“Target lock confirmed,” Taylor said, dragging a scan feed forward. “Tokyo. Name’s Ren Kaito. Age twenty-seven. Deaf-mute. No criminal record, off-grid since 2020. But here’s the kicker—” Taylor stood behind the primary interface, fingers flying over the transparent keys. Reign monitored the side monitors with a furrowed brow.He tapped again, and the holo expanded to a grainy video. A training rooftop. A blindfolded man unsheathed a blade and sliced forward in a single, sharp motion.A steel pillar in the background shattered into dust without him touching it.Taylor whistled. “Only activates when he’s blindfolded. Doesn’t just displace matter. He fractures spatial boundaries.”Andrew raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t even know how dangerous he is.”Reign folded her arms. “He could kill someone before he even understands how.”Andrew nodded slowly. “Then we reach him before that happens.”Taylor began initializing the neural sequence. Intense energy built across the transduction coil.

It had been thirty-one days since Isaura met Andrew and finalized the deal. During that time, hidden beneath layers of jungle-covered steel, something extraordinary was taking shape. The Adaptive Refuge Carrier, This was the largest vessel ever built by non-state actors, and it wasn’t even detected by the world’s satellite systems. Designed by a seventeen-year-old with a partly synthetic mind and guided by a man connected to a global psychic network, the Havenborn(A.R.C) was both a city meant for war and a place of refuge. Its structure spanned an entire underground basin, supported by stabilizers made from Ashcore materials. The hangars rose like towers inside the shell, surrounded by workpods glowing with blue light. Shimmering protective rings rotated around its core, shifting phases every three minutes in perfect harmony. ************ A holographic screen sprang to life. Isaura stood before it, her eyes unreadable. “Play it.” Andrew said as Isuara wanted to show him a foot

Inside the core, the chamber was hushed — a cavern of shimmering glass and humming circuitry. The curved floor was translucent, revealing the curve of Earth spinning far beneath them.Twelve encrypted uplinks blinked faintly across the control board.On the screen: a digital map stitched in fractured overlays — West Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, scattered islands in the Pacific.He stood over the console, Taylor’s voice echoed through the comm, “Once you do this, there’s no pulling back. You really want to bring them all in?”Andrew didn’t answer right away. He placed a gloved finger over the biometric scanner.BEEP.Authorization cleared.Twelve names flickered to life in red, each with a blinking cursor.Then his voice, cold and steady, broke the silence.“Codename: Shadow Protocol.Initiate extraction sequence.Twelve signals.Wake up.”He hit SEND ALL.Twelve synchronized pulses launched — invisible, silent messengers riding through satellites and buried r

In a inner room that was part of Havenborn was a circular and massive hall.The Twelve that were assembled stood within as none spoke at first. They all stared at Earth turned slowly beneath the translucent floor, its blue curve glinting beyond layers of shielded orbital plating.Zahara stood with her arms folded, the ends of her vine-wrapped wrists curling faintly at her sides like snakes too weary to strike. Nearby, Cassiel watched everyone without blinking, his telepathic field brushing softly against surface thoughts. Samira leaned quietly against a railing, her bandaged side glowing slightly through her medical tunic. Ren stood far off, blindfold still tied, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sheathed sword.Kaelen hovered off the floor, legs crossed, head tilted as if listening to something distant. Katya stared at the walls, fingers flexing like she was waiting for something to hit. Chuka chewed the inside of his cheek and rolled a current through his fingers — subtl

Far beneath the Earth's crust, deeper than any radar could scan and older than any structure still standing, the sanctuary known as The Root pulsed with quiet, biomechanical rhythm. Black vines, warm with unnatural pulse, crawled the walls like veins. Fungal clusters of ashlight clung to hanging roots, as the glew moved like breath — flickering with every heartbeat inside the room.Ayra's new recruits stood in a line — thirteen in total, some barely out of childhood, others with skin hardened as they looked pale. Most of them had scars as it could tell how dangerous they were. A few… self-inflicted due to there survival in various times.Then Ayra entered — gliding, not walking, her body ghost-pale and faintly translucent, trailing threads of dark matter like burned silk in water.She floated above the obsidian floor, her long black hair coiling behind her like unraveling roots.“You’ve made it,” she said quietly, voice steady and cold. “Some of you walked here. Some crawled. A few