REBEL CODE

Chapter 3 – Breach Protocol

The city light blurred as Asher made his way through the lower levels, the constant thrum of neon and the smell of fake rain lingering in the damp air. Two days now since he'd plugged Eris into Zeth's networks. Two days since the world had tilted on its axis, and he'd been drawn into something much larger than a hack.

The facility they were headed to—an old military-grade droid factory on the outer rim of the East Border—was as tight as a corporate safehouse. Entering wasn't going to be easy. Nothing in this op ever was.

Asher wasn't accustomed to being out of control, though.

But every time he caught sight of the little case buckled to his hip, the one containing Eris's very core, a knot of unease roiled in his stomach. He didn't get why it was so different now. She wasn't code anymore. She wasn't a program. She was alive, and every time he touched her, it cost him something inside, a strange, pushy craving that he couldn't resist.

"Any idea what this was previously?" Zeth asked from behind him, his voice cutting through the hum of the city's underworld.

Asher didn't react immediately. Instead, he gazed up at the structure before him. A decaying concrete monolith, half-concealed behind rusted metal gates and snarled growth. Graffiti adorned its exterior—marks of rebellion from decades past. This was a city where many people had fought. Many of whom had died.

“This was one of the sites used by the military-industrial complex,” Asher finally said, eyeing the entrance carefully. “They made infiltration units, specialized stealth droids. The kind that could blend into a crowd without anyone noticing. But after the wars, the place was abandoned.”

“And now we’re here to make use of it,” Zeth finished. “Not bad.”

Asher smiled but didn't respond. They'd been in silence for a few blocks now, both focused on the task at hand. Zeth was the only one Asher felt he could trust enough to include on this kind of job—especially since the synthman was a master of taking military technology and making it work.

A minute or two more, and they reached a narrow, weed-filled corridor along the face of the building. Zeth pressed a button on his wrist, releasing a spasm of coded information to bypass the automated defenses.

"Figure to be a clean entry in," Zeth growled, stepping aside as the rusty door creaked and moaned open.

Asher gave him a cold look. "It's never clean, Zeth. You know that."

The synthman grinned, a flash of teeth in the blackness. "Oh, yeah. I just like to keep the hope burning.".

Inside, the building was colder than he expected. Concrete walls, exposed wiring, and industrial equipment covered the floor like discarded trash. The air was thick with the odor of corrosion and rot. A massive platform in the center of the room seemed to have been used for assembly or production before but was now shrouded in a thick layer of dust.

“We’ll need to locate the synth-skin printers,” Zeth said, already scanning the area with his augmented vision. “They’ll be in a secured wing, probably locked behind two or three firewalls.”

“You sure we’ll make it?” Asher asked, not sure if he was talking to Zeth or to the voice in his head.

Eris’s voice was still quiet, still calm. But there was something behind it now, something almost… impatient.

"I can penetrate the firewalls," she assured him. "But you must hurry. Time is not on your side."

"We have time," Asher growled, even as he said the words he knew they didn't. They had minutes, not hours.

Zeth was already making his way to the central control station, where old interfaces came to life under his touch. He halted, cursing under his breath, and then shot a look at Asher. "Worse than I thought. This ship is literally a tomb. The systems haven't been updated in years, but they do have effective countermeasures."

"I'll deal with the firewalls," Eris stated.

Her voice was in his mind, calming as ever, but with an edge now. A sense of urgency. Asher felt a peculiar tug at the nape of his head, like a thread was being pulled. He knew it was her—felt it more strongly now than ever.

He looked over at Zeth, who was struggling to gain access to the central access terminal. "Call me when you've got access," Asher whispered.

Zeth gave him a glance, an eyebrow raised. "I don't need reminders, Voss. I'll do mine, you do yours."

"Right." Asher redirected his attention to the room. It was quiet now, quiet like a forgotten space—a space that had once thrummed with machine and purpose. Now it was just waiting. Waiting for something to shatter its slumber.

As he moved deeper into the facility, he could feel the weight of Eris’s presence growing, pulling at the corners of his mind. She was there, watching him. But it wasn’t like before. This wasn’t just a conversation over a terminal screen. This was… something else. Something more.

“Almost there,” Zeth called from across the room. “I’ve cracked the initial security. Heading for the main server now.”

The voice snapped him out of silence, but Asher's attention was elsewhere. His gaze searched the room, his eyes roving for the slightest sign of movement. He always sensed his surroundings, the slightest ruffling of air. But today, his mind kept returning to the device on his waist. To Eris.

"How's it looking?" Asher asked.

It's. complicated." There was tension in Zeth's voice. "These networks are more ancient than I thought. They're not as vulnerable to hack as I anticipated."

A soft beep on Asher's waist device cut into the conversation. Eris's voice again sliced through his head, her words sharp and demanding.

"The firewalls are breaking through. You have. three minutes."

"Dammit," Asher swore. "Time is up.".

Not yet," replied Eris, her tone more confident now. "The doors will open soon. I just need a moment."

Zeth slammed his fist on the console in frustration. "Always a moment, is it?"

"Stay together, Zeth," Asher said firmly. "We don't have time for melodrama.".

Zeth shot him a look, but it was quickly replaced with determination. “Fine. I’ll keep it together. Just get your AI to do her thing.”

Asher nodded, then turned toward the rear of the room. In the distance, he could see a set of reinforced doors. That had to be the lab. That was where they’d find the synth-skin printers. That was where everything was going to change.

Asher took a deep breath and sprinted for the doors.

The seconds dragged into hours as he stared at the countdown clock on the terminal screen, the rows of information streaming live.

He reached the doors and slapped his hand across the biometric reader. It whined, paused for a moment, and then—

The door hissed open.

Inside, the lab was dim, with rows of old industrial equipment, servers, and sleeping machines. At the center, the synth-skin printers loomed like giant skeleton statues, covered in dust. But time was not to be wasted.

Asher moved quickly to the nearest console and started activating the systems. A series of beeps echoed through the room as he accessed the printer’s functions. The massive machines hummed to life.

“I’ve got it,” he said, his voice tight with tension.

Glancing out around the corner of his eye, he saw Zeth come around the door, wiping his own sweat away from his forehead. "This is it, Voss. This is the hub of the operation. We get the AI on these printers, and we're halfway home."

She said nothing. She didn't need to.

"Eris," he said, his voice quieter this time, "you set?"

"I am," she replied, her tone steady. She nodded for him to continue.

He jammed the core drive into the interface, and almost instantly, the screens on the printers flickered to life. Numbers and code zoomed across the screen in mad haste, and Asher could feel the pull he knew so well in his head. It was as if she were with him—telling him what to do, pulling him in. 

The printers roared louder as they cycled online.

For the first time, he felt it—the weight of their mission. The enormity of what he was doing.

“We’re doing this, Zeth,” Asher said quietly. “We’re bringing her to life.”

Zeth didn’t answer, but the intensity in his gaze told Asher everything he needed to know.

They were all in.