HIT MAN AGENT

CHAPTER 4: THE CHOICE

The lights went out.

Kai froze.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but darkness and the sound of Maya breathing beside him.

Then—

Footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Coming closer.

Kai immediately reached for the weapon at his side.

“Don’t,” Maya whispered.

He glanced toward her.

“Why?”

“Because whoever is walking toward us wants you to panic.”

Another step echoed through the corridor.

Kai raised his hand, signaling Maya to stay behind him.

The countdown continued somewhere in the darkness.

04:12

04:11

04:10

A faint red emergency light flickered on.

Kai saw a silhouette at the end of the corridor.

Tall.

Motionless.

Then the figure stepped into the light.

Kai's heart stopped.

It was Elias.

The man from the warehouse.

His face was identical to Kai's.

Same eyes.

Same jawline.

Same scar above the eyebrow.

But there was something different about him.

He looked calmer.

As if he had been expecting Kai for years.

“Kai,” Elias said.

Kai tightened his grip.

“How do you know my name?”

Elias smiled faintly.

“Because I was there when they gave it to you.”

Maya stepped forward.

“What does that mean?”

Elias looked at her.

“You're Maya Cross.”

Her expression changed.

“You know me?”

“I know everything about this facility.”

Kai moved closer.

“Then tell me the truth.”

Elias looked toward the countdown.

“Truth isn't what this place gives people.”

03:42

Kai glanced at the screen.

“What happens when it reaches zero?”

Elias didn't answer.

“Elias!”

Finally, he looked at Kai.

“One of us leaves.”

“And the other?”

Elias's expression hardened.

“One of us stays.”

Maya shook her head.

“This is insane.”

“No,” Elias replied. “It's Project Mirror.”

A loud metallic sound echoed through the facility.

Doors began locking throughout the underground complex.

CLANK.

CLANK.

CLANK.

Maya looked around.

“We're trapped.”

Elias nodded.

“That was the point.”

Kai stepped toward him.

“You said you were my brother.”

“I am.”

“Then why did the agency hide you?”

Elias looked down.

“Because they didn't want two of us.”

Kai stared at him.

“What happened to our parents?”

Silence.

For the first time, Elias looked shaken.

“They weren't our parents.”

Kai felt the words hit harder than any bullet.

“What?”

“They were assigned to us.”

Maya's eyes widened.

“Assigned?”

Elias nodded.

“We weren't raised like normal children, Kai. We were raised inside the program.”

Kai's memories began returning.

A white room.

Bright lights.

A woman standing behind glass.

A little boy holding a red toy car.

A voice saying—

“Don't be afraid, K-17.”

Kai grabbed his head.

Maya caught his shoulder.

“Kai!”

“I remember…”

“What?”

“A room.”

His breathing became unsteady.

“There were two beds.”

Elias stared at him.

“You remember.”

Kai looked at him.

“You were there.”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

Elias hesitated.

“They separated us.”

“Why?”

“Because you started asking questions.”

Kai stared at him.

“I was a child.”

“That didn't matter to them.”

Suddenly, the screen changed.

The countdown disappeared.

A new message appeared.

PROJECT MIRROR — FINAL TEST

Then another line appeared:

IDENTIFY THE ORIGINAL SUBJECT.

Kai looked at Elias.

Elias looked back.

Maya stepped between them.

“This is a psychological test.”

Kai shook his head.

“No.”

He pointed toward the screen.

“It's asking us to choose which one of us is real.”

A voice suddenly filled the corridor.

Victor Kane.

“Correct.”

Kai turned toward the ceiling.

“Kane!”

Victor laughed softly.

“Welcome to the final stage, K-17.”

“Show yourself!”

“I don't need to.”

The walls suddenly came alive with screens.

Hundreds of images appeared.

Kai and Elias as children.

Kai and Elias training.

Kai and Elias receiving medical examinations.

Kai and Elias completing missions.

But something was wrong.

Kai stared at one particular photograph.

It showed two boys standing beside each other.

Underneath them were two labels.

K-17

K-18

But the photograph had been dated thirteen years before Kai's official birth record.

Kai's eyes widened.

“My birth certificate…”

Maya understood immediately.

“It was falsified.”

Kai looked at Elias.

“Then neither of us is who they said we were.”

Elias nodded.

“Now you're getting close.”

Victor's voice returned.

“But you're still missing the most important part.”

A final photograph appeared.

It showed a third child.

Kai stared at it.

The boy looked exactly like him.

Exactly.

Maya whispered:

“There are three.”

Elias stepped backward.

“No.”

Kai turned toward him.

“You knew?”

Elias's face had gone pale.

Victor spoke one final time.

“K-17. K-18. And Subject K-19.”

The facility suddenly shook.

An alarm began screaming.

A door at the far end opened.

Someone walked through.

Kai raised his weapon.

The stranger stepped into the red light.

Same face.

Same eyes.

Same scar.

Another Kai.

The stranger looked directly at him.

Then smiled.

“Hello, brothers.”

03:00

The countdown started again.