Neonspire's veins pulsed with static and suspicion.
Beneath the surface, buried in the city's forgotten fiber-optic guts, Elijah Kane sprinted through a sloped tunnel covered in graffiti and old BitCrack symbols. Beside him, Lyra moved like sharp code—lean, fast, and untouchable.
[System Alert: CHARM PROTOCOL LOCKED – 4h52m Remaining]
[Pursuit Status: Apex Drones in Range]
[Shadow System: Critical Overload Detected]
"Suggestions?" Lyra panted, darting under a flickering bulkhead.
"Try not to die," Elijah muttered, his breath heavy.
"Excellent strategy. Top-tier tactical input."
Shade's sarcasm buzzed through the static.
"Lucky for you, the system just decided to evolve. Check your log, sunshine."
[NEW PROTOCOL UNLOCKED: PULSE HACK]
[Function: Local data shockwave to disable tracking within 30 meters. Cost: 5 IP. Cooldown: 90 seconds.]
[+3 IP: Threat Proximity – Emergency Response Bonus]
Elijah raised his hand—black fractal veins flickering down his arm—and slammed it against a rusted junction box.
"Pulse. Hack. Now."
A ripple of violet light exploded outward. The air shimmered like shattered glass.
Drones overhead spiraled, optics flickering out.
[+2 IP: Surveillance Disruption – Apex Net Blindspot Created]
[+1 IP: Tactical Evasion Achieved]
"Did… you just flash-fry a sensor grid?" Lyra asked, blinking.
He smirked. "Looks better than it smells."
BitCrack Sub-Sector Safehouse – 3:58 A.M.
The safehouse rested beneath Eastern Neonspire like a forgotten synapse. Hacked vending machines hissed warmth into the cold, reprogrammed drones floated idly above charge docks, and low hums of illicit data buzzed from open server ports.
Elijah paced beside a cracked wall monitor, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Victor's turning the city into a net. ECHO-013 is the bait."
"I'm starting to think it's the hook too," Lyra muttered, tapping through her Cipher logs.
He paused. "You said earlier… your glitches started when we crossed signals."
She looked up, hesitant. Then she opened a debug window and slid it toward him.
"Partial system log. Yours triggered this line of code. I've never seen it before."
Their fingers brushed briefly.
[+2 IP: Trust Exchange – Mutual Diagnostics Initiated]
[Cipher Compatibility Rising – Sync Level 18%]
"I haven't been honest with you," Elijah said quietly. "This isn't my first run."
She tilted her head, eyes narrowing.
"I died," he continued. "Five years from now. Victor killed me. Stole my tech. Burned my name off every registry and left me bleeding under a drone billboard."
Lyra's expression barely changed—but her eyes flickered. Something sharp, then something… almost soft.
Pity, maybe. Or recognition.
Then she looked away. "Yeah. Sounds like Victor."
Neonspire's Surface – 4:07 A.M.
Above, the city turned cold.
Holo-screens stretched from skyline to sewer lids. Drone swarms patrolled in tight triangles. Even the taxis had been modified with sensor sweeps.
Victor's voice echoed from every billboard:
"Neonspire belongs to order. Unauthorized systems disrupt the harmony. Compliance ensures prosperity."
[Warning: Apex AI Sweep in Progress – System Signatures Detected]
[Trigger: ECHO-013 – Level 2 Priority Threat]
BitCrack – Central Vault Room
Elijah rebooted diagnostics. Shadow glyphs sparked across the terminal as Cipher runes echoed beside them.
Suddenly, simultaneous system pulses.
[ECHO-013 SYNC LEVEL ACHIEVED – ACCESSING HIDDEN MESSAGE]
[Coordinates Unlocked: ArcSector Delta-09 – Off-Grid Server Farm]
"Shade?" Elijah whispered.
"That place doesn't exist. Not officially. Which means it's either the end of this rabbit hole… or the start of something deeper."
He leaned forward, his heart racing.
But then—the overload hit.
[ERROR: PULSE HACK OVERUSE – Resource Spike Detected]
[System Signature Broadcasted – Location Compromised]
Pain cracked across his skull.
His HUD flared—a flash of white and red, like a dying star—before blinking to static.
"Gah!" Elijah stumbled back, gripping the edge of the console.
"What was that?" Lyra asked, crossing to him.
"Oh, just a tactical mistake. Your system sang a little too loudly. And guess who's listening."
[Threat Detected: KAEL – Apex Operative]
The safehouse lights dimmed.
From the shadows, Kael stepped through a flickering doorway, his eyes glowing like predator lenses.
"You shouldn't have run," he said, his voice modulated by synthetic static.
Kael's cybernetic eye pulsed, locking onto both of them with terrifying clarity. "Victor doesn't just want your systems. He wants what's inside the tether."
His drones floated in, silent and deadly.
[Drones Online: Linked to Inner Circle Command Channel – Signal Source: V. Slade]
A coil gun charged—its glowing plasma edges humming.
A bolt fired.
It scorched past Elijah's head—grazing the safehouse terminal.
Molten code burst from the system shell like liquid light.
"You always were fast," Kael said, stepping forward as sparks rained down.