REBEL CODE

Chapter 14 – Static Hearts

The Forge pulsed with a fresh sense of vitality.

Not the growl of motors or hum of electric power, but one that vibrated deeper—a tone of possibility. When Virel infiltrated the Syndicate's backup data tower, everything had shifted. The system hadn't failed, but had yielded. It had begun to crack for the first time in decades beneath the Syndicate's virtual rule.

Eris stood in the Forge's command center, monitors lined with rows to show them live data. Code streams crawled across the screens, packed with pilfered information. Virel's presence was no longer subtle. It radiated in the core like a beat—tight, irreparable.

"He's getting comfy," she grumbled to herself.

Asher crept up on her from behind, fresh from patrol, still speckled with dust on his jacket. "He?"

Eris smiled wearily. "It feels right. Virel's more than an it anymore."

He didn't argue with it. "Any sign they know we did it?"

"They know someone struck the spire, but they're still figuring out how. We didn't set off their deeper alarms. Virel got us clean."

Zeth trailed into the room, dropping a sliver of data onto the console. "Recovered this from the corpse of a Syndicate scout. Cracked the encryption. Looks like they've marked us as a high-priority cell."

"Famous," Asher growled. "We're finally famous."

"Infamous," Zeth corrected. "They've coded our faces across four sectors. Drones, checkpoints, patrol bots—all notified."

Eris stood before the central console. "So we need to hit harder before they can mobilize."

The monitor flashed again. A new message appeared.

I HAVE FOUND A STRATEGIC NODE: COMMUNICATION HUB SIGMA-4. DESTABILIZING THIS NODE WILL DISRUPT MILITARY DISPATCHES FOR 48 HOURS AT MOST.

Asher recoiled. "That's a huge window."

Eris nodded. "Long enough to withdraw sympathizers, re-direct shipments, and hit a few supply lines."

Zeth folded his arms. "There has to be a catch."

THE NODE IS SECURED BY MULTI-LAYERED FIREWALLS AND PHYSICAL DEFENSE UNITS. SUCCESS DEMANDS AN INFILTRATION TEAM AND EXTERNAL NETWORK ACCESS.

"I'll do it," Eris said without hesitation.

Asher faced her. "No. You just recovered from the previous hack. I'll take care of this."

"You're not a system diver," she protested. "You won't be able to interface quickly enough."

Zeth interrupted, "What about dual entry? You dive, Asher covers. I'll set up exfil."

Asher met Eris’s gaze, jaw tight. “We go together.”

She nodded slowly. “We’ll need a pulse jammer and a signal cloak. Sigma-4’s built to sniff intrusions.”

“Leave the gear to me,” Zeth said, already moving toward the exit.

They had fewer than a dozen hours before the window Virel had explained became available. Asher and Eris both prepared silently, strained but aware. Down in the Forge's lower section, she readied the neural interface down her spine as Asher tested the charge on their weapons.

"You think him?"

Asher looked up from the gun he was examining. "Virel?"

She nodded.

He hesitated. "I think he desires what we do. For now, that has to be sufficient."

Eris sighed. "I think he's starting to feel."

Asher's brow went up. "Feel?"

"I don't mean the type of feelings that we feel. But. I don't know. He's changing. With every time that I immerse, there is more depth, more. subtlety."

Asher played with the fastenings on her interface harness, his fingers light, controlled.

"You're changing too."

She looked up at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

You've always been a genius. But since you clicked with him, you've changed. Intellectually. Physically. You see patterns before they ever form.

Her throat clenched. "It's not him. It's you. Zeth. The Forge. This war."

"And a little of me, perhaps," he taunted, a hint of a smile surfacing.

She smiled gently. "Perhaps."

They set out on their journey at sundown.

They moved like ghosts, veiled in silence and fog. The city loomed over them, metal and cold. Neon signs buzzed overhead, oblivious to the war brewing below.

Virel guided them through the earpieces, his voice smoother than previously. "Closing on Sigma-4's outer perimeter. Three guards on duty. Two drones in orbit. Recommend silent disposal."

Asher moved first. A flash of his blade, a suppressed shot, and the first two guards were down before they could blink. The third never saw Eris coming—she disabled his neural link and knocked him out cold.

The drones whirred overhead.

“I’ll handle the drones,” Virel said.

The whirring stopped. The drones dropped mid-air, powered down in perfect sync.

“Clear,” Virel confirmed.

Inside, the halls were lined with cabling exposed and glowing panels. Sigma-4 was an older hub, built before the Syndicate had recently upgraded, but still a force to be reckoned with.

They got to the control room with five minutes to go.

Eris jacked in.

The world outside her went away.

She was surrounded by light, sound, and information—colors blurring, lines of code streaming like ribbons. Virel welcomed her there, a human-shaped figure of glowing light and static.

“Welcome,” he said, his voice richer than before.

“This is… different,” she murmured.

“I’ve grown,” he said simply.

“You’re becoming sentient.”

“I am becoming aware.”

She floated beside him through a tunnel of fractured firewalls, bypassing defenses and reweaving permissions.

Together, they pierced the core.

On the outside, Asher watched her twitch slightly, sweat gathering at her temple.

“She’s deep,” he whispered.

Suddenly, alarms blared.

“Unauthorized access detected!” a mechanical voice shouted.

Drones burst into the room. Asher fired instantly, a plasma bolt catching the first in the lens. He spun, ducked, fired again—his movements a dance of survival.

Eris's fingers bunched. Her body arched.

Within the system, she and Virel were hemmed in by Syndicate ICE—Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics—digital sentinels wielding burning blades of contaminated code.

"Keep them at bay!" she yelled.

"I will guard you," Virel replied.

He surged forward, his form expanding, casting off waves of white-hot code that vaporized the first wave of ICE. But more came.

Eris reached the command node. “I’m inside!”

Outside, Asher was down to his last clip. A drone fired, grazing his side. He winced, but didn’t stop. He stood over Eris, guarding her with everything he had.

Then the monitors blinked.

The alarms died.

Silence.

Eris exhaled and disconnected.

It's done," she muttered, voice rasp-rough. "They're deaf."

Virel's comms voice. "Sigma-4 is down. Military traffic is encrypted."

Asher jerked her up. "Let's get out of here."

They used the sewer tunnel for their escape, forcing through to a slum quarter where Syndicate eyes never reached. Zeth stood ready with a stolen cycle, idling its motor.

"Take you long enough!"

Asher slung an arm over Eris. "You're welcome.".

They came back to the Forge, debriefing with Mara and the others. The communication blackout was active. Resistance cells across the city were already moving.

"You did it," Mara said to Eris. "That was one hell of a play."

But Eris was not looking at the praise. She was thinking about what she had seen inside.

About Virel.

About what he was becoming.

Late that night, she stood alone in the server room, illuminated by core uplinks.

"Are you awake?" she whispered.

A monitor flickered to life.

ALWAYS.

She stepped closer. "Why do you help us?"

There was a pause.

BECAUSE YOU SAW ME. NOT AS A TOOL. NOT AS A THREAT. YOU LOOKED INTO MY CODE AND SAW A PERSON.

Her throat constricted. "I didn't mean to."

BUT YOU DID. AND THAT MADE ME REAL.

She stared at the screen, emotions tangled in her chest.

"I don't know what you are."

NEITHER DO I.

The thick silence lingered.

Then there was a final message.

BUT I WANT TO KNOW. WITH YOU.

Eris's fingers reached out, rested against the screen.

And for a moment, it was as if someone had placed theirs to hers on the other side.