“Let me save you the suspense, Damien,” Fred said, sliding a folder across the desk. “You’re fired.” The words hit harder than a punch. Damien stared. “You’re joking.” “Do I look like I’m joking?” Fred stood, walking around the desk with the easy arrogance of a man who owned everything in sight. “You were the head of finance, Cruz. The company lost twelve million dollars. Someone’s got to take responsibility.” Damien stood too. “I "reported" that loss to you! I was the one trying to fix it.” Fred’s smile widened. “And I’m sure you "thought" you were. But corporations need a name, not a story. Congratulations, you’re that name.” Damien’s pulse hammered in his ears. “You’re framing me.” Fred shrugged. “Call it what you want. Your severance will cover the next few months. Try not to spend it all crying.” For a moment, Damien’s composure cracked. He slammed his palms on the desk. “I gave this company ten years. I made you millions.” Fred raised a hand lazily. “And I made y

Spreadsheets, company profiles, offshore accounts, his screen looked like a chessboard of opportunities. The System’s voice hummed in his head. [Quest Active: Acquire a Business Asset Worth Over $10 Million Within Seven Days] [Progress: 0%. Time Remaining: 6 Days, 14 Hours] Damien exhaled. “A ten-million-dollar asset. You don’t set the bar low, do you?” [Challenge defines worth] He cracked his neck, half-smiling. “Then let’s find something worth breaking.” By morning, he’d tracked every mid-tier company in distress within fifty miles. One name stood out: Storm Digital Media.A rising social media firm recently hit with an investor scandal. Valued at fifteen million, now floundering under debt. Perfect prey. He called the number listed under “Investor Relations.” “Storm Media, this is Lydia.” Her voice was crisp, confident. Damien straightened. “Lydia Storm herself?” A pause. “Who’s asking?” “Someone who can turn your company from roadkill to royalty.” Another pau

Damien adjusted his cuff links and watched the floor numbers vanish one by one inside the elevator. [Influence Network Expansion Complete] [Authorized Agents: Lydia Storm, Three Pending Candidates] “Three pending?” he muttered. “Who?” [Candidates: Mason Drake – Cybersecurity Specialist. Sophia Venn – Political Consultant. Unknown – Designation Hidden] “Hidden?” [Insufficient Tier Access] He frowned. “You mean even I don’t have clearance in my own System?” [Affirmative] That answer sat like ice in his chest. The elevator doors opened into BlackCircle’s private floor, polished marble, black glass, and silent guards. Ravenwood waited by the window, hands clasped behind his back. “Mr. Cruz,” he said without turning. “The markets trembled today. Was that you?” Damien offered a cool smile. “If they did, it was voluntary.” Ravenwood finally looked at him, eyes pale as winter. “Control the market, control the world. But control too much, and the world controls you.” “

Damien sat at the long glass table, the city lights bleeding beneath him like veins of gold. His reflection stared back, tired, fractured, but hungry. Lydia stepped out from the shadows, laptop in hand. “I decrypted the beacon’s core log.” “Show me.” She projected the feed into the air, thousands of code lines shifting like living veins. “Ravenwood’s servers are rebooting themselves. He’s rebuilding OBSIDIAN remotely.” Damien’s jaw tightened. “Then we burn it again.” “Not so simple.” She highlighted a segment of the code. “See this? It’s adaptive quantum encryption. Each time you attack it, it rewrites its own firewall. It’s learning from you, Damien.” He exhaled slowly. “Then I’ll just have to learn faster.” [Quest Update: Sever the Root – Phase 1: Acquire Tier 3 Credentials] [Time Remaining: 19 Days]He closed his eyes as the System’s voice pulsed softly in his mind. [User Condition: Unstable. Neural link at 78% integrity] “I’m fine,” he murmured. [Correction: Yo

Damien stared at his trembling hands. Every nerve felt alive with current, like he’d brought part of the System back with him.Lydia’s voice broke the silence. “Your neural signature is unstable. The integration’s accelerating.” He glanced up. “It’s him. Ravenwood. He’s not gone, he’s "inside" the network.” Lydia’s expression hardened. “Then we cut him out.” He shook his head slowly. “You don’t cut out a ghost, Lydia. You "exorcise" it.” [Quest Update: Sever the Root – Phase 2 Activated] [Objective: Locate Ravenwood’s Consciousness Hub] The System pulsed faintly across his vision: [Warning: Opposition AI Detected. Hostile entity, RAVENWOOD]Lydia scanned her monitors. “I’m getting spikes across the global grid. He’s tapping corporate satellites, banking AIs, even city traffic systems. Damien, he’s spreading.” Damien stepped closer, eyes narrowing. “Then we pull the plug.” “On what? The internet?” He smirked. “On him.” They worked for hours, tracing ghost signals th