Quiapo, 1:34 AM
The underbelly of the city pulsed like a wound. Streetlights flickered. Vendors packed up. The night belonged to the rats, the lost, and the watchers.
And Maya Alcantara was all three.
She moved through the shadows like she belonged to them. Hoodie up, sling bag tight to her chest, eyes darting with every step. To the cops, she was just another street kid. To the others—the ones who whispered in empty alleyways—she was something else.
She just didn't know what yet.
---
Elias's First Mission
Back in the warehouse, Kael handed Elias a crudely drawn map and a burner phone.
"You're not ready to fight. But you're ready to watch."
"Watch what?" Elias asked, zipping up a dark hoodie.
"There's another one. Not Awakened yet. But close. We've been tracking her for weeks."
"Her?"
Kael nodded. "Name's Maya Alcantara. 19. Runaway. Background: clean. But her shadow? Not so clean."
Elias frowned. "What does that mean?"
Kael looked grim. "It doesn't move. Not even under sunlight."
---
The Encounter
Elias waited by a sari-sari store near Plaza Miranda. People passed by. Jeepneys roared. But his shadow kept twitching.
It knew she was near.
Then, she appeared.
Small frame. Piercing eyes. Calm despite the chaos around her. She was weaving through a crowd of people, her movements strangely precise. Elias noticed something right away:
No shadow.
Not behind her. Not under her feet.
Nothing.
He took a step forward—too fast.
She turned her head—locked eyes with him.
And bolted.
---
Chase Through the Market
Elias sprinted.
Through hanging tarps, crates of rotten fruit, fish guts, over fences, into an alley reeking of engine oil and piss.
"Wait!" he shouted. "I'm not here to hurt you!"
Maya didn't stop. But her voice came back cold and sharp: "Then stop chasing me like a creep!"
She ducked into a parking garage. Elias followed—only to find her already standing behind him somehow.
"What—?"
She kicked his legs out. He hit the ground hard.
"I don't know who you are," she hissed, pressing her foot into his chest, "but you're not the first freak to follow me."
Elias looked up, choking. "I'm like you. I… I have a shadow."
She blinked.
Silence.
Then: "Mine doesn't move. It never has."
---
The Silent One
Elias sat up slowly. "That's not normal. Shadows always follow the body's intent."
"Mine doesn't. Never has." Maya looked down. "I used to think I was cursed. Kids at the shelter called me 'Walang Anino.'"
Elias looked at her shadow now. It was there—barely. Thin. Pale. Like a memory instead of a shape.
Kael's words came back to him.
> "Not Awakened yet. But close."
"You're not cursed," he said. "You're waiting to wake up."
She shook her head. "I don't want to wake anything."
Suddenly, the wall behind them cracked.
A new presence stepped into the garage.
Not human. Not fully.
A tall man in a military coat, face obscured by cybernetic implants, one eye glowing.
"Target confirmed," he said. "Maya Alcantara. Retrieval protocol: active."
---
The Fight
Elias stepped in front of her.
"Don't touch her."
The man didn't flinch. He raised a gauntlet—its surface shimmered with metal and light.
"Subject Nine confirmed. Engaging both."
Elias's shadow exploded outward—forming a black claw across his right arm.
He growled through gritted teeth. "Then come try."