, broken only by the distant hum of traffic on the Strasse des 17. Juni. Exactly at midnight, a figure emerged from the darkness near the base of the monument. It was a woman, dressed in a long grey coat, her face partially hidden by a scarf. She didn't look like an assassin, but Adam knew better than to trust appearances.

"You’re late, Panther," she said, her voice steady and familiar.

Adam stepped out of the shadows, his hand resting near the concealed tactical pen in his pocket. "Who are you? And how do you know that name?"

The woman lowered her scarf, revealing a sharp, scarred jawline. "My name is Elena. I was the one who pulled you out of the debris in Zurich three years ago, before the Genesis program erased your mind. You weren't a clerk, Adam. You were our best chance at stopping the Director."

She moved closer, handing him a small, encrypted tablet. "The Director isn't just looking for the Genesis file. He’s looking for the 'Source Code'—and it’s not in a computer, Adam. It’s encoded in your neural pathways. You are the file."

Before Adam could respond, a red laser dot appeared on Elena’s chest.

"Get down!" Adam lunged forward, tackling her to the ground just as a silenced bullet hissed through the air, shattering the stone behind them.

The hunt wasn't just in the digital world anymore. The Director had sent his cleaners. Berlin was no longer a refuge; it was a battlefield.