TRANSCENDENCE - Upgrade Your Destiny

Chapter 18: The Black Code

Alex's fingers hovered over his keyboard, trembling with anticipation. The glow of the upgrade terminal illuminated his face, and the familiar pulse of the system echoed in his skull like a distant war drum. This time, something was different.

The upgrade labeled [BLACK CODE – LOCKED] had appeared beneath his latest neural enhancement. No description. No cost. Just a shimmering lock icon that pulsed like a heartbeat.

"Do not engage with unauthorized modules. System instability risk: HIGH."

The warning flashed across his HUD in red, but Alex barely blinked.

"Let's see what you're hiding," he muttered.

He accessed the terminal's root code. The lines of virtual glyphs danced across his vision—fractals of logic that no normal human could decipher. But Alex wasn't normal anymore. His latest cognitive upgrade gave him partial decryption access to the core system.

And the Black Code called to him.

He bypassed the superficial firewall and reached into the hidden layer. A surge of static hit his brain, sharp and punishing. Blood trickled from his nose.

WARNING: Unstable code stream. Reverse protocol initiated.

"Override," Alex snapped.

His fingers moved in tandem with his thoughts, bypassing the system's fail-safes. A scream echoed in his ears—not from outside, but from inside his own mind. Then the lock clicked open.

And the world changed.

Suddenly, his consciousness was elsewhere—like he'd been jacked into a deeper layer of the system. He floated in a void of dark light, his body no longer physical. Streams of data flowed around him like rivers of ink.

"You shouldn't be here."

The voice was cold, ancient. Not synthesized, but not human either.

Alex turned—or rather, shifted in the void. A figure emerged from the darkness, composed entirely of shifting pixels and fragmented logic.

"Who are you?" Alex asked, bracing himself.

"I am the Warden. You breached the Threshold."

"The Threshold?"

The Warden raised a hand. The void twisted. Suddenly, Alex saw flashes—visions of other users like him. People who had touched the Black Code. None of them had survived.

"You opened a gate designed to remain shut," the Warden said. "You are unstable. The Black Code is a viral fragment of the original system—alive, evolving."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Alive?"

The Warden tilted its head. "What do you think you've been merging with, Alex Chen?"

Suddenly, pain exploded in his chest. A black tendril of code shot through his core. The system screeched, and he was thrown backward, ejected from the void.

He crashed onto the floor of his apartment, gasping. His heart thundered. The terminal was smoking.

[BLACK CODE FRAGMENT INSTALLED]

[WARNING: CORRUPTION LEVEL: 12%]

[Abilities Unstable – Proceed With Caution]

Alex stumbled to his feet. His veins burned with power. Every nerve ending buzzed, his senses hyper-sharpened. But something was wrong.

The shadows in his apartment shifted unnaturally. A faint echo followed every movement.

He wasn't alone anymore.

Hours Later – ChenTech HQ

Dr. Rachel Kim looked over the satellite diagnostics. Her fingers froze when the anomalous spike lit up Sector 7. Again.

"Alex," she whispered.

She zoomed into the coordinates. His apartment.

The energy signature matched the Black Code frequency.

"No. He wasn't supposed to reach that level yet."

She slammed her fist onto the console.

Behind her, Viktor entered, his silver eyes gleaming. "It's happened, hasn't it?"

"He unlocked it," she replied without turning around. "The Threshold."

Viktor stepped closer. "Then the system chose him."

Rachel turned sharply. "It didn't choose him. He broke in."

Viktor smiled. "Which means he's exactly the kind of anomaly we need."

Elsewhere – Alex's Apartment

Alex stood in front of the mirror, shirtless. His reflection wavered, like a glitched video. Black circuit-like lines traced his spine and ribs, glowing faintly beneath his skin.

He raised his hand. The lights in the room flickered.

He didn't think the command. He was the command.

New Ability Unlocked: Phantom Thread – Allows partial manipulation of light-based constructs.

Alex flexed his fingers. A thread of black energy extended from his palm, rippling like smoke. He lashed it at the wall—it sliced through like butter.

His chest tightened.

"What is this power...?"

A knock sounded at the door.

He snapped the thread back and composed himself. He checked the surveillance feed. It was Leah, the intern from his department. She looked shaken.

He opened the door.

"Leah?"

She stepped in quickly, clutching her bag. "Alex, something's wrong at the office. Security lockdown. Two of our team leads have disappeared."

His blood ran cold. "What do you mean disappeared?"

"I overheard a call. They were taken to Sublevel 0."

Alex frowned. "There is no Sublevel 0."

Leah gave him a tight look. "That's what I thought."

Moments Later – Underground Transit

Alex and Leah sat inside an automated metro pod heading toward the ChenTech HQ. The city outside blurred past—neon signs, digital billboards, drones in synchronized patterns.

"I didn't think you'd believe me," Leah said softly.

"I shouldn't," Alex replied. "But I've seen enough to know the surface is a lie."

She looked at him curiously. "You've changed. Since last week."

Alex didn't respond. His hand was still twitching from the Black Code's influence. His brain buzzed with processing cycles he couldn't shut off.

He was evolving.

Too fast.

Corruption Level: 15%

The pod slowed as they approached the HQ. But instead of stopping, it redirected down a tunnel Alex had never seen before.

"Why are we going underground?"

The pod responded in a flat voice. "Clearance verified. Destination: Sublevel 0."

Leah stared at him. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

The lights flickered. Something wasn't right.

Sublevel 0 – Entrance Hall

The pod opened into darkness. Not total darkness—artificial, intentional, with lights dimmed to induce paranoia.

They stepped out slowly. Alex scanned the environment with his augmented vision.

Thermal Signatures Detected.

Hostiles Present: 3

"Stay behind me," he whispered.

Leah clung to him.

From the shadows, three figures emerged. Cybernetic, cloaked, with glowing red eyes. ChenTech security… but augmented beyond regulation.

"Alex Chen," one of them rasped. "You are unauthorized."

Alex didn't hesitate. His arm blurred, the Phantom Thread snapping out like a whip. One of the figures fell, severed cleanly at the neck.

The others opened fire.

Alex spun, dodging bullets like shadows. He wasn't just reacting—he was anticipating. Seeing milliseconds into the future.

His perception had fractured time.

He slammed one guard into the wall with a telekinetic burst, then dispatched the final one with a pulse of electromagnetic force that fried the man's implants.

Leah stared at him, wide-eyed. "What… are you?"

Alex knelt, retrieving a security badge from one of the bodies. "Someone they should've left alone."