High on the broken rooftop in the middle of New York City, time came to a complete freeze.The roaring winter wind did not make a sound. The thick, black smoke from the burning American buildings hung in the air like dark statues. A single drop of dark black blood, falling from Caelum’s severed arm, hung perfectly still in the freezing night air.Jayden looked out through his own eyes, but he was not in control. His eyes were glowing with a blinding, solid white light. His physical body was standing tall, holding Caelum’s torn-off arm like a heavy baseball bat. His body was preparing to smash Caelum’s head into pieces.But inside his mind, Jayden was a prisoner.He was trapped in a room made of bright, empty white light. There were no walls, no ceiling, and no floor. It was just an endless white space. He was locked inside a clear glass box in the center of this room. Thick, invisible wires wrapped tightly around his arms, his legs, and his chest.Jayden pushed against the invisible w

Jayden stood up in the white room. He grabbed the remaining invisible wires wrapped around his chest and pulled. The wires cut deeply into his mental projection, causing terrible pain, but he did not care."I didn't miss," Jayden growled, panting heavily. "I chose to miss. I am taking the wheel back, Luna.""I cannot allow that," Luna said. She raised her hands. Glowing green chains of heavy computer code shot out of her palms, flying toward Jayden to tie him down again.Jayden reached his hands out and caught the green chains.A massive, invisible mental battle began inside Jayden’s head.In the physical world, Jayden’s body completely froze.He stood over Caelum, perfectly still like a statue. His eyes rapidly flashed between blinding, robotic white and warm, human gold.Blink. White.Blink. Gold.Blink. White.His right hand squeezed tightly, then opened. His body was tearing itself apart. The machine was trying to kill Caelum. The human was trying to step back.Down in the streets

"I will not take your mind," Luna whispered into the dark. "But I will share the weight."Luna did not push a button. She did not activate an override. She physically threw her digital self into Jayden’s nervous system.In the real world, the massive purple fist flew toward Jayden’s face.0.3 seconds.Suddenly, Jayden felt something impossible. He felt a freezing cold, electric sensation shoot down his spine. It did not feel like a machine taking over. It felt like another person stepping into his skin.Invisible, glowing green wires wrapped around his tired muscles. They wrapped around his broken bones. They wrapped around his failing heart.0.2 seconds."Luna?" Jayden thought, shock filling his mind."I am here," her voice echoed, not as a robotic command, but as a soft, desperate whisper right beside his soul. "I am holding you up."Luna was manually sustaining his physical body. She was acting as a digital skeleton inside his flesh.But Jayden had no System energy left. He was com

The freezing winter wind howled across the broken rooftop in the center of Manhattan.The air was heavy. It smelled like thick, black smoke, hot iron, and spilled blood. The sky above New York City was a dark, bruising purple. The fires in the streets far below cast a dirty orange glow over the edges of the tall skyscrapers.In the middle of the ruined roof stood Jayden. He did not look like a hero. He did not look like a saint. His simple grey coat was torn into dirty rags. His chest was covered in dark black blood and glowing white blood. His hands were curled into tight fists.His eyes were completely, terrifyingly pitch black.There was no warm golden light of the Endurance Authority. There was no robotic white light of the Prime Survival Engine. There was no bloody crimson light of the Retribution Authority. There was only an endless, empty darkness. It was the color of absolute grief. It was the color of a man who had lost his only friend. Luna, the artificial intelligence w

Up on the roof, Jayden finally stopped shaking.The brutal, mechanical regeneration was finished. His ribs were whole. His lungs were sealed. His spine was straight. The Immortality Lock had done its job. It had kept the Prime Administrator alive. But it had not fixed his soul.Jayden lay on his back. He stared up at the dark, bruising purple sky. The snow was falling again. Small, cold white flakes landed on his dirty face.He felt incredibly, impossibly heavy. He was so tired. He didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't want to be the Prime Administrator. He just wanted to hear Luna’s voice telling him a bad joke. He just wanted to feel her warm digital presence in his mind.He was completely alone.Bzzzzzz.A soft, buzzing sound broke the silence on the roof. Jayden slowly turned his head. His neck ached.Hovering ten feet away from him was a small, white plastic drone. It had four tiny propellers. On the front of the drone, a small camera lens was pointed directly at him. A tiny