Jared stood in the center of the room, his body glowing with a pulsating light. The Core’s energy swirled around him, making the air crackle with tension. His smirk had transformed into something far more menacing, his eyes gleaming with an unnatural brilliance.Ethan clenched his fists, his heart pounding as he stepped forward. The team stood behind him, tense and unsure of what to do.“Jared, stop this,” Ethan said, his voice firm. “You don’t know what that power will do to you.”Jared chuckled, the sound echoing eerily through the chamber. “Oh, Ethan, I know exactly what it will do. This is the future—my future. You’ve fought so hard against the System, but you never thought about what comes after. I have.”The team exchanged uneasy glances. Lila raised her weapon, aiming at Jared. “Whatever you’re planning, it ends here.”Jared turned to her, his expression one of mild amusement. With a flick of his hand, a shockwave of energy erupted from him, throwing Lila and Jaxon against the

The air around them was thick with tension as Vera’s figure froze in the shadows. Her eyes flicked rapidly, scanning the area ahead, her body language tense as if sensing something none of them could yet perceive. Ethan’s heart beat faster. Every instinct in him told him that something was wrong—danger was close, much closer than they realized.“Vera?” Ethan asked, his voice low but edged with urgency. “What’s happening? What do you see?”Vera held up a hand, signaling for silence. The air seemed to grow colder, and the distant sounds of gunfire now felt like distant echoes, as though the world had paused for a single breath. The moment hung heavy in the air.Suddenly, a figure emerged from the corner of the narrow alley they were in—tall, imposing, and moving with a silent grace that only a trained warrior could possess. Ethan’s hand instinctively went to his weapon, but before he could draw, Vera was already stepping forward, a look of recognition flashing in her eyes.“You!” Vera h

Ethan’s breath caught in his throat. Aisha stood there, her face cold, her sharp eyes cutting through the dim light. She wasn’t the woman he remembered—there was something different about her now. She looked hardened, like someone who had faced horrors too great to speak of. Her presence sent a ripple of unease through the group.“Aisha?” Lila’s voice was barely a whisper, trembling with a mix of shock and disbelief.Aisha’s gaze flicked to Lila, then back to Ethan. “I told you we’d meet again,” she said, her tone flat, almost robotic. She took a step forward, her movements slow and deliberate. Behind her, the guards didn’t move. They stood like statues, waiting for her command.“What are you doing here?” Ethan demanded, his hand instinctively gripping his weapon. “And why are you with them?”Aisha smirked, but there was no warmth in it. “You think you’re the only ones fighting the System? There’s more going on than you realize.”Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Answer the question. Are you wi

The team sat in silence, the flames of the destroyed facility casting flickering light across their tired faces. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and the distant echoes of sirens. Aisha clutched the data drive in her hands like it was her lifeline. Lila broke the silence. “If what’s on that drive is as big as you say, what’s the plan?” Aisha looked at her, hesitating. “We take it to someone who can use it—someone who can expose the System for what it truly is. This could change everything.” Ethan, standing a little apart from the group, stared into the distance. His mind raced with doubts. The System was massive, a juggernaut that controlled almost every aspect of their lives. Taking it down felt like trying to topple a mountain with a pebble. “We need to know what’s on it first,” Ethan said, his voice calm but firm. “If we don’t understand it, we’ll never know who to trust.” Aisha frowned but nodded. “I’ll decrypt it, but it’ll take time. And we need to find a safe place

The subway tunnel was damp, the air heavy with mildew and grit. Ethan crouched near the faint glow of a flashlight, studying the crumpled map of the city Aisha had pulled up. The coordinates for Sector 12 were marked in red, a grim reminder of the fortress they were about to face.“We don’t stand a chance if we go in blind,” Vera said, leaning against the cold wall. “Sector 12 is crawling with enforcers. We’ll be dead before we even find the server.”“We’ve faced worse,” Ethan replied, though his voice carried a weight he couldn’t hide.“Not like this,” Jaxon muttered. “This isn’t just some outpost. This is their core.”Lila, sitting cross-legged nearby, wiped the dried blood from her cheek. “We don’t have a choice. If we back out now, everything we’ve sacrificed will mean nothing.” Her voice was steady, but her eyes revealed the exhaustion she tried to mask.Aisha tapped her laptop, the screen casting shadows on her face. “I’ve been scanning their network. If we can infiltrate throug