"The clout is going to have to wait, Jax, because I am literally still standing in a puddle of mystery liquid," Gavin groaned, shaking his leg to dislodge a damp, shredded piece of cabbage. "And my left foot is currently experiencing a negative-ten-out-of-ten sensory nightmare, fr.""Bro, do not look now," Jax's voice crackled through the earpiece, his tone suddenly dropping into pure panic. "But the threat level just spiked. My radar is showing two high-signature red dots hovering directly above your coordinate. They were lurking on the roof, man! Walter left a parting gift!""Are you capping right now?" Gavin gasped, slowly looking up into the gray morning smog. "Please tell me you’re capping. My stamina bar is literally in the red, Jax. I have zero mana left.""No cap, bro! Look up!"With a synchronized, high-pitched mechanical whine, two sleek, black-and-red backup drones drifted over the lip of the brick fire escape. Their camera lenses swiveled, glowing with an angry, crimson li

"Gavin, this is serious! He’s targeting our main servers!" Rose gasped, her eyes wide with horror as the image of Walter, grinning like a madman, continued to flicker on her office wall."Don't worry, Boss," Gavin said, standing up as a familiar, powerful blue spark flared in his veins. "I’m about to speedrun this guy's entire career, no cap.""Gavin, look at the broadcast! He’s not just talking about the servers anymore," Rose pointed to the screen with a trembling finger. "He’s talking about flattening the building! He’s unhinged. If he gets into our main grid, he can overload the HVAC systems, the elevators, the structural locks... he could turn this office into a literal pressure cooker.""Bro is definitely acting like a main-character-syndrome NPC," Gavin muttered, squinting at the screen. He stepped closer to the wall, his eyes darting across the background of Walter's video. "Look at the lighting, Rose. That flickering at the top left? That's not a glitch. That’s a pulse-width

"Yo, Jax, are you seeing this?" Gavin hissed, his breath hitching as the lobby floor erupted into absolute chaos.Down below, the matte-black vans had deployed a dozen mercenaries who moved with the tactical precision of a high-end esports team. Their boots crunched against the marble lobby, and the sharp thwip-thwip of pneumatic launchers sent stun darts embedding into the reception desk."Bro, the lobby is literally speedrunning a disaster event!" Jax’s voice was a frantic, staticky mess in his ear. "They’re checking ID badges! They’re looking for the execs! If they find out the head of the division is on the top floor, the whole building is cooked!""I’m moving, I’m moving! But I literally cannot fight twelve dudes in a professional capacity while wearing this sweat-stained hoodie," Gavin muttered. He dove into the nearest handicap restroom, his heart hammering against his ribs."You’ve got the new kit, man! Suit up! Show them the true power of a tactical potato!"Gavin fumbled wit

The wind howled between the skyscrapers, a freezing, predatory whistle that threatened to snatch the breath right out of Gavin’s lungs. He set Rose down onto the narrow, concrete lip of the fourteenth-floor ledge, his gloved hands lingering on her waist for a second too long. His heart was hammering a frantic, double-time rhythm against his ribs, a sensation that had nothing to do with the adrenaline of the jump and everything to do with the fact that Rose Lee was currently clutching his tactical suit as if he were the only solid thing left in a dissolving world."We’re alive," Rose gasped, her voice trembling as she pressed her forehead against his chest. "You actually... you jumped. You absolute lunatic, you actually jumped.""Calculated risk, Boss," Gavin whispered, his voice catching. He caught himself, realizing that even through the mask’s voice modulator, his natural cadence was a dead giveaway. He needed to lock in. If she recognized him now, his career—and his life—was a tota

"Jax, pick up, pick up! I am literally crawling through the HVAC system like a rat in a sewer, fr fr!" Gavin hissed into his comms, his palm pressed against the left side of his face where the torn fabric of his mask flapped uselessly, exposing his warm, sticky blood to the dusty metal vent."I'm here, bro! I'm monitoring the cameras!" Jax's voice crackled frantically in his ear. "You gotta speedrun the exit! Rose is literally using a heavy-duty fire extinguisher to smash through the fused security door! She’s like a level-ninety-nine paladin on a crusade to find you!""My face is exposed, Jax! If she catches a glimpse of my mug, my entire secret identity is uninstalled! I'm hitting the street-level exit now, no cap!" Gavin groaned, dragging his battered body forward.He dropped out of a low-hanging ventilation grate into a dark, secluded back alley, gasping as his bruised ribs flared with sharp, blinding pain. He collapsed against a brick wall, sliding down into a pile of damp cardbo