The storm had burned itself out by morning, leaving the cabin soaked and the air sharp with the smell of wet pine. Sunlight pushed weakly through the broken window, throwing pale gold streaks across the room.No one really slept.Beverly was the first to move, tugging on her boots with stiff hands. “Up. Everyone. We don’t have time to waste.”Wilson groaned from under his blanket, tossing an arm over his face. “You sound like a coach before a suicide drill.”“Better than sounding like a corpse,” Beverly shot back. She grabbed her jacket and yanked it on, movements quick and angry, like if she slowed down, she might break.Davion sat up slowly, feeling his bandages pull against his ribs. His body ached everywhere, but he didn’t complain. He couldn’t. Not today.Reika was already awake, sitting cross-legged in the doorway with her knives laid out like she was arranging jewelry. She didn’t look up as she said, “Big day, huh? Hope you all wrote your wills.”Lina hugged her knees tighter o

The lobby was hell.Operatives poured in from every balcony, their armor glowing red with those eerie cybernetic veins. The sound was a mix of boots slamming against marble, weapons humming, and Wilson yelling things that definitely weren’t heroic.Davion’s pipe slammed into the first one’s mask, the crack reverberating up his arm. “Move!” he shouted again, his voice already hoarse.“I am moving!” Wilson yelled, swinging his chair at another operative. It shattered instantly. “Okay, not my best plan!”Beverly darted past him, her blade flashing in the red glow. Sparks flew as she slashed at one soldier’s arm, cutting through wires beneath the metal plating. The operative convulsed and dropped. “Stay focused!” she barked.“Focused on what?!” Wilson snapped, ducking under a swing. “Not dying?”“Exactly,” Beverly shot back.Reika whirled through the chaos, using the butt of her weapon more than the blade. She cracked one soldier across the head and hissed, “They’re stalling us.”Davion g

The city didn’t wake up the same way it used to. Sirens cut through the morning like alarms no one could shut off. Smoke rose in the distance, curling above the jagged skyline. And right at the heart of it all stood Genesis.The skyscraper was alive with steel and glass, lights burning even though dawn had barely cracked the horizon. It didn’t look like a building—it looked like a challenge.“God, it’s uglier up close,” Wilson muttered, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets as the group crouched behind a busted delivery truck across the street. His voice was quiet, but sharp. “Seriously, who designs this? Supervillain IKEA?”Beverly didn’t smile. She didn’t even blink. Her eyes were locked on the tower, steady, unshaken. “This is it,” she said. “No turning back.”Lina hugged herself tighter, her hair damp from the morning rain. “We’re really doing this,” she whispered, almost like she still couldn’t believe it. “We’re actually insane.”Reika snorted beside her, arms crossed. “Took y

The hiss of the pods cut deeper than any scream. Steam rolled out across the floor, curling around their ankles. One by one, the kids inside twitched awake.They were younger—twelve, maybe fourteen—faces too small for the heavy wires stitched into their skin. Their eyes flickered open, glowing like molten metal.Lina’s hands flew to her mouth. “They’re… they’re just kids.”Reika’s jaw tightened, knives already in her hands. “Not anymore.”“Don’t say that,” Lina shot back, her voice cracking. “They are. Look at them.”Beverly’s grip tightened on her blade. “That doesn’t change what they are about to do.”As if on cue, the first of them stepped out of his pod. His movements were stiff, jerky, like a puppet on strings. The glowing veins in his arms pulsed in time with the machine at the center of the room.Iron Hand watched it all from above, calm, almost smug. “They’re perfect, aren’t they? Pure. Unburdened by choice, by weakness. They obey. They don’t question.” His pale eyes landed on

The chamber groaned like it was alive, the metal walls splitting with sparks. Smoke rolled over the floor, swallowing the glow of the broken core.Davion tightened his grip on the bloody pipe, his chest heaving. Iron Hand stood above them, untouched, like the destruction didn’t even reach him. His coat whipped in the hot wind from the sparking wires.“You think tearing at the machinery kills me?” Iron Hand’s voice echoed across the chamber, sharp and cold. “I am not this place. I am the will that built it.”Beverly stepped forward, blade still buzzing with power. “Then it’s time we cut the will out of you.”Iron Hand tilted his head, studying her. “The little knight. Brave, foolish. Tell me, when you look at him”—he nodded at Davion—“do you see a savior, or a ticking bomb?”“Shut up!” Davion shouted, voice cracking with rage.Iron Hand’s pale eyes glinted. “You feel it, don’t you? The blood in you. My blood. My rage. You destroy, you kill, you hate… you’re mine.”Davion staggered a st