They called me a genius once. Now they call me a thief.The irony tastes bitter on my tongue as I stand beneath the blinding lights of Zenith Corporation’s grand auditorium, surrounded by the people who once cheered my name. Cameras flash from every angle, hungry for a story. Reporters whisper like vultures circling a dying man.On the massive holographic screen behind me, is my creation NeuroLink floats in brilliant blue light. My life’s work. The first neural interface capable of linking the human mind directly with artificial intelligence. Years of sleepless nights, failures, and stubborn faith all built for this moment.It was supposed to be my triumph moment, my legacy.“Ladies and gentlemen,” says the silver-haired CEO, Richard Voss, smiling with poison behind his perfect teeth, “before we continue this presentation, we have some distressing news.”I frown. This wasn’t in the script.“An internal investigation has revealed embezzlement of company funds and data theft all traced

As I moved through the dimly lit streets of downtown Vale. Neon signs flickered overhead a symphony of static and shadows.Omega’s voice pulsed in my mind like a heartbeat.[Mission Timer: 00:47:16] [Objective: Retrieve physical backup drives from Holt Estate.]I watched from a distance as police cars surrounded Damien’s mansion. Officers marched in and out, confiscating boxes, servers, and data cores. My lips curled into a grim smile.“You wanted to destroy me, Damien,” I murmured. “Now you’re watching everything crumble.”[Correction: Mission incomplete. Data suggests backup drives have been relocated.]“Relocated where?”[Trace in progress… anomaly detected.]My vision flickered. Streams of code filled my view only this time, they weren’t Omega’s doing. A foreign signal was pushing through the System’s interface, hijacking my visual field.“What’s happening?”[External interference. Unknown source attempting to access neural link.]A soft, distorted voice echoed inside my head not

Revenge doesn’t always roar.Sometimes, it whispers slowly, precisely, and patiently.It had been three months since I’d “died.”Three months after Ethan Cross vanished into the ashes, Eli Grant was born in his place. The world believed I was gone, and that illusion was my greatest weapon.[Mission Progress: Phase Two Reconstruction of Power, 38% complete.]Omega’s calm voice echoed in my head as I walked into the glass fortress of Helion Dynamics, Zenith Corporation’s fiercest rival.The lobby glowed with marble and holograms, filled with executives wearing smiles. I adjusted my suit, the new name tag clipped neatly to my chest: Eli Grant Freelance Systems Consultant.The receptionist smiled politely. “Mr. Grant, the board is expecting you. I returned the smile, I could feel Omega analyzing every heartbeat, every camera angle, every whisper of data in the air.[All surveillance feeds mapped. Security grid compromised. Path to executive data center clear.]“Perfect,” I murmured under

I didn’t sleep that night.The memory fragment kept replaying in the back of my head like a glitch I couldn’t debug. That voice, the one that whispered “Welcome back, Ethan” didn’t belong to Omega. It was human. Familiar.But no matter how many times I asked Omega to replay it, the answer was the same.[Access denied. Fragment integrity at 42%. Attempting repair will risk data loss.]Risk it? I’d lost everything already. Still, I stopped myself. The last time I forced the System, I blacked out for nearly an hour. Omega’s code wasn’t meant to be brute-forced; it retaliated.So instead, I did what I did best. I dug.By dawn, my desk was buried in holographic projections logs, metadata strings, and access footprints from the night before. Somewhere in that chaos was the truth: where Omega came from, and who had used it before me.[Host fatigue at 76%. Rest recommended.]“Later,” I muttered. “Pull all system registry entries linked to your creation.”Omega paused. Then lines of text mat

[Engage Protocol: Erase All Evidence Including Witness.] My hand trembled, the invisible current running through me whispering a single word eliminate.Evelyn froze, staring into my eyes as if she could see the storm raging inside me. “Ethan, whatever happens, fight it.”I clenched my fists. Omega’s voice thundered in me, sharp and cold:[Executing order in ten… nine…]“Stop,” I override the command!”[Invalid request. Protocol authorization locked.]“Override, damn it!”[Eight… seven… six…]Evelyn took a step back, her eyes darting toward the door. “Ethan, please. Whatever you think you have to do, don’t.”Her voice cut through the noise, a small shard of humanity piercing the static in my head. I forced my breathing steady, pushing against the rising tide of the system’s control. My mind felt like it was splitting apart.[Five… four…]“Omega,” I rasped. “Re-route command authority. New parameter—protect, not erase.”For a moment, everything went white. Then—[Command overridden.]