VEILBREAKERSEpisode 5: "Sharpness"
[LOCATION: Abandoned underground parking garage. Somewhere outside the city. SUV engine echoing as it cools. Rain hammering the concrete. Dim lights flicker above.]
Jett (sitting against a pillar, breathing hard):"Start talking, Kael."
Kael (standing, wiping blood from his lip, gaze distant):"…Talking about what?"
Jett (annoyed):"Oh I don't know, maybe that part where reality fractured like broken glass and you disappeared mid-fight—and came back like you took a summer vacation in madness?"
➔ Kael stays silent for a long moment. Looks down at his hand. Opens and closes his fist.
Kael (quiet):"…I saw something."
➔ He looks up. The ceiling is still cracked. Water dripping. His reflection distorted in the puddles.
Kael (calm, steady):"Two men. Or… echoes of them. I don't know if they were real. Felt real.One… taught me how to hold my ground even when everything around me wants me dead.The other—" (he glances at the sword strapped over his back now, freshly real, sharp, humming slightly) "—taught me how to cut hesitation."
Jett (squinting at him):"…What the hell does that mean?"
➔ Kael steps forward. Picks up a broken chunk of concrete from the floor. Holds it loosely in his hand.
Kael (flat):"It means this."
➔ ➔ ➔ He swings the sword—not at the rock, but past it—➔ ➔ ➔ And the chunk of concrete splits clean in half.
➔ ➔ ➔ No flash. No energy beam. Just perfect, decisive sharpness.
Kael (voice steady):"I learned how to cut wrong decisions."
➔ Jett stares. Speechless for the first time in his life.
Kael (finishing):"They called it Dominion Will. Edge Theory. Doesn't matter. All I know is—when you hesitate…" (his eyes narrow) "…you die."
➔ Footsteps echo from deeper in the parking structure.
➔ Operatives. More enemies. Armored. Guns ready.
Kael (gripping the sword in one hand, shotgun in the other, smirking slightly):"Good. I need the practice."
To be continued...
➔ Next Episode: "King's Gambit"