2025-08-03 19:27:23
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Chapter 84: The Player They Feared
The underground chamber pulsed with cold blue light. Screens lined every wall showing neural maps, digital student profiles, and a live feed of St. Aldric’s. Students marched like ghosts through the hallways, their minds hijacked by Phase Two.Kael stepped inside Isabel stood in the center, cloak gone, now wearing a sleek neural rig laced with glowing lines. A blade hung at her side real, not digital but old school tech it was deadly. She didn’t flinch as he approached.“I was wondering when you’d come,” Isabel said.“You shot Lucio,” Kael growled. “He could’ve come back. He remembered his name.”She raised an eyebrow. “Too risky. He was corrupted. You know what corruption does.”“He was human.”“So was I. Once.”They stood in silence.Kael’s fists tightened. “End it. Shut Rootflare down.”Isabel laughed. “Why would I kill the only system that’s actually working? Look at them, Kael. No bullying. No fear. No weakness. Everyone has a purpose.” “A purpose you programmed!”She stepped fo
Chapter 84: The Student Rebellion
The chapel doors slammed shut behind Kael and Sarah, locking them in. Stained glass flickered with glitching light symbols of old saints replaced with corrupted Architect glyphs. The air smelled like ozone and fire.Across the chapel stood Aaron or whatever had taken his place. Around him, ten students emerged from the shadows. Their eyes shimmered faintly with neural code not mind controlled, but enhanced. Echo linked each one trained to fight not just physically but mentally.Kael didn’t flinch. “You’re not getting in my head.”Aaron tilted his head, smiling like a machine wearing skin. “Too late. You left the door open years ago.”Sarah stepped forward. “I thought he was one of us.”“He was,” Kael whispered. “Until my father activated him.”He scanned the room every face had once been part of the student body. Quiet kids, overachievers, football players and gamers. Now, soldiers in a war no one even knew had started.“You built a secret army,” Kael said, raising his hand. “But I b
Chapter 82: Echo Nexus
The sky above St. Aldric’s was calm, but inside Kael’s mind, a storm was rising. He stood by the tall window in his dorm room, staring at the moonlit field where the football match had ended just hours ago. Lucio had smiled when he left. Smiled like someone who hadn’t truly lost.[Phase Two: Initiated. Echo Nexus Online.]That message still pulsed on Kael’s screen.“What is Echo Nexus?” Sarah asked from behind him, her voice low.Kael turned slowly. “It’s the next step. I thought Rootfire was the peak, but this… this is different. Bigger. And I think Lucio was just the opening move.”Sarah crossed her arms. “Then we need to be ready.”“We need help,” Kael said. “I can’t do this alone anymore.”Later That NightKael called a secret meeting in the abandoned east wing of campus. Only five students were invited. All of them had experienced digital glitches or strange dreams over the past few weeks. All of them had seen too much.Among them was Ronan, the top robotics coder; James, who onc
Chapter 81: Blood on the Field
The locker room was quiet too quiet Kael sat on the bench, lacing up his cleats. Around him, the rest of the St. Aldric’s football team moved slowly, robotically with no jokes, no music, no trash talk. Just silence and the soft clink of helmets against metal lockers.His nerves prickled something was wrong even the coach hadn't shown up. And Lucio stood at the far end of the room, staring into space like he wasn’t even there. The lights flickered Kael blinked and suddenly, everything changed.The locker room dissolved into lines of glowing code his cleats vanished. His jersey melted into black armor. The floor turned to glass beneath his feet, revealing a massive digital stadium below. An arena made of circuits, memory, and echoing screams the simulation.[“Welcome to Echo Stage Seven,”] a voice announced overhead. [“This match is not for goals. This match is for control.”]Kael turned his team stood in a line across the field fully suited, faces hidden behind tinted visors. He recogn
Chapter 80: The Match and the Mask
The weekend ended, and Monday hit like a shockwave St. Aldric’s stood tense with rumors. Everyone whispered about the new transfer Lucio. The charming, too perfect guy who suddenly appeared three weeks ago and now wore the St. Aldric’s football jacket like he owned it.Kael had been watching him something about Lucio didn’t add up. His smile was perfect his eyes always calm. Like he already knew what people would do before they did it. And now, Lucio was starting at midfield in the biggest school match of the season.The sky was pale blue students packed the field, cheering, holding signs. Kael laced his cleats and jogged out with the team. Sarah was in the stands, her eyes on him. Then she shifted to Lucio who winked at her with Kael’s gut twisted.“Eyes on the game,” Coach barked. “You’re team captain, Kael. Lead.”He nodded and stepped into position the whistle blew the game began fast. Lucio’s movements were smooth—too smooth. He passed the ball before his teammates even called fo
Chapter 79: Legacy of the Fire
The storm had stopped by the time Kael returned to his dorm, the air cold and crisp, yet laced with a strange silence. He peeled off his damp jacket and dropped it on the floor. Across the room, Sarah was already curled up on his bed, her knees drawn to her chest, hoodie sleeves pulled over her hands.“You’re back,” she said softly, looking up. “For real this time?”Kael didn’t answer at first he crossed the room, knelt in front of her, and reached for her hand.“They tried to use me,” he said. “Used all of us.”Sarah leaned forward, forehead resting gently against his. “But you didn’t break. You never do.”Kael closed his eyes. “They built Rootfire off me. The simulations. The arena. All of it. But there’s more, Sarah. Something worse.”She looked up, searching his face. “What do you mean?”He stood and moved to his desk drawer, pulling out a small, leather bound notebook aged and fraying at the corners. “This was my grandfather’s journal. Mr. Alden. I found it in a lockbox after the
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