PART 2
The laser dot didn’t just sit there—it moved.
Slow. Intentional. Measuring.
I stepped sideways instinctively, scanning the dim corners of Crow’s Nest. Marines were still frozen, caught between disbelief and instinct. Thorn hadn’t spoken since Maya’s throws. That alone told me something was seriously wrong.
Colonel Vance didn’t even look surprised.
That was worse.
“Maya,” Vance said calmly, “confirm sector.”
She didn’t take her eyes off the dartboard. “Elevated position. West balcony. One observer. Possibly two.”
My pulse spiked.
“This was a controlled demonstration?” I asked.
Vance finally looked at me. “No, Sergeant. This was a live assessment.”
Thorn snapped out of his silence. “You brought intelligence ops into my bar?”
Maya turned slightly. “It stopped being your bar the moment you mistook noise for dominance.”
That hit him harder than any insult I’ve ever heard.
But the tension shifted again when the dartboard creaked.
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A tiny vibration.
Maya noticed it instantly.
“That’s not stable,” she said.
Then she walked forward and pressed two fingers against the wood.
The entire board shifted.
Not just slightly—mechanically.
I stepped closer and saw it: the board wasn’t fixed to the wall. It was mounted on a concealed panel system.
A testing rig.
Thorn noticed it too. “What the hell is that?”
Vance answered. “Advanced marksmanship calibration system. Prototype stage. You were never supposed to see it operational.”
Maya exhaled slowly. “Except someone activated it without authorization.”
The laser moved again.
Faster this time.
Maya’s posture changed. Subtle, but I caught it. No longer casual—now precise, locked.
“There’s a live feed,” she said.
My radio chirped instantly.
Static.
Then a voice.
“Subject confirmed,” it said. “Jurek is active.”
Thorn grabbed my arm. “Who the hell is speaking?”
But Maya already answered.
“Opposition evaluation cell.”
Colonel Vance stepped between us. “This program was designed to identify soldiers who rely on intimidation versus those who rely on control.”
Thorn scoffed. “So this was a setup?”
“No,” Maya said quietly. “It was a stress trigger. You failed it the moment you raised your voice.”
That shut him up again.
But then came the twist I didn’t see coming.
The laser stopped on Maya.
And the voice returned.
“Terminate phase initiated.”
The room lights flickered.
Doors locked.
And somewhere above us, a mechanical click echoed like a chamber being loaded.
Maya didn’t move.
Instead, she said one sentence that changed everything.
“I didn’t come here to be tested.”
She looked directly at the ceiling.
“I came here to find out who is running this without authorization.”
Then she turned to Vance.
“And I already know who it is.”
And for the first time, I saw concern on the Colonel’s face.
