The investigations started within forty-eight hours of the leak.
Parliamentary committees. Human rights commissions. International observers.
Everyone wanted answers.
But investigations took time. And time was something they didn't have.
Because on the third day after exposure, Sierra-4 sent an urgent message.
COMPROMISED. THEY KNOW. EXTRACTION NEEDED. NOW.
Rudra mobilized immediately. "Where is she?"
Karan pulled up her location. "Delhi. Commercial area. Connaught Place. She's... moving. Fast. Being pursued."
"How many?"
"Can't tell. But her vitals are spiking. Heart rate elevated. She's in danger."
"Team Alpha, with me," Rudra ordered. "Everyone else, standby for support."
They grabbed weapons, equipment, and vehicles. Racing through Delhi traffic.
Karan guided them. "She's in Palika Bazaar. Underground market. Lots of civilians."
"Perfect place for a chase," Maya muttered. "Lots of exits. Lots of cover."
They parked and ran into the bazaar. Crowded. Chaotic. Hundreds of people shopping.
"Where?" Rudra demanded.
"South corridor. She's... she's stopped moving."
They pushed through the crowd. Found Sierra-4 in a corner. Behind a closed stall.
Bleeding. Injured. But alive.
"What happened?" Anvi asked, immediately checking her wounds.
"My handler," Sierra-4 gasped. "He figured it out. That I was the leak. Set a trap. I barely got out."
"Can you walk?"
"I can run if I have to."
"Good. Because they're coming," Maya warned, spotting figures moving through the crowd. Professional. Searching.
Nexus operatives.
"This way," Rudra led them through the bazaar. Using the crowd as cover. Moving fast but not running—nothing attracted attention like running.
Behind them, the operatives followed. Closing in.
"We need a distraction," Bhairav said.
"I've got one," Karan replied. "Give me thirty seconds."
They kept moving. Through the market. Up the stairs. Toward the exit.
Then: fire alarms. Sprinklers activating. Panic.
Hundreds of people flooding toward exits.
Perfect chaos.
"Now!" Rudra shouted.
They ran. Mixed in with the crowd. Out into the street.
Where their vehicles waited.
They piled in. Sierra-4 in the middle. Protected.
As they pulled away, Rudra saw the operatives emerge from the bazaar. Frustrated. Empty-handed.
They'd made it.
For now.
Safe House
Back at the warehouse, Anvi patched up Sierra-4's wounds. Bullet graze. Knife cut. Nothing fatal.
"Tell us everything," Rudra said.
Sierra-4 took a shaky breath. "My handler—code name Viper—he called me in this morning. Said there was an urgent operation. When I arrived, he was waiting. With three other operatives. All armed."
"How did you escape?"
"Barely. I managed to disarm one. Took his weapon. Shot my way out. But they know. They know I'm the source."
"Which means Nexus knows everything you've told us," Maya said. "Safe houses. Operations. Protocols. They'll change everything."
"Not everything," Sierra-4 said. "I kept some information back. In case this happened. Insurance."
"Like what?" Anvi asked.
"Like the identity of Director D."
Silence.
"The fourth Directorate member?" Rudra asked.
"Yes. I couldn't verify before. But now I'm sure. Director D is Colonel Ashok Mehta. Retired military. Currently serving as a security consultant. He runs logistics for Nexus. Supplies. Facilities. Operational support."
"Where is he?" Bhairav demanded.
"Mumbai. He has an office in Bandra. Heavily secured. But accessible."
Rudra thought fast. "If we can get to him. Document him. Add him to the list of exposed Directorate members—"
"We tighten the noose," Anvi finished.
"But it's also a trap," Maya warned. "They know we'll go after him now. They'll be waiting."
"Then we don't go directly," Rudra said. "We scout. We observe. We find his vulnerabilities. Then we strike."
"And Sierra-4?" Zara asked. "She can't go back. She's burned."
"She stays with us," Rudra decided. "She's earned it."
Sierra-4 looked up. Grateful. Relieved.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Thank us when this is over," Rudra replied.
But that night, something felt wrong.
Rudra couldn't sleep. Pacing the warehouse. Thinking.
Sierra-4's story made sense. But it was also convenient. Too convenient.
A leak. A chase. A rescue. New information delivered right when they needed it.
He found Maya on watch. "You think it's suspicious too?"
She nodded. "Sierra-4 gets compromised. Barely escapes. Comes to us with new intel about a fourth Directorate member. All in one neat package."
"Could be real," Rudra said, wanting to believe.
"Could be a plant," Maya countered. "Nexus is smart. They could sacrifice one of their own. Make her look desperate. Gain our trust. Lead us into a bigger trap."
"So what do we do?"
"We verify. Everything she's told us. Cross-reference. Check. Before we commit to any operation based on her intel."
Rudra agreed. "Tell Karan to dig into Colonel Mehta. Background check. Financial records. Everything."
"Already on it," Karan's voice came through their earpieces. "But I found something else. Something worse."
"What?"
"I've been monitoring Nexus communications. Dark web forums. Encrypted channels. And there's chatter. About Operation APEX. It's not delayed. It's not cancelled."
"It's happening now," Rudra realized.
"In three days. Maybe less. They're moving up the timeline because of the exposure. They want to eliminate evidence. Which means—"
"Which means eliminating survivors," Anvi said, joining them. "All three hundred."
The weight of it crushed down.
Three days. Maybe less.
To stop a genocide.
"We need to warn everyone," Bhairav said. "Every survivor. Every subject. Get them to safety."
"We've been trying," Priya said. "But not everyone believes. Not everyone can run. Some are in institutions. Some are under surveillance. Some are too scared to move."
"Then we protect the ones we can," Rudra decided. "And we stop APEX at its source."
"How?" Zara asked.
"By finding out how they're planning to execute it. If it's not a neural kill switch, it's something else. Something physical. A signal. A trigger. Something we can disrupt."
"Director Mehta," Sierra-4 said from across the room. "Logistics. Supplies. If APEX requires equipment, infrastructure, he'd be coordinating it."
Everyone looked at her.
"If you want to stop APEX," she continued, "you need to get to Mehta. Make him talk. Make him shut it down."
It made sense.
But it also felt like exactly what Nexus would want them to think.
Rudra made a decision.
"We split operations. Group One scouts Mehta in Mumbai. Confirms his identity. Assesses security. Group Two stays here. Coordinates survivor protection. Group Three hunts for APEX infrastructure. Power sources. Broadcasting equipment. Anything that could be used for a mass attack."
"You're spreading us thin," Maya observed.
"We don't have a choice. Three days. Multiple objectives. We work parallel or we fail."
The team divided. Made preparations.
Rudra, Maya, and Arjun would go to Mumbai. Scout Mehta.
Anvi, Bhairav, and Priya would coordinate survivor protection.
Karan, Zara, and others would hunt APEX infrastructure.
And Sierra-4? Sierra-4 would stay at the warehouse. "Resting." Under guard.
Because Rudra still wasn't sure.
And in this game, uncertainty could be fatal.
As they prepared to leave for Mumbai, Anvi pulled Rudra aside.
"Be careful," she said. "This feels wrong. All of it."
"I know."
"Then why are we doing it?"
"Because doing nothing is worse. If there's even a chance we can stop APEX—"
"We have to try," Anvi finished. "I get it. Just... come back. Okay?"
"Always."
They left at dawn. Mumbai by afternoon.
And walked straight into the trap they knew was waiting.
But sometimes, you walk into traps deliberately.
To spring them. To turn them.
To show your enemy that you're not prey anymore.
You're the hunter.