Novels by Daisy

The elevator doors slid open with a metallic hiss.Rian did not move immediately. He stood at the threshold, one hand resting against the cool steel door frame, scanning the lobby the way he used to scan dark alleys in Shoreditch for drunks who might roll him for the forty quid in his jacket pocket. Old instinct. The kind you did not learn from a system, the kind you grew from years of having nothing to protect you but your own two eyes.His right eye, the one that no longer belonged entirely to him, did its work automatically. Overlapping geometries of threat data bloomed across his vision like frost spreading on glass.Three figures. Positioned near the coat check, the bar, and the far emergency exit. Each one still as furniture. Each one wrong, the way a photograph of a smiling person is wrong when you notice their eyes are not smiling at all.Neural rifles. Plasma-based. Each one trained on you.[Survival probability: 31%.}Thirty-one. Rian exhaled slowly through his nose.Three m

The dim streetlights of Shoreditch flickered erratically, casting Rian’s long shadow across the asphalt still damp from the remnants of the rain. The suit, worth thousands of pounds, clung to his body like a suffocating, foreign skin.Although he had just won a psychological battle against Lord Arthur at that high-end restaurant, no sense of pride remained in his chest. Instead, a cold void began to crawl from the corners of his eyes, snaking down his spine and freezing what little human emotion he had left.Rian stepped into the musty hallway of his apartment building. Usually, the creak of the floorboards in this old building would keep him on edge, but now, even the slightest noise was analyzed by Aura-Link as meaningless sound wave frequencies.His world was no longer about feelings or memories; it had transformed into a tedious heap of data. He stared at the peeling walls, and the system in his eyes immediately spat out numbers:[Humidity Level 72%, Black Mold Growth Risk: High.]

"Victoria, you look stunning as always," Arthur said with a very thick posh accent. He then turned to Rian, extending his hand in a demeaning manner. "And who is this? I didn't know Sterling Tech was now hiring fashion models to accompany their CEO for dinner."Rian felt a surge of anger in his chest, but the Aura-Link immediately dampened the emotion. A digital command appeared in his vision.[Target Weakness Analysis: Arthur is currently facing a financial crisis in his property company. He strongly dislikes men who appear more intelligent than him.][Dialogue Instruction: Use Microeconomic Terms. Crush His Mental Dominance.]Rian accepted Arthur's handshake, but he applied a slightly firmer pressure, making Arthur wince involuntarily. "Rian. Lead Strategic Consultant. I didn't realize Sterling Tech allowed nearly bankrupt ex-lovers to arrange our CEO's dinner schedule," Rian replied in a very casual tone, almost as if he were talking about the weather.Arthur's face suddenly turned

The Watchers. They weren't waiting until tomorrow. They were already here. And they knew exactly who Rian was."M'lady," Rian's voice trembled as he pointed toward the screen, which was beginning to display geographical coordinates for London being locked onto by orbital weaponry. "We don't have time to get a suit tailored. They just locked a target on this building."Victoria Sterling didn't waste a second. She snatched a pistol from behind her desk drawer and glared at Rian with a lethal flash in her eyes. "Then show me what that eye of yours can do, Rian. Right now!"***The floor-to-ceiling mirror in Sterling Tech's exclusive dressing room seemed to reflect a stranger Rian had never seen before. The young man who usually spent his days with a grimy mop and a blue polyester uniform smelling of cheap detergent was gone.In his place stood a young man in a three-piece midnight blue suit, handcrafted by the finest tailors on Savile Row. The cut was precise, following the lines of his

"The real world is very cruel, Rian," Victoria said with a voice full of hidden sorrow."My father spent his entire life trying to figure out what lay behind those 'numbers.' He died because of it. And I... I am nothing more than the leftovers of his mad ambition."[Target Status: Emotional Defense Level Decreased to 45%.][Manipulation Successful. Target Beginning to Relate to User.]Rian felt a small pang of guilt prick his heart. He was manipulating the honest emotions of a woman who seemed to have suffered her entire life. However, Aura-Link possessed no mercy. The system continued to urge Rian to lock in the deal."I didn't know about your father, Ma'am. All I know is that now, every time I look at a computer screen, I can see the cracks in it. I could see Julian's lies before he even opened his mouth," Rian said, his voice steadier now. "If you hand me over to the police, they won't understand. They'll dissect my head in a government basement lab. Please... don't let that happen

The elevator doors slid shut with a subtle hiss that sounded incredibly expensive, cutting off the noise of the Sterling Tech lobby and leaving behind a chilling silence. Inside the cramped space lined with titanium panels and silver mirrors, Rian felt like a rat being driven into a golden cage. Beside him, Lady Victoria Sterling stood tall without so much as a glance. Her side profile looked like a perfect yet cold marble carving; a sharp jawline, a straight nose, and long eyelashes that curved beautifully but remained frozen.Rian's right eye throbbed intensely. A dim blue light began to dance at the edges of his vision, as if the Aura-Link system was struggling to process the presence of the woman beside him.[Warning: Magnetic Field inside Elevator Increasing.][S-Class Target: Victoria Sterling – Data Sync 18%...][Target Heart Rate: 72 BPM – Unnaturally Stable.]Rian swallowed hard, trying to dampen his own heartbeat which now felt like a drum pounding inside his chest. He glanc