The Five Evolution

『"Ten-point-zero-zero-four seconds, technically."』

The briefing room was packed by the time Amara and Sophia arrived. Rows of seats had filled long ago, forcing late arrivals to stand along the walls.

Conversations overlapped across the room as Awakeners clustered into small groups, trading theories and rumors about why Director Hale had called everyone together.

Amara immediately spotted familiar faces. Maya stood near the back with several senior operatives. Dante was there too, looking considerably better than the last time she’d seen him.

"Looks like half the branch showed up," Hiro muttered.

"More than half," Ethan said.

The atmosphere felt wrong. Not necessarily tense, more like anticipatory. Like everyone knew something bad was coming but nobody knew exactly what.

At the front of the room, Director Hale stood on a raised platform with one hand resting on his walking cane. The room gradually quieted as more and more people noticed him waiting.

Within seconds, silence settled over the crowd.

"Thank you for coming." A holographic display flickered to life behind him, and a map of the world appeared.

Dozens of red dots illuminated across nearly every continent. Europe. Asia. North America. South America. Africa. Sixty-three in total.

A murmur swept through the room as it happened.

"These represent confirmed Anchor-type Awakeners currently under Institute protection or affiliated with our network," the Director began.

The red markers pulsed softly.

"Three weeks ago, a classified document designated R-42 was stolen from our archives."

The room immediately erupted.

"What?"

"Impossible."

"How the hell does someone steal R-42?"

Director Hale allowed the noise to continue for several seconds before speaking again. "It contained detailed intelligence on every Anchor in our network."

The murmuring died instantly.

"Profiles. Mission histories. Psychological evaluations. Current locations." Amara felt her stomach tighten as the Director spoke.

The Director’s gaze swept across the room. "Since that theft, we have lost contact with four Anchors." The map changed, zooming in on the four red markers.

"Two confirmed captured." The first two markers turned black. "Two currently missing." The remaining two began blinking rather than pulsing.

"No evidence?" One Awakener raised a hand.

Director Hale shook his head. "None."

The room grew noticeably colder.

The Director leaned on his cane. "We believe someone is systematically targeting Anchor-class Awakeners."

Several people swore under their breath, and Amara felt her fingers brush Ethan’s hand. Ethan immediately intertwined their fingers without looking away from the display.

Director Hale continued. "Which brings us to why you’re all here."

He looked directly toward the five of them. "Hiro Josuke."

Hiro blinked. Then pointed at himself. "Me?"

Several people nearby turned to him.

"Hey, wasn’t that the guy thrown into a detention zone?" A voice said from somewhere in the back.

"Step forward," the Director ordered.

Raj slapped a massive hand onto Hiro’s shoulder. "You got this."

"I definitely do not," Hiro said with a sigh, rubbing his shoulder. Then made his way toward the platform.

He looked painfully out of place standing beside Director Hale. A skinny young Awakener surrounded by veterans.

Then the holographic display appeared in front of him and something in his demeanor shifted.

His shoulders straightened, his expression sharpened, and Amara recognized that look immediately. The look Hiro got whenever he disappeared into a problem.

"Right." He pulled up several files. "So... R-42." The display expanded. "It wasn’t just a file." He glanced around the room. "It was the file."

Several heads nodded.

"Every known Anchor. Their abilities. Locations. Psychological profiles. Protection details."

The document rotated slowly behind him.

"Three weeks ago somebody broke into our archives and stole it."

"How?" someone asked.

"Temporal manipulation." Hiro lifted his index finger.

The room stirred.

He tilted his head. "Well, a time-stop ability to be more specific."

Now the reactions were louder.

"I’ve heard of those."

"Seriously?"

Hiro nodded. "I found a discrepancy between our internal security sensors and external satellite synchronization." He raised another finger. "Ten seconds."

The room went quiet again as Hiro looked at both of his hands up and quickly raised all of his fingers to make his point. "Ten-point-zero-zero-four seconds, technically."

A few people rolled their eyes, then he gave a light chuckle and continued. "Two days ago my teammates questioned a man named Bolivar Brovonski."

His photograph appeared on screen.

Several Awakeners either recognized the name or the face, and the reactions were immediate.

"That psycho?"

"I heard about him."

"Him and those fucking Purity assholes."

"The assassin broker?"

"Yeah. Him." Hiro nodded and returned his attention back to the images.

"You see, Bolivar here possessed precognitive abilities." He gestured to the images. "He could identify people before they Awakened."

The room fell silent as everyone listened attentively.

"He could determine what kind of Awakener they could be. Sometimes even specific abilities." Hiro took a deep breath. "He used that information to have people killed before they Awakened."

Raj’s expression hardened as his fingers clenched tight.

"One of those targets was my teammate’s fourteen-year-old sister."

Amara slipped out of Ethan’s hold and gave him a nod, which he returned. Then she moved closer to Raj and held his wrist. With that, Raj’s fingers unclenched and he held on to her tight.

"While questioning Bolivar, we learned he had been approached by two individuals," Hiro continued. "And guess what he described as their outfits?" He paused. "Cloaks. White Cloaks!"

The unaware people in the room collectively leaned forward.

"Anyway. They only cared about one thing." The display changed, circling back to the R-Red-42 file. "They wanted information on Anchor-class Awakeners."

The room immediately began murmuring again. Amara noticed several veteran operatives exchanging looks. The implication was starting to become obvious to most.

"They also operated in pairs." Body cam images of the Apostles they encountered in Tokyo appeared on screen. "Which matches a separate encounter our team experienced in Tokyo."

Hiro’s eyes narrowed. "These individuals belong to a group calling themselves the Apostles."

Several Awakeners visibly stiffened at the name.

"This means we may currently have a hostile organization targeting Anchors." Hiro looked across the room. "With their stolen intelligence, resources, and operatives, I think we can all agree this is bad."

Silence immediately returned to the room. Then Director Hale stepped forward. "Good work, Josuke."

Hiro immediately looked awkward again. The transformation vanished so fast Amara almost laughed.

Director Hale turned toward the room. "You’ve heard the analysis." The display shifted, and the interior of a facility appeared. "This is where the Convergence will take place in five days."

The murmuring resumed.

"All Directors will attend."

The murmuring intensified.

"Along with elite security details."

A hand shot up from the background. "Hey, I don’t really know much about this convergence thing. But isn’t having all Directors in one room just a massive target?"

Several others immediately agreed, and Director Hale nodded. "It is."

The room quieted.

"We are aware of the risk." His voice remained calm. "The alternative is allowing individual branches to continue operating independently while an organized threat eliminates Anchors one by one."

Nobody argued. Because nobody had a better answer.

"The Convergence will proceed as scheduled." The facility rotated behind him. "The Five will attend as candidates under evaluation."

Amara’s gaze hardened.

Sophia groaned.

Hiro groaned louder.

Raj looked excited.

Ethan looked... Ethan looked the same.

"You’ll demonstrate your abilities and answer questions from the Council," the Director said.

The room immediately filled with sympathetic looks directed at the Five.

"Dismissed."

People rose from their seats while conversations occurred. Groups were also being formed, questions being asked, and the noise steadily reduced as agents left the room.

Five days. For most people in the room, it sounded like plenty of time. Amara wasn’t so sure.

Then Director Hale spoke again. "Unit 11-B. The Five."

The Five stopped.

"Stay behind."

Everything immediately felt serious again. The crowd slowly filtered out, one group at a time. Until only a handful of people remained.

Afterwards, the doors sealed shut and an almost imperceptible shimmer passed through the walls.

Privacy wards.

Nobody spoke as Director Hale reached into his jacket. Then placed a photograph on the table.

The image was grainy, taken from extreme distance. Yet everyone immediately focused on the same thing.

Two figures. Standing on a rooftop. White cloaks. Faces hidden. Watching and waiting. Almost as if they wanted to be seen.

"This was taken a few days ago." Nobody looked away from the image. "Approximately three hundred miles from our Branch. And exactly when Bolivar was killed."

Director Hale folded his arms. "Which brings us to the real question." His gaze moved from person to person, then settled on the photograph. "What do you make of that?"