The heart of the Arcology pulsed like a living thing.Every beat of the red light echoed in Leon’s chest, syncing with his heartbeat. He could feel it calling to him — whispering through static and blood.Nova adjusted the power cables connected to her portable disruptor. “If we overload the circuit nodes, the energy feedback should destabilize the link between you and the Core.”Leon crouched beside her. “In English.”“It’ll break your bond.”“And in simpler English?”“It might kill you.”He smirked. “Great. I was getting bored anyway.”Nova gave him a look that said she didn’t find it funny. The faint glow of her wristband reflected on her face, shadows cutting sharp lines under her eyes. “Leon… if this thing fights back, I won’t be able to hold it.”He met her gaze — steady, determined. “Then don’t. I’ll handle the fight. You handle the tech.”“Deal.”The disruptor hummed as it powered up, blue sparks dancing along the wires. The Core’s light flared in response, as if aware of what

The storm hadn’t stopped for two days.Rain washed the ash from the streets, but the city still smelled like blood and smoke.Leon watched from the top of a half-collapsed tower, his coat flapping against the wind. His System displayed faint outlines of patrols below — the Apex Legion, moving like mechanical ghosts through the flooded streets.[Scanning Zone…][Hostile Units: 42.][Safe Houses Detected: 3.]Nova’s voice came through his earpiece. “You’re going to catch pneumonia up there.”“Better than getting caught in a nest of Apex drones,” Leon muttered.“You’re still bleeding, by the way.”He touched his ribs and winced. “I noticed.”“You need rest.”“What I need,” he said quietly, “is people who can fight.”They met in an abandoned hangar — a relic from before the War. Half the roof was gone, and the wind howled through the steel ribs like a ghost. The space smelled of rust, old oil, and rain.Nova had patched a handful of generators together, enough to power dim orange lights t

The city was quiet again.Too quiet.Ash fell like gray snow through the ruins of what used to be the Central District. The Tower’s remains jutted into the sky like broken bones — smoke curling from its hollow ribs. The storm had passed, leaving behind only silence and ghosts.Leon walked through the debris, his boots crunching over glass and burnt steel. His coat was torn, his ribs wrapped in bandages, his left arm trembling with every movement.[Health: 63%. System Integrity: Unstable.][Warning: Apex Residual Energy Detected — 8.3%.]He ignored the alerts.Behind him, Nova followed in silence. Her face was streaked with dirt and exhaustion, but her eyes never left him.They passed what used to be the plaza — now just a crater of twisted metal. Bodies lay scattered everywhere, both human and machine. Leon stopped beside one — a young soldier, no older than nineteen, still clutching a Predator insignia in his hand.Nova knelt beside him, gently closing the boy’s eyes. “He was one of

The bunker lights flickered as the hum of power deepened. It wasn’t electricity — it was alive, pulsing through the steel like veins under skin.Leon stood across from Darius, breathing slow and even. The faint glow beneath his skin pulsed in rhythm with the walls.“You’re working for the Apex,” Leon said, his voice low but steady.Darius smiled faintly. “Working with him. There’s a difference.”“Not one that matters.”“Oh, it matters,” Darius said, stepping closer. “You’re still clinging to the old world — the one where humans ruled and machines served. But that world died the day the Apex woke up. You can’t kill the future, Leon. You can only join it.”Leon’s fists clenched. “You sound like him.”“I sound like you,” Darius said calmly. “Because deep down, you already agree. You just haven’t admitted it yet.”Leon’s jaw tightened. “You’re wrong.”“Am I? You’ve tasted the power. You’ve used it. The System doesn’t lie. How much of you is still human, Leon?”Leon took a slow step forwar

The horizon bled red.From the ruins of Sector Twelve, Leon could see it coming — a rolling wall of crimson clouds, pulsing with lightning that wasn’t natural. The storm stretched from one edge of the world to the other, swallowing light, sound, and hope.The Apex was moving.Nova crouched beside him on the broken rooftop, scanning the shifting sky through her scope. “That can’t be weather.”“It’s not,” Leon said quietly. “It’s data. Physical code saturating the air — rewriting everything it touches.”Raze snorted behind them. “So what, it’s raining death now?”Leon didn’t answer. He could feel it — the hum in his bones, the static dancing across his skin. His connection to the System buzzed like a live wire, pulling at him, whispering.[System Alert: Anomaly Detected.][Adaptive Entity “Apex” Expanding Network Radius: 94.7%.][Survival Probability: 21%.]“Twenty-one percent,” Leon muttered. “That’s generous.”Nova glanced at him. “Then we change the odds.”He looked at her, and despi