A Mission Left Unfinished

They returned to Vault 7.

The mission was still open.

Incomplete.

Just like that night.

Ren gripped his rifle and looked at Aiko and Botan.

"No more stalling. We finish what we started."

The vault doors opened.

Inside the vault, holograms played out—recordings of that final mission.

Kenji diving into enemy lines.

Ren yelling to fall back.

Then static.

Then silence.

The room where Kenji vanished was sealed by a Konran lock requiring two IDs.

Ren held his breath.

The system scanned him.

ID Match: RY-07.

Then, without prompting, it flickered again.

ID Match: KS-03.

The door opened.

Inside was a simulation pod.

Still glowing.

Still humming.

This is where Kenji fell.

Where he was taken.

Ren walked around it slowly, the air thick with digital static.

"He didn't log out," Aiko said. "But his consciousness remained."

Botan pointed to a terminal. Data fragments still loaded.