"Fragments" is a fast-paced sci-fi romance thriller set in a near-future world dominated by a powerful tech-security force called Ironhogan. At its core, the story follows Tia Mulhuti, a fierce and determined woman with a fractured past, and Mark Zulan, a man once trained to be a weapon but struggling to reclaim his identity.
Chapter 1 A dangerous Assignment
"Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Tia Mulhuti. And this is my boss, mark Zulan."
She didn't flinch when she said it - but she definitely felt the weight of irony.
"He's a criminal."
Mark gave a low, sarcastic bow. "Pleasure's all mine."
The border station buzzed with quiet tension. She could feel eyes on her - officers wondering why an elite Ironhogan agent was hand-delivering a high-profile prisoner.
What they didn't know: this wasn't just a transfer. It was a trap.
And Tia wasn't sure who she could trust.
Not her superiors.
Maybe not even herself.
Definitely not the man with the handcuffs and the disarming smile.
But soon...
She'd learn that love doesn't ask for permission - and sometimes, the person you're supposed to bring down... is the one who lifts you up.
Tia kept her eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel, the other hovering near her sidearm.
Mark sat beside her in the armored transport vehicle, hands cuffed, but looking entirely too relaxed for a man in custody.
"You're awfully quiet," he said, glancing her way. "Not even going to ask me if I did it?"
"I already know you did," she said flatly.
He laughed - a low, amused sound that filled the small space. "Right. Ironhogan never gets it wrong."
She shot him a warning look. "Keep talking and I'll gag you with your own ego."
"Feisty," he grinned. "I like that."
She rolled her eyes and looked away, but her fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel. He was baiting her. Testing the waters. She couldn't let him get under her skin - no matter how annoying or strangely charming he was.
Then - a crackle on the radio.
"Unit 7-Delta, this is base. Proceed with caution. We've detected a breach in your route perimeter. Possible interference."
Tia's eyes narrowed. "Copy that, base. Rerouting now."
She reached for the console to change their course, but it was too late.
BOOM.
The blast came from beneath the road, flipping the vehicle sideways into a ditch with a bone-rattling crash. Metal twisted. Alarms blared. Tia's head slammed against the side window before everything went dark for a split second.
When her eyes fluttered open, smoke filled the cabin. Her ears rang. Her body ached.
And mark......was gone.
She scrambled to unbuckle herself, heart pounding.
"Damn it."
She stumbled out of the wreckage, weapon drawn, scanning the area.
And then she heard it - footsteps behind her. She spun around just in time to see a shadow move in the smoke.
But it wasn't an enemy.
It was Mark- cuffs off, bleeding from his forehead, holding out a hand.
"Come on," he said urgently. "They're not after me. They're after us."
Tia hesitated. His words echoed in her head - "They're after us."
For a split second, the smoke, the wreck, the mission - it all vanished.
And she was ten years younger, standing in the hallway of her childhood home, in uniform for the first time. Her father stood in front of the television, a look of disbelief frozen on his face.
"They let him go," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Tia asked.
"The man who killed your brother." He turned to her, voice shaking. "They let him walk."
She didn't believe it. Couldn't.
But the screen showed it - Case Dismissed. Lack of evidence. No justice
That was the moment everything changed.
That was when she stopped believing in gray areas - and started seeing the world in black and white.
Tia blinked, the present snapping back like a whip.
Smoke still swirled. Gunshots cracked in the distance.
And Mark- the criminal - was holding out his hand like he was the only thing she could trust.
Her instincts screamed no.
But her gut whispered something different.
She grabbed his hand.
They ran through the tree line, breath sharp in their chests, boots pounding dirt. Behind them, the forest echoed with the distant thud of drones and shouting men.
Tia stumbled slightly.Mark caught her without thinking.
"Careful," he murmured.
She yanked her arm back. "Don't touch me."
He didn't say anything - just nodded and kept moving. But his mind was somewhere else.
Three years ago.
A different hallway. A cleaner time.
Mark wore a badge then - not cuffs. He was a lead systems engineer in Ironhogan's Cyber Division, with access to blueprints, security cores, and intel grids. One of the youngest to ever hold that level of clearance.
That day, he was called into an ops room for a surprise briefing. Only it wasn't a briefing.
"You accessed unauthorized files."
"Because I was tracing a breach. A backdoor. Someone inside's been selling access logs."
The commander's face was blank. "You're under arrest."
"What? You're serious?"
Then he saw it - in the corner of the room. The flash of a smirk from a man he once trusted. Commander Reid.
That's when he knew.
He wasn't just being accused.
He was being silenced.
Within hours, he was stripped of clearance, branded a traitor, and sent on the run - all because he knew too much.
He never stole data.
He never broke the law.
But he was the perfect scapegoat.
Back in the present, Mark glanced sideways at Tia as they crouched in the brush, catching their breath.
"You still think I'm the bad guy?" he asked quietly.
She didn't answer right away.
And that silence told him everything.