“If you want to give up now, then do it while my eyes are closed so I don’t have to see the face of a loser, Axel.”Dextar slammed his medical pack onto the rotting wooden table. They were inside an old fisherman’s house, isolated on the edge of a coastal town. The smell of salt and fish swelled in the cramped room, lit only by a dim oil lamp. Axel didn’t respond to the provocation. He sat in the corner, his back against wooden planks that creaked every time the sea wind struck from outside. His hands trembled violently as he pressed the command button on his wrist.[ COMMAND RECEIVED: INITIATING HARD SHUTDOWN. ]The faint blue light in Axel’s eyes flickered three times before going completely dark. In that instant, it felt as if gravity had doubled, crushing his shoulders. Without the support of his bionic exoskeleton, his body was nothing more than flesh and bone forced to bear the weight of heavy metal within it. Axel choked on the cold air. The pain from the torn wound in his abdo

“You have to choose, Axel, or we’ll all become ashes on this dock tonight.”Dextar barked the words in a low but razor-sharp voice. His eyes never left the small holographic screen projecting the movements of Vayu’s cleanup units through satellite heat detection. Axel did not answer. His body had begun trembling violently as the bionic circuits that should have been dead forced themselves back online.He felt agonizing heat spread from his spine to his skull, as if molten iron were being poured directly into his nerves. Electric blue light crackled behind his widening pupils, casting a horrifying glow through the dim room. Gery, asleep in his arms, let out a small sigh, his head resting against Axel’s chest, now rumbling with the sound of internal machinery. The boy had no idea death was counting down beyond the wooden door of their shack.“Shut the system down, Dex. I can’t control my own motor functions anymore. It feels like my nerves are being dragged around by foreign code.”Axel

"Don't touch me, Dex. Just focus on Gery and make sure he doesn't wake up!" Axel groaned as Dextar's hand reached for the torn collar of his jacket. His voice cracked like sandpaper scraping across metal.Dextar ignored the order and dragged Axel's body into the cramped cargo cabin. The automatic sliding door slammed shut behind them, leaving only the deafening roar of the engines. The sharp smell of burning oil spread through the air, mixing with the metallic scent of blood flowing from Axel's temple. The cabin shook violently as the cargo helicopter climbed steeply through the dark clouds. Axel collapsed onto the cold metal floor, breathing in short, rigid gasps."You're insane, Axel. Look at your face in a mirror!" Dextar shouted while digging through his emergency medical bag.He pulled out a portable biometric scanner and pointed it at Axel's chest. A red sensor light swept across Axel's hunched body, now resembling that of an elderly man. The digital numbers on the scanner scree

"You woke up just to watch me die, or do you want to speed it up with your own hands?"Axel threw out the words with what little strength he had left. His hoarse voice crashed against the thick isolation glass. He sat slumped in a cold steel medical chair, both legs hanging stiffly like lifeless pieces of wood. The smell of medical alcohol and ozone filled the chaotic laboratory. Bionic cables dangled from the ceiling like the tentacles of some resting metal monster. Dextar stood behind a laboratory table, his trembling hands clutching a test tube filled with dark blue liquid.Gery answered not with words, but with a fist slammed against the isolation glass. The thunderous impact of metal against synthetic glass echoed through the room. Gery's once dim eyes now blazed with a savage yellow bionic glow. His breathing came in ragged bursts, fogging the glass with hot vapor. Dextar quickly activated the intercom so Gery's voice could be heard throughout the laboratory."I remember everyth

"Gery, control yourself before Father's consciousness burns through your entire neural network!" Axel shouted as he slammed his bionic elbow into his brother's chest. The blow struck hard enough to create a metallic boom that drowned out the sound of the river water trickling nearby. Gery staggered backward but did not fall. His glowing red eyes stared at Axel without blinking, like the optical sensors of a killing machine locking onto its target. Axel drew a short breath as his lungs seemed to tighten. Thin white steam escaped from his bionic hand due to the overheating caused by excessive force output. He quickly spun his wheelchair around and shouted toward the laboratory exit."Dex, jump onto the boat now! Forget the explosives or we'll all be buried here!" Axel ordered in a hoarse voice. Behind them, violent tremors shook the tunnel walls. Goran's forces had breached the main defense line. Automatic gunfire echoed alongside the thunderous collapse of concrete. Dextar emerged thro