"What kind?"
"We made a volcano."
"Did it explode?"
"Obviously."
Marcus smiled.
"Good."
There was a pause.
"Are you coming home soon?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Marcus hung up.
Then he looked at the office door.
It was slightly open.
He knew he had closed it.
Marcus stood.
He walked into the corridor.
Nobody was there.
But on the floor outside the office was a small black envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Marcus recognized the building immediately.
It was a warehouse in Prague.
The photograph showed a group of men standing outside it.
One of them was Marcus.
The picture had been taken twelve years ago.
On the back was a single sentence.
WE REMEMBER GHOST SIX.
Marcus closed his eyes.
For six years, he had convinced himself the past was dead.
He had been wrong.
The next morning, Adrian Cross announced an open challenge.
He called it the Titan Trial.
Members of the gym could participate.
Three rounds.
No protective gear beyond standard gloves and mouthguards.
The winner received fifty thousand dollars.
The event attracted attention immediately.
Marcus was replacing a water filter when Adrian approached.
"You should enter."
Marcus looked up.
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't fight."
Adrian laughed.
"You don't fight?"
"No."
"You've got the posture of a fighter."
Marcus tightened a bolt.
"I've got the posture of a man with back pain."
The nearby staff laughed.
Adrian didn't.
"You embarrassed me yesterday."
"I wasn't trying to."
"That's worse."
Marcus stood.
"Mr. Cross, I have work to finish."
Adrian stepped in front of him.
"You're afraid."
Marcus looked at him.
"No."
"Then prove it."
Marcus sighed.
"I have a daughter."
Adrian shrugged.
"So?"
"So I don't have anything to prove."
The words struck harder than an insult.
Adrian's face tightened.
"Get out of my gym."
Marcus looked around.
"I'm fixing your air conditioning."
"Then fix it somewhere else."
Marcus picked up his tools.
"Fine."
He left.
But the story did not end there.
That evening, a video appeared online.
It showed Adrian confronting Marcus.
The caption read:
BLACK BELT CHALLENGES SILENT JANITOR.
Within hours, thousands of people had watched it.
Marcus didn't care.
Until Sophie came home from school the next day and asked:
"Dad, are you famous?"
Marcus froze.
"What?"
"My friend said you're on the internet."
Marcus sat beside her.
"What did you see?"
She showed him the video.
Marcus watched himself standing silently while Adrian shouted.
He felt something colder than anger.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For Sophie.
Someone had posted the video deliberately.
Someone wanted attention drawn to him.
Someone wanted people asking questions.
And Marcus knew exactly why.
That night, Marcus checked every lock in the apartment.
He looked through the window.
Nothing.
Then he noticed something across the street.
A dark sedan.
Engine running.
Marcus switched off the lights.
The sedan remained.
He called an old number.
A man answered.
"Who is this?"
"You know."
Silence.
Then:
"Marcus?"
"Yes."
"I thought you were dead."
"I thought you were too."
"Why are you calling?"
"Someone found me."
Another silence.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
The voice on the other end became serious.