The Five Evolution

『"Every victory costs something."』

The Director studied the tablet on his desk, his expression carefully neutral. After several seconds, he connected it to his system and sat behind his desk.

With one hand resting against his chin, he played the footage across the wall monitor. The room remained silent while he watched.

Amara. Sophia. Raj. Ethan. All of them, waiting for the Director’s response or reaction.

The footage ended, and the Director watched it again. Then again. Finally, he leaned back in his chair. "Well..."

Nobody spoke.

The Director folded his hands together. "Hiro took a gamble." He paused. "It paid off."

The tension in the room eased just a bit, and Amara stepped forward. "What exactly was in R-42?"

The Director’s expression didn’t change. "A registry."

"A registry of what?" Ethan asked.

"Active and inactive Anchor Awakeners," the Director answered. But the answer only created more questions.

Sophia tilted her head. "Across our branch?"

The Director shook his head. "All branches."

The room went still.

"Hm." Raj stroked his chin. "Why would the Apostles want that?"

The Director simply looked at him. "If I knew that, Mr. Patel, we’d already be moving against them."

Amara folded her arms. "So what now?"

"Now?" The Director sighed. "Now I spend the next several days explaining to several very angry departments why one of my agents broke into a restricted archive."

Sophia snorted. "Good luck with that."

The Director stared at her. Then a reluctant smile appeared. "Quite."

Ethan shifted slightly. "And Hiro?"

"Oh, Hiro stays in detention." The Director’s face went back to being neutral, and Raj groaned upon hearing this.

The Director raised a finger. "Three days."

"Three?" Sophia repeated.

The old man nodded. "Hopefully, long enough to put some fear and discipline into him."

Sophia laughed. "Good luck with that too."

***

Ethan’s rusty vehicle sat parked outside a diner. The old blue van looked wildly out of place among the other vehicles, seating between a Tesla and a Range Rover like it had wandered in from a different decade.

Inside, the group occupied a vinyl booth near the window.

Amara sat beside Ethan, and across from them sat Raj and Sophia.

Sophia was halfway through a burger. A fact made obvious by the way she was still talking around it. "I’m jusht shaying," she mumbled.

Raj pointed while stroking his chin with his other hand. "Finish chewing first."

Sophia swallowed. "No." Then she nudged her head at him. "And what’s with the stroking? We get it, you’re growing a beard."

Sophia wasn’t wrong. Since he started growing out his beard, Amara couldn’t help but observe he’d been stroking it a lot lately.

Raj sighed, bringing his hand down and Amara hid a smile behind her strawberry milkshake.

"Poor Hiro," she said. "You think they’ll let us bring him a bag of fries at least?"

Raj nodded. "Seriously." He tore a fry in half. "Our first time actually going out and he’s stuck in detention."

"Technically," Ethan said, stealing one of Amara’s fries, "the Director insisted we earned this."

Amara narrowed her eyes. "Did you just take my fry?"

"No?" he said just before biting into it. "Besides." He reached into his pocket. "The Director gave us instructions."

That immediately got everyone’s attention.

"What instructions?" Amara asked.

Ethan held up his phone. "We’re supposed to take a picture."

Sophia nearly choked on an onion ring. "What?"

"The Director wants proof." Ethan grinned. "Some sort of psychological punishment I believe."

Raj started laughing. "No way."

"Yes way," Ethan said.

Amara stared at Ethan. "You’re serious?"

"Completely." Ethan raised the phone. "Everyone say: Pop’s Diner."

They all looked at the camera. Amara caught off-guard but smiling through her straw, Sophia threw up a peace sign, still chewing, and Raj gave a thumbs-up.

"Pop’s Diner," they said in unison as the shutter clicked.

Ethan lowered the phone and started typing, his thumbs moving fast as he attached the photo to a message.

Sophia leaned over. "You’re actually sending it?"

"Oh, absolutely." Ethan grinned.

The laughter slowly faded, and conversations drifted. Eventually, Amara looked down at her milkshake. "What do you think they wanted with that list?"

Sophia shrugged. "Who knows?" She took another bite of her burger. "Maybe ish shom demented shkeem." She gestured vaguely. "Maybe dey jush wanned a shurprise barty."

"Huh?" Amara said.

"I said," she swallowed, "maybe it’s some demented scheme. Maybe they just wanted to throw them a surprise party." Burger crumbs fell from her mouth as she spoke.

Raj blinked at her, an eyebrow lifted. "Sophia, I don’t think they’d want to throw them a surprise party."

Ethan grabbed another chip from the basket at the center of the table and dipped it into Amara’s milkshake.

She swatted at him. "Hey."

He chuckled and bit it anyway. "Director’s problem now. At least until it isn’t."

Amara wrapped her hands around her milkshake glass. "I just hope Meredith’s okay."

Ethan leaned in and kissed her on the head. "I’m sure she is."

They stayed like that for a moment. Her head tilted against his shoulder.

Then Raj’s phone rang. He looked at it and a bright smile appeared on his face. He leaned back and answered the call.

"Hey, Ma—" he started. Suddenly, his bright smile was gone. The color drained from his face and his burger fell from his hand, landing on the plate.

"Raj?" Amara’s voice shifted with concern as she sat up.

He slid out of the booth, his hands shaking. "That was my mom. It’s my sister—she’s in the hospital." He grabbed his jacket. "I—I gotta go. Right now."

Ethan stood up immediately. "I’ll drive."

Amara squeezed Raj’s arm as he passed.

He gave her a quick smile and moved quickly, already halfway to the door, speed-walking like the floor was on fire.

"Come on!" He signaled to Ethan.

Amara nodded. "Go."

Sophia nodded too. "We’ll handle things here."

Raj disappeared through the door, and Ethan moved after him. Then he stopped, turning back. He reached for Amara’s jaw, tilted her face up, leaned down, and kissed her.

"I’ll call you, I l—" he caught himself mid-word. His eyes met hers as both of them froze. Then he pulled back. "Yeah..."

Outside, Raj’s voice echoed from the parking lot. "Ethan! Come on!"

"Yeah, I’m coming!" Ethan called back. He gave Amara one last hurried look, then jogged out after Raj. The door to the diner chimed as it swung shut behind him.

He and Raj got into the van immediately. He plugged his key into the ignition and twisted.

Caroline’s engine roared to life, and the blue van peeled away.

Back at the diner, Amara sat there wide-eyed, her hand touching her lips, her cheeks flushed. She was unable to move or speak in that moment as her milkshake went warm.

Sophia stared at Amara for a few seconds then cleared her throat loudly, pointing at her shake with a fry. "You gonna finish that?"

***

In the detention block, the lights were harsh and the air cold. Hiro sat on the edge of the narrow bunk, suppression cuffs heavy around his wrists.

The metallic clink of approaching footsteps made him lift his head, and he winced the moment he did so. His face still ached from Yelena’s boot.

A guard stopped in front of his cell and slid a plain brown envelope through the slot at the bottom of the door without a word.

Hiro waited until the guard left before tearing it open. A single photograph slid into his palm.

There they were—his team—at Pop’s Diner. Burgers, fries, milkshakes. Onion rings piled high in the center of the table. All of them smiling like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Hiro stared at the picture, thumb brushing over the glossy surface. "They got onion rings," he whispered to the empty cell.

Then louder. "They fucking got onion rings!!!"

The shout echoed down the long detention corridor, bouncing off concrete walls until the whole block seemed to ring with it.

"Shut the fuck up!" A guard banged on the door of his cell.