Ashton Wells: The Wild-Card

CONFIDENTIAL SYNDICATE FILE: SUBJECT #100

SUBJECT: Ashton Wells

CODENAME: Shade

THREAT: Alpha

STATUS: Active-Psychologically unstable

NOTES: Shadow manipulation has evolved into a sentient force bonded to the subject psyche. The primary candidate for the assassination prototype program before the escape.

Ashton grew up in a suburban neighborhood that wore the mask of peace, neatly trimmed lawns, polite smiles, and perfectly timed trash pickups. But beneath it all, his family was steeped in secrecy. Ashton's father Gerald Wells, worked in corporate logistics or so Ashton was told. The truth was Gerald was a low-level Syndicate informant, placed in civilian life to monitor and report on "Potential anomalies," individuals who might one day become targets of experimentation. Ashton was an only child, Introspective, intelligent, and incredibly perceptive. Even as a kid, He noticed things. The extra locks on the door, the late-night phone calls, and the way this father's eyes would shift when he asked about work. Ashton spent hours alone, Writing and exploring the shadows of his home and his mind. Ashton was confused and didn't know what his goal was. But his isolation wasn't just about about personality. It was about survival. Ashton was a loner by design. School was a joke to him. Teachers didn't know what to do with a kid who never studied but still passed, who never stayed in one place long enough to form close relationships or a strong bond. He'd disappear for days at a time, sometimes sleeping in abandoned subway cars, other times breaking into luxury apartments just to stare at the lives people lived behind glass. His father loyal to the Syndicate, feared his own son might become a threat. Ashton's mother, Lillian Wells, was a nurse, Kind, grounded, the type who baked cookies on rainy days and treated every scraped knee like it mattered. She never knew about her hidden husband's affiliation, and she never suspected that the Syndicate would come for her son. When Ashton began to exhibit subtle signs- an uncanny ability to blend into the dark, a way of knowing things without being told. Gerald filed a quiet report. Ashton was ten when he overheard his father's coded phone call. The words "test subject", "Mutation", and "containment" stuck with him like splinters. That night, he packed a bag and tried to run. Gerald caught him, calmed him down, and promised it was a misunderstanding. It wasn't. Years passed, and The distance between father and son grew. Ashton never confronted him, but he never trusted him again. He became more withdrawn, his emotions sharpening into sarcasm, mistrust, and cold logic. His only light was with his mother. Until the Syndicate came knocking. When Ashton, Mason, Zaire, Khi, and Cash got abducted, He didn't know his father approved of the hit. With shadows at his fingertips and betrayal in his bones, Ashton walks the line between vengeance and control. He trusts no one fully, not even himself.