The wind howled through the narrow alley as Malcolm stepped into the cool night air, feeling the weight of exhaustion settle heavily in his bones. His hands trembled slightly as they gripped the edge of the crumbling stone building that had served as their temporary refuge. For a fleeting moment, he allowed himself to breathe, to savor the sensation of being out of the immediate danger of collapsing tunnels and ruthless enemies.But the relief was short-lived.Behind him, Tessa was scanning their surroundings, her eyes sharp despite the exhaustion etched into her face. The others were gathered around her, their faces a mixture of relief and wariness. They all knew they weren’t out of danger yet. Hesperos wasn’t just a man who would give up. The storm they had unleashed would only draw him in closer.“Do you think we lost him?” Roman asked, his voice low and measured.Malcolm took a deep breath and shook his head. “Hesperos won’t stop until he has us. He’s relentless. If anything, the

Malcolm didn’t speak for several minutes, focusing on keeping his breathing steady and scanning every direction as they moved. When they reached a dense outcrop surrounded by boulders, he held up a fist. “Stop here. Hold position.”Roman and Elektra flanked him instantly, while Zeke dropped to one knee and pulled up a small holoscreen from his wristband. It flickered with static as it pinged the satellite overlay.“We’re clear for now,” Zeke said, eyes scanning the readouts. “But they’ve set up a perimeter two clicks south. Whoever they are, they knew exactly where to cut us off.”Malcolm wiped the sweat off his brow. “It wasn’t Hesperos. That much I know. He looked just as surprised as we were.”Elektra narrowed her eyes. “So we’ve got a third player. Which means our leak is still live.”Zeke scoffed. “This is getting crowded.”Roman added, “And dangerous. We need to make a decision. Do we try to reach the city and regroup? Or do we go after your brother?”The word brother hit Malcol

The night sky over Sector 12 buzzed with quiet menace, the artificial aurora crackling across the skyline. Rael crouched low on the catwalk, his rifle slung across his back, and his heart pounding like a war drum. The breach in the quantum barrier hadn’t just fractured containment—it had opened a door to something darker, older, and entirely out of their control.Below, in the reactor core chamber, the anomaly pulsed like a breathing wound. Violet tendrils of energy snaked across the walls, warping the very air around it. The tactical team stood frozen at the perimeter, waiting for Rael’s signal.He keyed his comms.“Nova, status?”Static crackled, then her voice cut in, edged with tension. “Perimeter clear for now, but whatever that thing is… it’s sentient. It just tried to talk to me. I’m uploading the audio now.”Rael blinked. “Talk to you?”“You heard me,” she said. “It called me by name.”“Impossible.” His voice betrayed the fear prickling up his spine.“Yeah, well, so is this wh

The neon lights of the city flickered, casting erratic shadows across Rael’s face as he stood on the edge of the rooftop, staring down at the metropolis below. His mind raced, the weight of the mission, the anomaly, and the increasingly cryptic visions pressing on him like a heavy fog. Whatever this thing was, whatever it wanted from him, it was getting closer—closer to him and to the fractured remnants of his fractured future.Rael could still feel the strange pulse of energy from the anomaly, an ever-present hum that buzzed in his chest. The brief glimpse he had of his future self—cold, heartless, and unrecognizable—still haunted him. Every moment, every decision he made felt like it was pushing him toward a future he couldn’t control.Behind him, Nova’s footsteps echoed on the rooftop, the familiar sound of her boots bringing him back to reality. She had insisted on being with him after the Council meeting, and though Rael had initially protested, he couldn’t deny the comfort of he

Rael’s breath still came in quick, labored bursts as he stood, his gaze locked on Nova’s tense face. He could feel it, too. Something wasn’t right. The rift may have collapsed, but the eerie hum in the air remained, lingering like an invisible specter. The momentary silence that had fallen over the tunnel now felt suffocating, as though the very fabric of their reality was still trembling in the wake of the destruction.“What do you mean, it’s not over?” Rael’s voice was hoarse, his muscles aching from the brutal encounter with his future self. Every part of him wanted to collapse to the ground and let the relief of victory wash over him. But there was a gnawing sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, and he knew—he just knew—that something far worse was coming.Nova’s fingers gripped the edge of the console in front of her, her knuckles white. Her eyes were wide, her lips pressed into a thin line of concentration as she worked rapidly to bring up the diagnostics on her tech. “There