Intern’s Log: There Were Originally Ten Good Boys. What Happened to the Other Three?
Date: Redacted
Intern ID: Reynolds, J. (I have discovered something I was not meant to know.)
So.
I’ve met all seven of the Good Boys.
? Chips, the tactician, who is absolutely waiting for his moment.
? Stubby, the explosives gremlin, who enjoys psychological warfare too much.
? Lucca, the combat medic, who refuses to let anyone stop fighting.
? Nemo, the unstoppable force, who does not need to talk to make his point.
? Cairo, the infiltrator, who is already in my room before I open the door.
? Smoky, the tech specialist, who definitely knows too much.
? Rags, the tracker, who has been watching me since I arrived.
But here’s the problem.
I was going through old records—because I am an idiot with no sense of self-preservation—and I found something odd.
There were originally ten of them.
Ten.
So where are the other three?
Phase One: The Question No One Wanted to Answer
I started asking around.
Casually, at first.
"Hey, didn’t this program start with ten?"
Every time, I got the same reaction.
? A pause.
? A flicker of something—discomfort, hesitation, a slight shift in posture.
? A non-answer.
"Not everyone was a success." someone finally muttered.
That was not an answer.
That was a deflection.
Which meant I had to keep digging.
Phase Two: The Files That Don’t Exist (Except They Do)
I tried pulling their records.
Except—there were none.
No death reports.
No termination orders.
No "accidents during testing."
Just three blank slots in the archive.
Like they were never there.
Like they were erased.
And if there is one thing I know about black-budget projects?
You don’t erase failures.
You erase threats.
Phase Three: The Time I Brought It Up to the Wrong Person
I decided—stupidly—to ask Cairo.
Because if anyone had the answers, it would be him.
I found him exactly where I expected—somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, skimming through security feeds with an amused expression.
"Hey," I said, leaning against the doorway. "What happened to the other three?"
Cairo did not look surprised.
He didn’t even pretend not to know what I was talking about.
He just smirked, tapped the monitor, and said:
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Reynolds. Some things? You don’t want answers to."
I hate him.
Phase Four: The Mistake That Gave Me Answers Anyway
A few days later, I got careless.
I left a request open on my terminal for old genetic sequencing reports.
Didn’t even think about it.
Until Smoky strolled into my office, sat on my desk, and dropped a file in front of me.
"I assume you’re looking for this?"
Oh no.
Smoky doesn’t give people things.
Smoky only hands over information when he wants to see your reaction.
Which means he already knew what was in that file.
Which means he already knew it was going to mess me up.
And it did.
Phase Five: The Lost Three
The file was short.
Intentionally vague.
But here’s what I learned:
? Subject 003, "Marlow" – Disappeared during an off-site mission. Not killed. Not terminated. Disappeared.
? Subject 006, "Harper" – Classified as "compromised" and removed from the program. No details. No cause of death. Just "removed."
? Subject 009, "Dante" – Scheduled for decommissioning. Did not report for decommissioning.
They didn’t die.
They left.
And no one knows where they are.
Or worse—
They do know.
And they’re covering it up.
Phase Six: The Implications I Am Not Ready For
Here’s what I know.
? If a test subject dies, they put it in the record.
? If an experiment fails, they log it.
? If something goes wrong, they cover their ass.
But this?
This is different.
Because Chips, Nemo, and the others are already dangerous.
They are controlled. Contained.
But these three?
They got out.
Which means they are out there, somewhere.
And no one is talking about them.
Which means they are a bigger threat than the ones still here.
Phase Seven: The Part Where I Question Everything
I asked Cairo again.
"Tell me what happened."
He just smiled.
"Reynolds, Reynolds, Reynolds."
He leaned in, voice low, amused, like this was all a game.
"You’ve met the Good Boys."
"You’ve seen what they can do."
"Now imagine what it takes to scare them."
I felt cold.
Because that?
That was not the answer I wanted.
That was something much, much worse.
Final Thoughts (I Am Not Ready for This Storyline)
? There were originally ten Good Boys.
? Three of them are missing.
? The records do not say they died.
? They left. Or they escaped. Or they were removed for a reason no one will talk about.
? Whatever happened, even the current Good Boys don’t speak of them.
? And if Cairo is right… they are far more dangerous than the ones still here.
I don’t know where they are.
I don’t know what they’re doing.
But I do know this—
If they ever come back?
It won’t be as friends.
End Log.
