Stellar and her team had been so close. They had tracked the boy for ten grueling days, each moment fraught with tension and uncertainty. But they were running out of time, and the stakes had never been higher.
The boy had been clever, evading the Retriever’s grasp with remarkable skill and determination. Stellar had seen the spark of hope in his eyes, the glimmer of a chance for freedom. He was just a child, but he had dared to defy a heartless system that treated children like commodities.
Their plan had been meticulous. They had timed their approach carefully, waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and rescue the boy. But then, the unthinkable happened—a spotter stumbled across the boy’s hiding place and sent his location to the Retriever.
Stellar’s heart sank as she watched the drama unfold on the surveillance feed. The boy now crouched beneath the underpass, his young face contorted with fear and desperation. He begged for his life, for a chance to see his mother, for a shred of mercy in a merciless world.
But Stellar knew they couldn’t risk revealing themselves in front of the cameras. The consequences would be dire, not just for them but for all the children they were trying to save. It was a painful decision, but it was one they had to make.
As the Retriever pulled the trigger, ending the boy’s run, Stellar turned away, tears stinging her eyes. It was a bitter defeat, another life lost to a system that seemed impossible to defeat. Spotters had become an obstacle that was increasingly difficult to circumvent, and each failure took a toll on Stellar and her team.
They walked away from the scene, their hearts heavy with the weight of their mission. They knew that they couldn’t save them all, but they would keep trying. They would keep fighting for a world where children were not commodities, where hope was not a fleeting spark, but a flame that could burn bright and free.