2026-01-25 18:00:42The moment he accepted, Joseph felt it.
It wasn't a pinch. It wasn't a sting.
It felt like a hook had been inserted into his chest and yanked out. A wave of exhaustion washed over him instantly. It was the feeling of being awake for forty-eight hours straight, condensed into a single second.
His knees buckled. His breath hitched.
But the effect was immediate.
Joseph extended his hand toward the jumping robot. A spark of red electricity shot from his fingertips. It wasn't a lightning bolt; it was a stream of red data.
The red light hit the robot’s chest.
The hydrogen fuel cell turned bright white.
BOOM.
The explosion was deafening. The robot didn't just break; it disintegrated. A ball of fire erupted in the center of the cavern.
The force of the blast hit the other two robots. They were thrown backward, smashing into the walls. Metal parts rained down like hail.
Joseph shielded his face. The heat washed over him.
When the smoke cleared, the lead robot was gone. Just a smoking crater remained in the mud. The other two robots were broken heaps, their legs twitching, their lights fading.
Silence returned to the Tech-Graveyard.
Joseph stood there, panting. His chest heaved. He felt older. His joints felt stiff. The infinite energy he had felt five minutes ago was gone. He felt heavy.
He looked at his hand. The skin looked a little drier. A little thinner.
"Two days," he whispered. "That felt like a year."
He looked up at his vision overlay.
The green timer in the top corner updated. It didn't just subtract two days.
It was spinning down.
[DAMAGE SUSTAINED FROM RECOIL.]
[CALCULATING TRAUMA...]
The numbers blurred.
52 Years...
50 Years...
45 Years...
It stopped.
[ESTIMATED LIFESPAN REMAINING: 42 YEARS, 0 MONTHS, 0 DAYS.]
Joseph stared at the number. "What? I authorized two days! Why did I lose ten years?"
[EXPLANATION:] The System text was calm and indifferent. [YOUR BODY WAS NOT READY FOR HIGH-OUTPUT ENERGY CHANNELING. THE STRESS AGED YOUR ORGANS. YOU BURNED THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS.]
Joseph fell to his knees. He gripped his chest. Ten years. He had just lost ten years of his life to kill one robot.
"At this rate," Joseph gasped, "I will be dead by tomorrow."
[THEN YOU MUST BE EFFICIENT,] the System replied. [DO NOT WASTE TIME COMPLAINING. MOVE.]
The red arrow appeared in his vision again. It pointed up. Toward the surface. Toward Drax.
Joseph gritted his teeth. He stood up. His legs shook, but they held.
"Forty-two years," he said. He looked at the reflection in the puddle again. The white streak in his hair seemed slightly wider now. His face looked a little sharper, a little harder.
"I have forty-two years to spend," Joseph said, his voice cold and metallic. "I will spend every second of it to kill Drax."
He began to walk. He didn't look back at the burning wreckage. He walked into the dark, climbing the mountain of trash.
But as he climbed, the System flashed a final warning for the chapter.
[ALERT. HIGH-LEVEL SIGNAL DETECTED.]
[INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM: DRAX.]
[HE KNOWS YOU ARE ALIVE.]
Joseph paused. He looked up at the distant light of the city.
"Good," Joseph said. "Let him know I'm coming."
He resumed his climb, leaving a trail of black footprints in the mud, as the timer ticked down, second by precious second.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 8: The Wireframe II
The moment he accepted, Joseph felt it.It wasn't a pinch. It wasn't a sting.It felt like a hook had been inserted into his chest and yanked out. A wave of exhaustion washed over him instantly. It was the feeling of being awake for forty-eight hours straight, condensed into a single second.His knees buckled. His breath hitched.But the effect was immediate.Joseph extended his hand toward the jumping robot. A spark of red electricity shot from his fingertips. It wasn't a lightning bolt; it was a stream of red data.The red light hit the robot’s chest.The hydrogen fuel cell turned bright white.BOOM.The explosion was deafening. The robot didn't just break; it disintegrated. A ball of fire erupted in the center of the cavern.The force of the blast hit the other two robots. They were thrown backward, smashing into the walls. Metal parts rained down like hail.Joseph shielded his face. The heat washed over him.When the smoke cleared, the lead robot was gone. Just a smoking crater re
CHAPTER 7: The Wireframe
Three shapes emerged from the gloom.They were like the drone he had destroyed in Chapter 3, but bigger. These were not modified with trash; they were military remnants. They had sleek, chrome bodies that were covered in rust. They moved on four legs, like metallic wolves. Their eyes were green searchlights that cut through the dark.One of them opened its mouth. A row of spinning buzz-saws extended."Target... identified," the wolf-bot droned. "Subject... Joseph... Anomaly.""They know my name," Joseph said. "Drax sent them."[ANALYSIS: INCORRECT,] the System flashed. [THEY ARE CONNECTED TO THE CITY NETWORK. YOUR BOUNTY HAS INCREASED.]The three robot wolves circled him. They were smart. They were packing hunting tactics. One moved to the left, one to the right, one stayed in the center.Joseph backed up. His back hit the pile of trash. He was cornered."I need a weapon," Joseph said. He looked around for a pipe or a bar.[PRIMITIVE TOOLS ARE INEFFICIENT,] the System stated. [USE THE
CHAPTER 6: The Price of Power
The air in the cavern seemed to get colder. The red text glowed brighter.[THE UNIVERSE SEEKS BALANCE,] the System wrote. [ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED. ENERGY CANNOT BE DESTROYED. IT CAN ONLY BE TRADED.]Joseph read the words. It was basic physics. Every kid in the Zero District learned this in school, before they dropped out to work in the factories."I know this," Joseph said. "Thermodynamics."[AFFIRMATIVE.]The System continued.[MOST SYSTEMS USE EXTERNAL ENERGY. ELECTRICITY. BATTERIES. FOOD. MAGIC.][PROJECT CHAOS IS DIFFERENT. WE ARE A CLOSED SYSTEM.][WE DO NOT USE MANA. WE USE DEGRADATION.]Joseph frowned. "Degradation? You mean... breaking things?"[CORRECT. TO CREATE FORCE, SOMETHING MUST BREAK. TO HEAL FLESH, SOMETHING MUST WITHER. TO CHANGE REALITY, SOMETHING MUST BE LOST.]Joseph looked at his hands. They looked strong. They looked perfect. "What did I lose to get healed?" he asked softly.The text paused. It seemed to be calculating.[TO REPAIR CRITICAL DAMAGE (PUNCTURED LU
Chapter 5: The Exchange
The scream had died in his throat. Now, there was only silence.The Tech-Graveyard was quiet. The only sound was the drip, drip, drip of toxic water falling from the high ceiling. It landed in the black puddles with a soft plip.Joseph lay face down in the mud. He waited for the pain. He waited for the sharp stab of his broken ribs. He waited for the burning in his lungs from the internal bleeding.He waited. But the pain did not come.Instead, he felt a strange hum. It was a low vibration, like a very small engine running inside his bones. It buzzed in his chest. It buzzed in his fingertips.Joseph opened his eyes.The world looked different. Before, the darkness was thick and heavy. Now, the darkness seemed to have layers. He could see the shapes of the trash piles clearly, even though there was almost no light. The edges of objects were sharp.He pushed his hands into the mud. "Up," he told himself. "Get up."He pushed. His body responded instantly. He didn't struggle. He didn't ga
CHAPTER 4: The Scavenger
The creature dropped from the wall. It landed with a heavy thud ten yards away.It was a Scavenger Drone. But it had been down here a long time. It had modified itself. It looked like a giant spider made of knives. It had six legs. Each leg ended in a rusty saw blade. Its body was a mesh of wires and stolen parts.The yellow eyes focused on Joseph. A scanner beam swept over him.Beep.The drone spoke. Its voice was a glitchy recording of a polite woman."Organic... waste... detected," the drone stuttered. "Recycling... in... progress."It didn't see him as a person. It saw him as raw material. Carbon. Water. Calcium. It wanted to harvest him.Joseph tried to push himself deeper into the pile of trash. "Stay back!"The drone took a step forward. One of its saw-legs spun up. Whirrrrrrrrr."Please... remain... still," the drone said pleasantly. "This... will... only... hurt... a lot."Joseph looked around for a weapon. He saw a metal pipe. He grabbed it.The drone lunged.It was fast. It
Chapter 3: The Black Box
The darkness was not empty. It was full of hard things.Joseph tumbled. He did not fall straight down. He slid inside a giant metal tube. The tube was steep. It was slick with oil and slime.He hit a bolt. Crack.Pain exploded in his shoulder. He screamed, but the roar of the wind swallowed his voice.He hit a grate. It broke under his weight. He fell through.He hit a pipe. Snap.Something inside his chest broke. A rib. Maybe two. The pain was sharp, like a spear entering his side. He could not stop. Gravity was a monster, and it was pulling him down to the belly of the city.The air grew hotter. It smelled of rotten eggs and burning plastic. It was the smell of the Undercity. The smell of things that were thrown away.Joseph saw a circle of dim light below. It rushed toward him fast. Too fast.He curled into a ball. He protected his head with his arms. He prayed to a God he did not believe in.Impact.He landed on something soft, but not soft like a bed. It was soft like rotting tra
You may also like
Besieged (Book One): Rise of the Misfit
Chinjindu Ibeneme3.5K viewsProject Kied - the Dark Child of War
Sigma Yaty 2.1K viewsThe Chosen Heroes
Fransisca Room2.5K viewsThe Garden of Sinners
Crimsade2.2K viewsJUNGLE THINGS : LOST IN AIRODLE
Fahim1.3K viewsCHRONOVAIL
ZOE HALE305 viewsThe Archivists of Aftertime
Clare Felix2.7K viewsGENUINE SUPERHUMAN
HM2.2K views