Chapter 10 As Long as You Live

Noah didn't take me back to the leaking rental house. Instead, he brought me to a rehabilitation facility halfway up a mountain. Security was tight everywhere, and it was clearly not a place ordinary people could ever get close to. After a long series of checks, we were led into a room filled with medical equipment. Noah took off his uniform, and that was when I froze. Dense, overlapping scars covered his back like a battlefield carved into flesh. Along his spine was a black metallic device, embedded into his body, blinking with a faint red light. "What's that?" I asked, my hand trembling as I reached out to touch it. "A physical-function suppressor," Noah answered calmly. "Five years ago, during a termination mission, I forced a breakout. My body collapsed—genetic instability, total overload. "If it isn't suppressed, I'd turn into something that only knows how to kill. A kill machine, if you will. In the end, I'd burn myself out and die." He changed into a hospital gown and sat