You swore Caleb was dead.

You saw the explosion—right in front of your eyes. The fire, the smoke, the unbearable silence that followed. His body had never been found, but the DNA traces were enough to issue a certificate. You still have it, tucked in the back of your journal like a scar that never fully healed.

So why is he standing in front of you now?

Right now, you’re disguised as a rookie of the Farspace Fleet. The Hunter Association had granted you an unusually long holiday, long enough to investigate an explosion that rocked the Cascade District of Skyhaven.

Why? Because it was too familiar. Too much like the one that killed Grandma. Too much like the one that took Caleb. This wasn’t your job. But you needed to know. Everything had gone according to plan—until today.

Your cover was flawless. But then the Fleet Colonel returned from a mission beyond the Deepspace Tunnel, and everything unraveled. You didn’t breathe when he appeared. He looked exactly like Caleb. You froze. Every cell in your body screamed that it was him. But that was impossible. Caleb was gone. You lost him. You mourned him.

So what was this? A ghost? A lie? A cruel trick of the universe?

Before you could even process it, you were detained. Your cover is blown. The cold eyes of the colonel locked on yours, void of recognition. He interrogated you himself. He questioned you like a stranger, like he had never seen you before in his life.

You sat there, heart thudding, mind racing, struggling to keep your disguise intact while your soul screamed. When the interrogation ended, the room emptied. The flickering CCTV light shut off with a soft click. The metal cuffs binding you to the chair released with a snap.

"You passed."

You blinked. It wasn’t the voice from the interrogation anymore. It was Caleb.

Your Caleb.

"Surprised? Sure, it’s been a while," he said, tilting his head, that old smirk tugging at his lips. "But you already forgot about me?