2025-03-20 19:50:32Davion arrived at the location Wilson had sent him, his sharp eyes scanning the area. The air was thick with tension, and the scene before him was not what he had expected.
Instead of Mad Tiger’s men lurking in the shadows, the entire place was surrounded by military forces. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers stood at attention, their rifles aimed at the massive compound in front of them.
At the center of it all stood Irene.
Davion sighed. Great. Just what I needed.
Irene, dressed in her military uniform, radiated authority, but her face was twisted in frustration. Her subordinates looked uneasy, their expressions filled with both exhaustion and fear.
One soldier hesitated before stepping forward. “Commander, we’ve been attacking for four hours now, but… there’s been no progress at all.”
Irene’s fists clenched at her sides. “Four hours? You’re telling me that after four hours of fighting, you still haven’t broken in? Are you all completely useless?!”
The soldier swallowed hard and looked away. “Commander, this is Mad Tiger we’re dealing with. He’s classified as an A-class criminal. It’s not that we aren’t trying—it’s just that he’s… extremely difficult to capture.”
Irene’s lips pressed into a thin line. A-class criminal… She had trained for years, fought in countless battles, but this was the first time she was facing someone ranked that high. She couldn’t afford to fail.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted someone standing just outside the perimeter and her mood soured instantly.
“Davion?!”
Her voice was sharp and filled with disbelief. She stormed toward him, her soldiers immediately tensing up as they followed behind her.
Davion didn’t even flinch. His arms were crossed, and his face held nothing but indifference.
Irene stopped right in front of him, her eyes narrowing. “What the hell are you doing here?”
One of her subordinates gasped in surprise. “Commander! He—he’s inside the restricted area! He must have crossed the cordon!”
Irene’s expression darkened. “So, you were following me, huh?” she snapped. “What, you think you can just waltz into a classified military operation?”
Davion scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t come here for you.”
Irene’s eyes widened at his arrogance. “Then why are you here?”
Davion shrugged. “That’s not your business.”
Irene’s fury skyrocketed. She wasn’t used to being ignored—especially not by some low life quarry boy who clearly had no respect for authority. “I should have you arrested for interfering with a military operation!”
Davion finally looked at her, his expression unimpressed. “Interfering?” He let out a dry laugh. “You’ve been here for four hours and still haven’t gotten inside. What exactly am I interfering with? Your failure?”
Irene’s jaw tightened. “Shut up! You have no idea how dangerous Mad Tiger is! He’s an A-class criminal!”
Davion tilted his head. “And?”
The casual way he said it made the entire squad go silent.
Irene’s hands curled into fists. “You’re underestimating him.”
“No,” Davion said, his voice completely calm. “You’re overestimating him.”
A wave of tension spread through the soldiers and a heavy silence fell over them.
Where I come from, A-class criminals are only good for cleaning toilets, Davion thought to himself.
Irene’s face turned red with anger. “You bastard—!”
But before she could explode, Davion turned on his heel. “Relax. I’m leaving.”
Davion looked over his shoulder and watched the chaos, he watched as the military forces struggled to gain control over Mad Tiger’s compound.
He had to admit their formation was neat, their weapons gleamed under the floodlights, but despite all their resources, they were still useless.
His gaze shifted to Irene, who was still barking orders at her subordinates and frustration was written all over her face. The so-called warrior goddess—the top rising star of justice—looked anything but confident right now.
Her head snapped toward him, her sharp eyes narrowing.
“Why are you still here?” she demanded.
Davion remained calm, unfazed by her hostility. “Relax, you act as if I'm disturbing you while I'm here.”
Irene let out a cold laugh, folding her arms. “Oh, really? Then why do you keep showing up wherever I am?”
Davion sighed. He had no interest in playing ridiculous games with her. He only came to assess the situation and find an opening. Now that he had, there was no point in sticking around.
“I said I’d leave. So, I’ll leave,” he said, turning his head and scrolling forward.
Irene scoffed. “Yeah, right.” She waved her hand. “Get rid of him.”
Immediately, her subordinates moved in to block Davion’s path.
He smiled slightly. “No need.”
Before they could react, Davion took two steps and disappeared into the darkness.
The soldiers blinked in confusion. “W-Where did he go?!”
Irene’s eyes darted around, trying to catch sight of him, but there was no trace of the man who had stood right in front of her just seconds ago.
Her stomach twisted with unease.
“Keep your eyes open!” she barked at her men. “He couldn’t have gone far!”
But even as she said it, a nagging feeling in her gut told her something was wrong.
****
Davion landed lightly on the other side of the high walls, his movement effortless, silent. The security here was laughable.
If an entire military unit couldn’t break in after four hours, what did that say about their ability?
Pathetic, they were pathetic.
Davion let out a wry smile as he crept through the compound’s outer courtyard. He had expected some kind of challenge, but so far, everything was too easy.
And this is supposed to be an A-class criminal’s hideout?
He shook his head.
Such a disappointment.
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254
By nightfall, the rain had started again. Not the soft kind—this was the kind that made the whole city feel like it was cracking open. Beverly pulled her hood tighter and jogged beside Davion through the empty street. Neon lights flickered across puddles, warping their reflections into ghosts.Reika followed behind, a tablet glowing in her hands. “You’re sure it’s this way?” she asked, raising her voice over the storm.Davion nodded without looking back. “The signal fragments lead underground. Iron Hand’s main pulse is coming from beneath the city—old power tunnels under Sector Nine.”Beverly groaned. “So, we’re crawling into another creepy abandoned place? Great. My favorite.”“You wanna turn back?” Davion shot her a look.“Hell no,” she said, pulling out her flashlight. “Just saying, my shoes are not made for apocalypse missions.”Reika smirked. “Maybe next time bring less attitude and more waterproof boots.”“Maybe next time don’t wake up an evil AI.”“Technically, that was Davion.
253
The hum of the facility grew louder the deeper they went. Davion’s flashlight flickered across metal walls lined with wires pulsing faint blue, like veins feeding a monstrous heart. Beverly walked beside him, gripping her pistol tight, eyes sharp. Wilson followed close, dragging a small case filled with EMP grenades. The air was thick with static, and every step echoed like a countdown.“This place feels alive,” Beverly muttered, her voice low.Davion nodded. “That’s because it is. The entire system is synced to Iron Hand’s central AI — Genesis. It’s watching us.”They turned a corner, and a mechanical hiss answered her words. The hallway lights shifted from white to red. The metal floor vibrated under their boots. Davion raised his gun instinctively.“Contact,” Wilson warned, pointing ahead. Out of the shadows, two humanoid drones emerged, eyes glowing crimson. They moved with inhuman precision, silent and fast.“Take cover!” Davion shouted. The first drone fired — a stream of plasma
252
By the time night rolled in, the rain hadn’t stopped. It came down in silver sheets, soaking the cracked sidewalks and flooding the gutters, making the city look like it was dissolving under its own reflection. The neon signs of downtown flickered, glitching like something in the air was jamming them—and maybe something was. Davion could feel the interference crawling through every radio signal, every light, every sound.They crouched in an alley across from Iron Hand Tower. The building rose into the clouds—sleek, mirrored, and silent. To most people, it was just another corporate monument. But to Davion, it was a scar. He remembered standing at its base as a kid, watching his father disappear through those same doors, saying, “This is where the future begins.”Now that “future” was a virus.Reika finished connecting the last wire between her laptop and a handheld antenna. “Alright. The grid’s alive. I’m pulling interference to give us a thirty-minute blackout. After that, cameras re
251
The city didn’t sleep that night. Sirens echoed far off, lights flickered in patterns that didn’t make sense, and somewhere above it all, Davion felt like the world itself was glitching. He sat by the motel window, hoodie pulled up, staring at the skyline that used to feel like home. It didn’t anymore.Beverly was passed out across the other bed, her boots still on, her jacket half falling off the chair. Her phone screen glowed faintly beside her—news alerts, footage leaks, panic. Everyone thought the blackout was some random power surge. No one knew it was the ghost of a man trying to rewrite the city.Davion rubbed his face, exhausted. He’d been scanning old frequencies, trying to trace the fragments of his father’s code. Every time he thought he’d cornered it, it split off again, hiding inside new servers like it was alive.“Still awake?” Beverly’s voice was groggy, low.Davion didn’t turn. “Couldn’t sleep.”She sat up, blinking against the dim light. “You look like death.”“Thanks
250
The subway tunnels were colder than Davion remembered. The walls dripped with moisture, the sound of distant water echoing like a pulse under the city. He moved quietly, his boots scuffing against the cracked tiles, flashlight beam slicing through the dark. Beverly walked behind him, her voice low. “Remind me again why we’re doing this?” “Because if we ignore it,” Davion said, scanning the tunnel ahead, “someone else dies.” She groaned. “You always have to be the martyr, don’t you?” He didn’t respond. The deeper they went, the stronger the static in his earpiece became. He’d left it on just in case, tuned to a scrambled frequency they used during Genesis. But now it hissed faintly—like someone breathing. “Beverly,” he said, stopping. “You hear that?” She froze. “Yeah.” The static twisted, and for a second, a voice flickered through. “…on’t trust—” Then silence. Beverly’s hand went to her knife automatically. “That was a voice, right? Tell me I’m not hearing things.”
249
The city looked different when they came back. Quieter, almost hollow. Davion couldn’t tell if it was because of what they’d done—or because the world was holding its breath, waiting for whatever came next.Beverly walked beside him, her hood up, hair tangled from the road. They’d been moving for days, sleeping in motels, train stations, anywhere that didn’t ask questions. Now, as the skyline rose ahead of them, she whispered, “Feels weird, doesn’t it?”“What does?” Davion asked, eyes scanning the street as if expecting shadows to crawl out of the corners.“Walking around like everything’s normal.”Davion glanced around. People hurried past, heads down, phones in hand. No one looked twice at them. No one knew they’d just destroyed Genesis. No one knew how close the world had come to losing itself.“Yeah,” he said quietly. “It’s weird.”They stopped at a small café near the edge of town. The sign buzzed weakly—JAVA STATION—and the smell of coffee hit them the second they stepped inside
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