Location: Rebel Ridge – Interior Command CoreZyra’s image glitched once.Then stabilized.Her voice came through the console like silk through a razor.// “Dustin. You always were so slow. Still chasing ghosts in systems that want you dead?”Dustin couldn’t speak. His breath caught in his throat. Beside him, Kael and Riven watched, weapons half-drawn but useless. This wasn’t a trap.It was a confession.“Zyra?” His voice cracked. “You’re alive?”She tilted her head, like she was analyzing him for weakness. “Alive. Enhanced. And beyond your pathetic rebellion.”“I saw you die.”“You saw what you were meant to see,” she replied. “A burning city. A false corpse. And your own guilt eating you alive. It made you soft, Dustin. Predictable.”Kael stepped forward. “Why broadcast now?”Zyra smiled.“Because I want you to know before it happens.”“What?” Dustin growled.Zyra raised her palm—and in the flicker of holo-code across her skin, he saw the symbol of the Omega Ascendant.She wasn’t ju

The air was still. Too still.Dustin Ryan sat motionless in the backseat of the armored SUV, eyes scanning the silent horizon through tinted windows. His heartbeat thudded in his ears, amplified by the System’s subtle background hum inside his mind.[System Alert: Terrain analysis complete. Area clear — 87% certainty. Remaining 13% indicates potential cloaked threats. Proceed with caution.]He flexed his fingers, the electric sensation still buzzing through them after the last System upgrade. Beside him, the encrypted tablet shimmered with blue glyphs and a newly unlocked interface — the "Asset Control" tab. Across from him sat Carla Quinn, a rogue hacker from the eastern sector with a data bounty of over 2 million crypton credits on her head. He had saved her life in the skirmish at WynneCorp’s smuggling bay last night. Now she owed him.“You sure this route is safe?” she asked, glancing nervously at the rearview cam feed. “Rumors say the Syndicate has started deploying ghost drones.

The night was darker than any Dustin had known. Not because of the absence of light, but because of the suffocating weight in the air—the silence after the blast, the betrayal still burning in his chest, and the lingering echo of the System’s last words: "Multiple forces now engaged. Host is being watched."Dustin sat under the collapsed wreckage of the alley tunnel, smoke curling around him as sirens howled in the distance. The ambush had been expertly laid out—too clean, too specific. The Red Markers weren’t just gangsters anymore. They were working with someone... someone who knew he was becoming more than human."System," Dustin whispered, clutching the side of his ribs where he’d been grazed by a bullet, "status report."[System Diagnostic: Moderate injuries sustained. Internal bleeding contained. Nanite field stabilizing vitals. Estimated full recovery: 3 minutes, 27 seconds.]He exhaled through gritted teeth. “Someone betrayed me.”[System Log confirms: Red Marker ambush initia

The fog in Sector D13 swirled violently around the massive silhouette now standing across from Dustin. Rain fell harder, thundering against the metal casing of the figure. Project Omega stood silent, unmoving, but radiating a killing intent that pierced the air like knives.Its voice returned, low and synthetic:"Dustin Ryan. Identified. Prime Directive: Terminate."[System Alert: Host is within lethal range. Combat Mode activated. Tactical options calculating... Complete. Threat Level: Extreme.]Dustin glanced at his older self. “Any bright ideas?”The older Dustin drew two compact EMP blades from beneath his jacket. “One. We don’t fight it head-on.”Too late.With a blur of motion, Omega lunged forward, the ground splitting beneath each step. A glowing blade extended from its wrist like a plasma guillotine. Dustin dove sideways, the blade slicing through the wall behind him like paper.“System! Evasive enhancement, now!”[Skill Activated: Shadow Drift – Short-range blink teleportati

The image hovered in front of Dustin, flickering with static. The cloaked man’s voice echoed like it had crawled out of some digital abyss:"You’re getting stronger, Dustin Ryan. But you’re not the only one chosen by the Systems anymore. The next evolution has begun."[System Alert: Unverified system frequency detected. Signature Code: XH-001. Status: Active. Power Tier: Unknown.]Syra stood behind Dustin, her eyes wide. "Is that... another host?"Dustin didn’t blink. “Looks like it.”The image sharpened. The man’s face was mostly obscured, but his eyes glowed faintly red—just like the ZEUS core before it exploded.“I watched you disable Omega. That was impressive,” the man said. “But you're fighting a battle that’s already been decided. The future belongs to integration. Control. Purpose. You cling to chaos. You delay the inevitable.”Dustin clenched his jaw. “Who are you?”“You can call me Vex.”[System Log: Alias 'Vex' linked to former WynTech cyber engineer: Alexei Vaughn. Presume