2025-09-29 17:46:48The journey passed in silence, the only sound being Jake’s steady snoring as he slept, worn out by the long drive.
“Wake up,” Damian said.
Jake jolted awake, blinking around in confusion. Damian motioned for him to follow as the car stopped.
“At my place, of course.”
They stepped into the elevator, Jake’s wary gaze never leaving Damian.
When the doors opened, Jake froze. Plush red carpet cushioned his feet, and the glass walls reflected the glow of the city lights.
Damian strode calmly into his office, pressing a code on the massive safe’s panel. The door swung open, revealing stacks of cash, bars of gold, and piles of documents.
Damian glanced at him, a faint smile on his lips. “All of this could be yours.”
“Do as I say.” Damian shut the safe slowly. “I know who you are. I know your strength. The world out there rejects you, Jake. But I… I can give you a place. You could have more than even this penthouse.”
Jake took a step back. “And if I refuse?”
Silence wrapped the room. Jake stood rigid, torn between the temptation of wealth and the weight of suspicion. Outside, lightning split the Ashborne sky.
Jake sat in a black leather chair in Damian Crowne’s penthouse meeting room. A crystal chandelier glittered above, casting light over a long table strewn with files, digital maps, and bottles of expensive wine. He felt out of place—like a street thief suddenly dropped onto the chessboard of kings.
Damian leaned back, lighting a cigar. “I won’t waste words. You’re here because I see something in you, Jake. Something no one else has.”
Damian’s smile was subtle. “Not muscle. You… can’t be tracked. That’s both a gift and a curse, isn’t it? You’re an anomaly.”
Jake fell silent, his pulse quickening. Damian knew more than he should.
Before Jake could ask, the door opened. A man in a white suit walked in, slick blond hair combed back. His eyes were sharp, calculating.
Jake only gave a curt nod.
Everett dropped a thick folder on the table, then looked at Damian. “Tell me this is a joke. We’re talking about a multi-billion-dollar project, and you bring in… a street thief? Being untraceable doesn’t mean he can pull off something this big.”
Jake pulled it closer. Inside were satellite photos of a warehouse, distribution route diagrams, and sketches of a long metallic object—like a miniature missile.
“Vanguard-7,” Damian said. “Next-gen military tech. Remote control, capable of scrambling any nation’s defenses. It’s still in trial at a northwestern base. Its value? Immeasurable.”
Jake shut the folder slowly. “And you want me to steal it?”
Damian blew a stream of smoke. “Impossible for everyone… except him.”
Jake held Everett’s stare, fighting the urge to snap back. “Why me?”
Damian leaned forward, voice low but cutting. “Because surveillance can’t detect you. Cameras don’t register your face. Satellites can’t read your body’s signal. You… are a ghost. That’s why their project failed to make you a soldier. But that failure, Jake, is our key to success.”
Jake swallowed hard. Memories of the lab clawed back—sterile stench, needles, children who never came back.
Everett shook his head. “You’re betting everything on a failed experiment? You’re insane.”
Damian flicked on the massive wall screen. A digital map appeared, crisscrossed with red lines and blinking points.
Jake leaned in, eyes narrowing.
Everett cut in. “You’re forgetting thermal drones. Not even a rat can slip by.”
Jake slumped back in the chair. “So I sneak in on a truck, reach the hangar, and grab it?”
Everett slammed the table. “This is madness! Even if he gets in, how does he get out? The whole base will go into lockdown once the vault opens.”
Jake let out a long breath, still processing. Silence filled the room, broken only by the rain outside the glass walls. Everett glared at him with open disdain.
Jake met his gaze. “I’ve been dead since I was twelve. So what’s the difference?”
Damian grinned, satisfied. “That’s the answer I wanted.”
He opened a drawer, pulling out a briefcase. He set it in front of Jake. Inside—stacks of cash. A hundred thousand dollars.
Jake stared at the case for a long moment, then closed his eyes. The memory of himself in that filthy alley, beaten and bleeding under the rain, flashed in his mind.
He opened his eyes. “When do I start?”
Jake stood, locking eyes with Damian. “If everyone says it’s impossible, then it’s the right job for me.”
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105
The tunnels toward the lower archives narrowed into a jagged throat of concrete and steel, their walls layered with cables that pulsed faintly like veins beneath scarred skin. Kess led them with quick, confident strides, her augmented eye scanning corners before her human one ever needed to. Two Underline scouts followed at a distance, fading in and out of shadow as if the darkness itself had learned their shapes.Jake stayed close behind Kess, one hand pressed lightly to his side whenever the ache flared, the other never straying far from Cael. Elen walked at Cael’s other side, her glow reduced to a soft halo that barely kissed the floor.“Archive access is ahead,” Kess said quietly. “Old civic records, pre-Engine era. They stopped caring once all the data got absorbed into the network. But the structures are still there.”Cael glanced around, eyes wide. “It feels… heavier here,” he whispered. “Like the air
104
Jake woke to the sound of muted voices and the steady pulse of the shelter’s systems. For a moment, he did not remember where he was, only that the world felt too quiet for a city that never truly slept. Then the ache in his side reminded him.He opened his eyes and saw Elen standing near the wall, speaking in a low tone to someone just beyond the door. Cael was still asleep on the other cot, curled in on himself, his faint glow barely visible beneath a thin blanket.Jake shifted carefully, suppressing a groan.Elen noticed instantly. “You are awake,” she said softly, ending her conversation and moving toward him.“Been told I’m hard to keep down,” Jake murmured. “How long?”“Less than two hours,” Elen replied. “Kess sent medical supplies and someone to stand watch.”As if on cue, the shelter door slid open just enough for a woman to peer inside. She wore a patched jacke
103
Shelter Seven settled into a low, constant murmur, the sound of dampeners and recycled air blending into something almost soothing. Soft amber strips along the walls cast enough light to see without inviting attention, and the reinforced door remained sealed, its surface etched with layers of old transit codes and Underline markings.Jake lay back on the cot, one arm draped across his chest, eyes half-closed as his breathing finally evened out. Every muscle in his body protested, but the quiet gave him no choice but to feel it.Cael sat on the edge of the cot beside him, legs swinging slightly, watching Jake with worried eyes. Elen stood near the far wall, her glow reflecting faintly off the metal panels as she scanned the shelter’s systems.Kess lingered near the doorway, arms crossed, studying them like a puzzle she had not yet decided to solve.“You’ve got maybe a few hours before the city starts sniffing around this sector harder,&rd
102
The dead sector released them reluctantly, its broken corridors giving way to narrower access routes that sloped back toward the living city. The farther they moved from the ruins, the more the distant hum returned, like a heartbeat growing louder with every step. Neon reflections crept back into the shadows, and the air thickened with heat and the scent of machinery.Jake led the way, guided by the coordinates Rhea had sent, keeping to service paths and half-forgotten walkways that curved beneath main traffic lanes. His movements were slower now, controlled, each breath measured against the ache in his side.Cael stayed close, gripping the back of Jake’s jacket whenever the path narrowed. Elen walked slightly ahead this time, her glow faint but steady, acting as both light and lookout.“They will be focusing on hubs and intersections,” Elen murmured. “So we avoid them.”“Always been my favorite strategy,” Jake re
101
The maintenance chamber breathed like a wounded beast, each pulse of the flickering lamp throwing long shadows across rusted panels and damp stone. Water dripped steadily from a fractured pipe above, the sound echoing too loudly in the cramped space, as if the city itself were counting their heartbeats.Jake stayed seated against the wall, one arm wrapped around Cael, who had finally stopped sobbing but still trembled with every shallow breath. Elen remained near the tunnel entrance, her glow dimmed again, though tension coiled in her posture like a drawn wire.“We can’t stay here,” Jake said quietly after a moment. “They’ll sweep the tunnels next.”“Yes,” Elen agreed. “The Walkers will map every branch once the panic settles. This place will not remain blind for long.”Cael lifted his head slowly. His eyes were red, but there was something steadier in them now. “You said we need somewhere
100
The elevated walkways thinned as Jake led them deeper into the upper lattice of the city, where traffic noise softened into a constant metallic whisper and the lights grew colder, more utilitarian. Here, the towers were closer together, their surfaces layered with cables, vents, and humming conduits that pulsed like exposed veins. The air tasted sharper, tinged with ozone and old rain.Jake kept one hand near Cael, not quite holding him, but close enough to feel his presence. Every few steps, he glanced over his shoulder, scanning reflections in the mirrored panels that lined the rails.“We can’t go back to the room,” Jake said quietly. “Not after that.”Elen nodded, her glow barely more than a breath of light under her skin. “They will mark it as a probable shelter,” she replied. “If they have not already.”Cael hugged his arms around himself, eyes darting at every distant footstep. “Are they st
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