VENOM

4 THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME

C.Y. stared at the computer screen.

PROJECT VENOM — PHASE ONE COMPLETE.

His own face looked back at him from the classified file.

For several seconds, he didn't move.

The room was silent except for the low hum of the ventilation system.

He read the line again.

SUBJECT: CYRIL VICTOR

His stomach tightened.

He scrolled.

There were pages of information.

His medical history.

His childhood records.

His underground fights.

His psychological profile.

Even photographs he had never seen before.

One showed him leaving school.

Another showed him entering the warehouse where he fought.

Another showed him carrying groceries home.

Someone had been watching him for years.

C.Y. leaned closer to the screen.

Then he saw something that made his blood run cold.

INITIAL SURVEILLANCE AGE: 15

"Fifteen?"

He sat back.

He had only started underground fighting at seventeen.

Why would the Directorate have been watching him two years before that?

He continued reading.

Physical potential: Exceptional.

Combat adaptability: Extremely high.

Emotional attachment: Strong.

Primary weakness: Family.

C.Y.'s jaw tightened.

"No."

He scrolled faster.

There were pages of information about his mother.

His sister.

Their medical records.

Their financial situation.

Their daily routines.

Places they visited.

People they knew.

Everything.

His breathing became heavier.

Then he found another section.

PROJECT VENOM

Objective: Develop an elite human operative capable of operating independently without external support.

Phase One: Selection.

Phase Two: Conditioning.

Phase Three: Deployment.

Phase Four: Independence.

C.Y. stared at the final word.

Independence.

"What does that mean?"

A sound came from the hallway.

C.Y. immediately closed the file.

The door opened.

Maya stood there.

She looked at him.

"You still awake?"

C.Y. shut the computer.

"Yeah."

She stepped inside.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Something like that."

Maya studied him.

"You look pale."

"I'm fine."

"You keep saying that."

"Because I am."

She crossed her arms.

"You know you're a terrible liar."

C.Y. smiled slightly.

"So you've told me."

Maya walked closer.

"What happened?"

C.Y. hesitated.

He wanted to tell her.

He almost did.

But something stopped him.

If the Directorate was watching him, there was a chance they were watching her too.

So he simply said:

"Nothing."

Maya stared at him.

Then nodded.

"Okay."

She turned toward the door.

C.Y. looked at her.

"Maya."

She stopped.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

She turned around.

"Of what?"

C.Y. didn't answer.

He couldn't.

Maya smiled faintly.

"You too."

Then she left.

C.Y. waited until the door closed.

Only then did he breathe.

---

The following morning, C.Y. was summoned to the executive level.

He had never been there before.

The elevator stopped at a floor he didn't recognize.

The doors opened.

Everything changed.

The lower levels were filled with soldiers, scientists, and equipment.

This floor was different.

Quiet.

Elegant.

Expensive.

Dark wooden walls.

Black marble floors.

Large windows overlooking the city.

C.Y. walked through the corridor.

Two guards stood outside a massive door.

One looked at him.

"He's waiting."

The door opened.

C.Y. entered.

A man stood beside the window.

Black suit.

Hands behind his back.

Gray hair.

Calm posture.

The same face from the photograph.

C.Y. stopped.

The man turned.

"Mr. Victor."

His voice was calm.

Almost friendly.

C.Y. stared at him.

"Mr. Confidence."

The man smiled.

"That's what they call me."

"What's your real name?"

A small pause.

Then the man smiled again.

"Names are interesting things."

C.Y. frowned.

"You asked me to come."

"I did."

"Why?"

Mr. Confidence walked toward the desk.

"Sit."

C.Y. remained standing.

"I'll stand."

Mr. Confidence smiled.

"You're different from the others."

"I'm not trying to be."

"That's precisely why you're different."

C.Y. stared at him.

"What is Project Venom?"

The smile disappeared.

Only for a second.

But C.Y. noticed.

"I see you've been investigating."

"I found the file."

"Where?"

C.Y. said nothing.

Mr. Confidence nodded.

"Good."

C.Y. frowned.

"Good?"

"Curiosity is useful."

"Answer my question."

Mr. Confidence walked to the desk and sat down.

"Project Venom is a long-term initiative."

"About me?"

"Partly."

C.Y.'s eyes narrowed.

"Why was I being watched when I was fifteen?"

Mr. Confidence looked at him.

"Because we knew what you could become."

"I was a kid."

"Exactly."

C.Y. stepped closer.

"You've been studying me since I was fifteen?"

"We studied many people."

"But you chose me."

"Eventually."

C.Y. clenched his fists.

"Why?"

Mr. Confidence looked at him for a long moment.

"Because you have something most people don't."

"What?"

"Adaptability."

C.Y. didn't respond.

"You don't simply learn from pain," Mr. Confidence continued. "You learn from failure. Every time you lose, you change."

"I don't lose."

Mr. Confidence smiled.

"Not anymore."

The room fell silent.

Then Mr. Confidence opened a drawer and pulled out a photograph.

He placed it on the desk.

C.Y. looked down.

It was a photograph of him fighting in the underground.

But it wasn't the fight from last year.

It was from when he was seventeen.

C.Y. stared.

"I don't remember anyone taking this."

"We were there."

C.Y. looked up.

"Why?"

"Because we were looking for someone."

"Me?"

"Yes."

C.Y. shook his head.

"You people are insane."

Mr. Confidence smiled.

"Perhaps."

He leaned back.

"But you accepted our offer."

"Because I needed money."

"Exactly."

Mr. Confidence folded his hands.

"We give people what they need."

C.Y. stared at him.

"And what do you get?"

Mr. Confidence's smile returned.

"Everything."

---

C.Y. left the office with more questions than answers.

As the elevator descended, his mind kept returning to one sentence.

We give people what they need.

He hated it.

Because it was true.

The Directorate had helped his family.

His mother's bills were paid.

His sister had received better medical care.

There was food in their home.

His family was safe.

At least, that's what he thought.

The elevator opened.

C.Y. stepped out.

Maya was waiting.

She immediately noticed his expression.

"How did it go?"

"Fine."

"You're lying again."

C.Y. looked at her.

"You really need to stop saying that."

"You really need to stop doing it."

He almost laughed.

Then she noticed something in his hand.

"What's that?"

C.Y. looked down.

He was holding the photograph Mr. Confidence had given him.

"Nothing."

Maya reached for it.

C.Y. handed it over.

She looked at the photograph.

Her expression changed.

"Where did you get this?"

"Mr. Confidence."

Maya stared at him.

"Why?"

"He wanted me to see it."

She looked at him.

"C.Y."

"What?"

"I think we need to talk."

---

They found an empty training room.

Maya locked the door.

C.Y. sat against the wall.

She stood opposite him.

"There's something you need to know."

"What?"

"I've been researching the Directorate."

C.Y. looked up.

"Why?"

"Because Marcus wasn't the first person to say something like that."

C.Y. became serious.

"Who else?"

"Three former agents."

"What happened to them?"

"Two disappeared."

"And the third?"

Maya hesitated.

"He died."

C.Y. stared at her.

"How?"

"Officially? Suicide."

C.Y. looked away.

Maya continued.

"But I don't believe it."

Silence.

"You think the Directorate killed him?"

"I don't know."

C.Y. looked at the floor.

"I found something."

Maya immediately looked at him.

"What?"

"Project Venom."

Her expression changed.

"What did you find?"

"That they've been watching me since I was fifteen."

Maya said nothing.

C.Y. continued.

"They didn't recruit me randomly."

He looked directly at her.

"They chose me."

Maya stepped closer.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

She sat beside him.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Maya quietly said:

"We should be careful."

C.Y. nodded.

"I know."

Her hand touched his.

Neither pulled away.

C.Y. looked at her.

Maya looked back.

There was something between them.

Something neither was ready to name.

Then—

BEEP.

Their communication devices activated.

A voice came through.

"All agents report to briefing room seven."

C.Y. and Maya looked at each other.

The moment disappeared.

They stood.

"Come on," Maya said.

C.Y. nodded.

---

Briefing room seven was packed.

More than twenty agents stood around a large table.

A holographic map appeared.

A city district was highlighted.

Daniel stood at the front.

"Our target is a man named Elias Kane."

A photograph appeared.

"Former Directorate intelligence officer."

C.Y.'s eyes narrowed.

Daniel continued.

"Kane stole classified information and intends to sell it."

One agent asked:

"Where?"

"Undisclosed."

"Objective?"

Daniel looked around the room.

"Retrieve the information."

He paused.

"And eliminate Kane."

C.Y. exchanged a glance with Maya.

Again.

Eliminate.

Daniel continued.

"You leave in ten minutes."

The room began to empty.

C.Y. remained.

"Daniel."

Daniel looked at him.

"Yes?"

"What did Kane steal?"

"Classified information."

"What kind?"

Daniel's expression hardened.

"You don't need to know."

C.Y. stared at him.

"Then how am I supposed to know what I'm recovering?"

"Because I told you."

Daniel walked away.

C.Y. watched him.

Maya approached.

"You noticed it too."

"Yeah."

"They're hiding something."

C.Y. nodded.

"Definitely."

---

That night, the team reached the target location.

An abandoned train station.

The area was empty.

Too empty.

C.Y. crouched behind a concrete barrier.

Maya checked her weapon.

"You ready?"

C.Y. nodded.

"Always."

She looked at him.

"That's not true."

C.Y. smiled.

"You're learning."

They moved forward.

The station was dark.

C.Y. entered first.

His instincts immediately reacted.

Something was wrong.

He raised his hand.

The team stopped.

Maya whispered.

"What?"

"Someone's watching us."

"Where?"

C.Y. looked toward the upper platform.

Nothing.

Then—

A voice echoed through the station.

"Cyril Victor."

C.Y. froze.

A man stepped into the light.

Elias Kane.

Older.

Wounded.

Holding no weapon.

"You shouldn't be here."

C.Y. raised his weapon.

"You're under arrest."

Kane laughed.

"Do you even know why you're here?"

C.Y. said nothing.

Kane looked at him.

Then at Maya.

"Did they tell you about Venom?"

Maya's eyes widened.

C.Y. tightened his grip.

"What do you know?"

Kane smiled.

"Everything."

Suddenly, every light in the station switched on.

Screens across the walls activated.

Files appeared.

Photographs.

Names.

Experiments.

C.Y. stared.

And then he saw something that made his blood run cold.

PROJECT VENOM — SUBJECTS 01–19

His name wasn't first.

It was Subject 20.

There had been nineteen before him.

Kane looked at him.

"You're not the first."

C.Y. stared at the screens.

"What happened to them?"

Kane's expression darkened.

"They failed."

C.Y. looked at Maya.

She looked terrified.

Kane continued.

"They were stronger than ordinary humans."

"Then why did they fail?"

"Because they couldn't be controlled."

C.Y. looked back at him.

"And me?"

Kane smiled sadly.

"You're different."

"How?"

"You don't need to be controlled."

C.Y. frowned.

"Why?"

Kane looked directly into his eyes.

"Because they gave you something the others never had."

"What?"

"Something to lose."

Before C.Y. could answer, the station exploded into movement.

Gunfire erupted from the upper platforms.

Agents scattered.

C.Y. grabbed Maya and pulled her behind cover.

The lights went out.

The screens disappeared.

Kane vanished into the darkness.

C.Y. shouted:

"Where is he?"

No answer.

Then his communication device activated.

Mr. Confidence's voice came through.

Calm.

Almost amused.

"C.Y."

He listened.

"Welcome to Phase Two."

The transmission ended.

C.Y. stared into the darkness.

For the first time since joining the Directorate, he understood the truth.

The missions weren't training him to become an assassin.

They were testing him.

And whatever Project Venom was...

He was only beginning to discover what it had been designed to create.