He was still trying to rest, still trying to make sense of the pain wrapped around his ribs like concrete bands. The quiet in the hospital room didn't help. Neither had the system interface in the back of his mind, Cenovix OS, now reduced to a low background thrum of diagnostics and unread prompts.
But all of it went still when she walked in.
Detective Nina Carver.
She wore a charcoal blazer over a pale shirt, slacks instead of jeans this time, and low boots that said she expected to be on her feet. There was no makeup or jewelry, just a detective's badge clipped to her belt and a holstered sidearm that made her presence feel official even without a word.
She smiled. That easy, unreadable smile he'd seen once before, the same morning before he ended up this way.
"I saw your daughter this morning," she said lightly, as if they were old friends catching up. "Cute kid. Very polite."
Nathan jolted up. "What...?" The motion sent a sharp jolt through his side, and pain flared instantly, stealing the rest of his words.
"She was painting, I think a tree, or maybe a person. Hard to tell with finger paint, isn't it?"
The color drained from his face before he realized it. "What did you...?"
Nina held up a hand, still smiling. In the other, she lifted her phone and turned the screen toward him.
Lily. Sitting on a carpeted floor, surrounded by crayons and soft pillows. Unmistakable.
"I figured that might wake you up properly," she said.
Nathan sat up too fast and winced, this time ignoring the pain. "Why the hell do you have a picture of my daughter?"
"Because you needed to understand something before we had this talk," she said. Then she pulled up a chair and sat down like they were about to discuss weekend plans.
"Relax. She's safe. Claire too. They've been told you were sent out on emergency EMT duty for an inter-state call. You'll be back in a few days. Everyone's calm."
He stared at her, breath ragged. "You… covered for me?"
She nodded. "You were listed as MIA. No ID, no phone, no record. No one at the hospital knew who you were. Which means no one could have contacted them. So we did it for you."
"We?" he asked, warily.
Nina leaned back. "Let's just say the people I work with prefer smooth transitions."
He didn't know whether to feel relieved or trapped. He was still reeling from the fact he was alive. Now he had to process the idea that this woman, this detective, or whatever she was, had known exactly where to look, how to intercept his life, and do it all without alerting anyone.
"How'd you find me?" he asked. "How were you even there that night?"
Her smile flickered, just for a second. "Funny thing. I wasn't tracking you."
He frowned.
"I was tracking them. Marco, Riley, Torres. Your crew. Or more specifically, the buyer who set them up. We'd been following the exchange route for weeks. And you? You were never on our radar until your car showed up."
"The SUV?" Nathan asked.
"No," she said. "The first one. The one you left behind when you switched vehicles. That's how I found you. You were dumb enough to go back for it. Well... lucky me."
She leaned back slightly, her obvious now, she was enjoying this. "By the way, I cleaned up after that car. Dash cam, traffic cam hits, traceable plates, they're all gone now. The way you drove stood out, and I figured you might be useful later. So, I made sure you didn't end up on anyone else's radar either."
Nathan stared at her. The chill didn't come from her words, but from how easily she said them. Calculating, like he'd been boxed and shelved for later use.
He wasn't sure what unsettled him more, the words, or how casually she said them.
There was a brief silence before he eventually spoke "They're dead," he said quietly. "Marco, Riley, Torres. I watched them die." It hadn't hit him until now.
He was so used to death, so used to seeing it from the other side of his job, that he hadn't let this one settle. Not until he said their names out loud.
"They weren't the brightest," Nina said with a shrug. "But they got close. Close enough to get killed."
Nathan's expression hardened. "They weren't bad guys."
"They weren't saints either," she countered. "But they didn't deserve what happened. I agree with that."
He turned away from her. Something behind his eyes burned, but he didn't let it fall.
"They trusted me," he muttered.
"You were the driver," Nina said, voice soft now. "They knew what the job was. You didn't. That wasn't your fault."
But it still felt like it was.
Nina tapped her knuckle against the metal bedframe. "You have questions, and we're running out of the window where I'm willing to be nice. So listen."
Nathan's hand gripped the edge of the bed. Cenovix flickered behind his vision.
Diagnostics.
Sync progression.
Warnings.
He didn't want her to notice he was still seeing something, still linked to whatever the device they had stolen was. He stared at the corner of the room and willed the data away. And just like that the text faded, even the mark on his wrist receded into his skin until it looked like nothing had ever been there.
His sighed in relief.
"Smart" Nina said, watching him. "You figured that out quicker than most."
"You knew?" he asked.
"I know what you're carrying," she said. "Because it was meant for us."
He didn't respond, not that she expected it anyway.
"It's called an alien fragment. We don't know what it's really called, or where exactly it came from, but what matters is this, it bonded to you. That makes you… unique."
He tried to scoff, but it came out strained. "You mean I'm a lab rat."
"You're a company asset," she corrected. "And I'm your handler."
He blinked. "Handler?"
She crossed her legs. "Yes. That's what we call it in our organization. Like your job as a paramedic. Mine just happens to come with a badge. Which is a cover, by the way."
"You're not a cop?"
"Not really. Not anymore."
Nathan didn't answer right away. The words weren't strange, he'd heard them before. Used them, even. But this time, they were about him. He wasn't just a paramedic who got caught up in something ugly anymore. Now he had a handler. For a second, it felt like his life had already been decided without him.
His heart thumped harder.
"What is this?" he asked. "Who are you people?"
She leaned in slightly, her eyes glinting. "We're called HORIZON.