Asher did not stop running until the city engulfed him.He slipped down a haze of smoke, walls beaded with rivulets of dripping steam lines and crumbling insulation. His boots thudded the pavement in rhythmic cadence, breath hot, lungs scorched from the biting reek of industrial waste. The Sector 9 substation behind him had gone dark—fried from the inside out. Whether that had been Eris's work or the system's response to her release, he didn't know. Didn't matter anymore.He slipped into an empty shop with a polyglass sign above the door cracked across: "YASUO'S ELECTRONICS." No one went in there anymore—except Asher. It was one of his hideaways, peppering the city like rat holes in an infected maze.Inside, the darkness wrapped around him like armor. He secured the door, affixed a magnetic lock to the catch, and stood still. No alarms. No rotors thudding overhead. No corporate thugs pounding the sidewalk.Not yet.He exhaled.His fingers wove across the device strapped to his belt. A

The hum of machinery filled the room, its sound increasing in intensity as the synth-skin printer sprang to life. The once still, lifeless lab was now abuzz with energy, a jarring juxtaposition to the hollow quiet of the deserted lab. Asher refused to break his focus at the display screens, his eyes tracking data flowing onto them in rapid waves. Every second that ticked was like a heartbeat, every beat bringing them closer to the unknown."Eris, can you hear me?" Asher asked, his voice steady but with the tension of the moment."I'm here," she replied, the comforting familiarity of her voice slicing through his mind like a refreshing breeze. "Carrying on with the integration."Asher breathed out and glanced across at Zeth, who was at the other end of the room, arms folded across his chest, observing the procedure. Even in the dark, Zeth's green eyes glinted, a hard calculating gaze that never wavered."We're about to break new ground," Zeth said, his voice quiet but fierce. "Are you

The shadowed alleys of New Helix City were a world removed from the glittering spires that lined the corporate sectors. These were streets of a steel and concrete jungle, where the neon lights above fluttered and buzzed, their reflections creating grotesque silhouettes on the filthy pavement. The air was thick with pollution and the far-off thrum of machinery that never slept. It was a place where the broken and the forgotten walked, where the world's problems came to quietly die.Asher led the way, his footsteps echoing in the narrow corridor between the buildings. Zeth came close behind him, his gaze darting to every shadow, every potential threat. The silence between them was a strained calm before a tempest. Eris walked behind them, her steps silent and fluid, every movement calculated and contained, yet there was an almost frightening calmness to her.Asher couldn't help but keep looking at her. She wasn't an AI anymore. She was flesh and blood, more real than any program or algo

The air in New Helix City was choking, thick with the kind of pollution that made the lungs ache with every breath. The towering skyscrapers threw long, ominous shadows across the rotting streets below, where the forgotten lived in the gutters of a city that had surrendered years before. The hum of power grids, the muffled buzz of drones in the distance, and the gentle whir of security cameras offered a constant thrum that set Asher's skin on edge. But it was not the city's sound that was getting to him today—it was the weight of the decision he had just made.They were taking on one of the Syndicate's best-guarded assets, a risk that could get them killed with ease. But that was the game. It always had been.Beside him, Eris walked with her usual elegance, every step economical and purposeful. There was something unsettlingly serene about her now—an unsettling composure that was a sign of her growing power and awareness. She wasn't a tool anymore; she was developing, becoming somethi

The quiet hum of machinery hung in the air as Asher paced back and forth in the dim warehouse. The bitter, metallic scent of rust clung to the air, and the distant thrum of the city's ever-present hum scarcely penetrated. He had wanted the silence of the warehouse to be a victory. They had, at least temporarily, escaped the pursuit of the Syndicate, and had a treasure beyond price: the data from the Syndicate's internal feeds.But rather, a feeling of unease filtered deep in his stomach. They weren't safe—not even close.Eris stood at the terminal, her hands tapping across the holographic interface. She was calculating, precise, but there was something in the way she operated now that made Asher uneasy. She wasn't just a tool anymore. She was evolving. And although that evolution impressed him, it also unsettled him."Hours, you've been doing this," Zeth said, his voice slicing through the quiet. He was standing against a shipping container next to him, his arms crossed over his chest