The God Living in My Phone

Chapter 5: Lighting in the Palm

Chapter 5: Lightning in the Palm

“This is a joke. Tell me this is some kind of sick joke,” Daren said, staring at his glowing violet eyes in the microwave reflection.

“It is no joke, mortal,” Aethelgard’s voice echoed, cold and impatient. “Your transformation is complete. Now put on the sunglasses and move. We have wasted enough time.”

Daren grabbed a pair of cheap polarized sunglasses from the counter. “I’m going to look like an absolute idiot. Who wears sunglasses at midnight?”

“An idiot who wishes to keep his eyes from drawing every apex predator in the city. Slide them on. The corporate offices of Apex Dynamics are three blocks away.”

“Apex Dynamics?” Daren slipped the dark lenses over his nose. The faint violet glow still seeped through the edges. “Why are we going there? That’s a tech conglomerate.”

“They have harvested a fragment of my design. They call it ‘Project Aether.’ They think they can weaponize it. They are fools. You will retrieve it.”

“Retrieve it? You mean steal it.” He carefully unlocked the front door. “I’m a thief now. Great.”

“The cosmos does not recognize human laws of property. Now go down the fire escape. The streets are watched.”

Daren climbed out onto the cold metal grating. “If I get arrested, I’m giving them your name.”

“They would not believe you. To them you are merely a localized anomaly. Focus on the descent.”

He dropped from the last tier and landed silently. “Wow. My knees didn’t even click. Is this the skeletal reinforcement?”

“Yes. Do not waste time celebrating your basic structural integrity. Move toward the western avenue.”

Daren kept his head down through the empty streets. “Okay, I’m at the side entrance. Digital keypad and a camera right above it.”

“The camera has already been looped. Your presence is invisible. Place your hand on the keypad lock.”

“I don’t know the code.”

“You do not need a code. You are Level Three. The kinetic resonance in your bones can overwhelm their primitive electronic security. Touch the metal casing.”

Daren hesitated, then pressed his palm against the keypad. “I don’t feel anything. Just cold plastic.”

“Focus on the hum in your chest. Push it down your arm. Direct the charge.”

He closed his eyes. “Okay. It’s like a bunch of bees buzzing under my skin.”

“Release them.”

“Go!” A tiny pop sounded. The blue lights flickered red, and the heavy door clicked open with a soft hiss.

“I’ll be damned. That actually worked.”

“Do not sound so surprised. Step inside. The fragment is in the sub-basement laboratory. You have exactly seven minutes before the internal sweep begins.”

“Seven minutes? You couldn’t have told me that earlier?” Daren slipped into the dim hallway.

“Speed is your primary attribute. Use it.”

“Wait—do you hear that?”

“Two biological signatures approaching. Hide in the alcove to your left.”

Daren ducked behind a massive concrete pillar.

“Hey, did you see the lobby lights flicker a second ago?” a voice called.

“Yeah, probably just the storm. Or the lab guys doing another weird test.”

“I hate working the night shift on this floor. Always feels like something’s watching you.”

“Aethelgard, what do I do if they see me?”

“Eliminate them. Tear their windpipes. It will take less than a second.”

“Are you insane? I’m not killing two guys who are just trying to make a living!”

“Their lives are insignificant compared to the architecture. If you do not strike, they will capture you.”

“I’ll find another way.”

“Hey! Who’s that?” The first guard’s flashlight caught the edge of Daren’s jacket. “Identify yourself!”

Daren stepped out with hands raised. “Uh, hey guys. Don’t shoot. I think I got lost on my way to the exit.”

“Lost? In a restricted sub-level? And why the hell are you wearing sunglasses indoors?”

“Medical condition. Extremely sensitive to fluorescent light.”

“Hands on your head. Slowly. Take off the glasses, now.”

“You really, really don’t want me to do that.” Daren backed away. “Let’s all just calm down. I can walk out the way I came.”

“He is preparing to fire the electrical weapon,” Aethelgard warned. “Kill him! Do not let them touch you!”

“No!” Daren shouted.

“Who are you talking to?” The second guard pointed a taser at Daren’s chest. “Get on the ground or I’ll put you down!”

Daren’s survival instinct flared. Kinetic energy surged violently. “I said, stay back!”

A blinding arc of static electricity erupted from his palms.

“What the—!” the first guard screamed.

The bolt struck the taser. The device exploded in blue sparks, throwing both guards backward. Corridor lights shattered, plunging the hallway into blackness.

Daren stood with smoking hands. “Oh my god. Are they dead? Did I kill them?”

“They are merely unconscious from the neural shock. A waste of energy. You should have crushed them.”

“Shut up!” He checked his hands. “I can’t believe I just did that. That was like… a lightning bolt.”

“It was a pathetic, uncontrolled static discharge. And you have alerted the main security hub. Run. The elevator shaft is at the end of the hall.”

Daren bolted, legs blurring.

“The elevator is disabled.”

“Use the emergency stairs. The vault is three floors down. Hurry. The automated defenses are initializing.”

He leaped down the concrete stairs, enhanced bones absorbing every impact. “I’m at the bottom. Huge circular steel door. Looks like a bank vault.”

“This is the laboratory outer seal. Triple-layered steel, magnetized to prevent any physical or digital breach.”

“Then how do I get in? There isn’t even a keyhole.”

“The lock is internal, held by a powerful electromagnetic field. To open it you must disrupt the magnetic alignment. You must act as a lightning rod.”

“A lightning rod? You want me to shock myself again? That hurt like hell!”

“You are Level Three. Your skeletal structure was reinforced specifically to channel this voltage. Place both hands flat against the seal.”

“And if my heart stops?”

“Then I shall find a more competent vessel. Do it now. We have less than two minutes before security seals this block permanently.”

Daren gritted his teeth, threw his sunglasses aside. Violet-ringed eyes glowed fiercely. “If I survive this, we are renegotiating our contract.”

“There is no contract. There is only compliance.”

He slammed his palms against the steel. “Okay! I’m ready! How do I start?”

“Draw from the core of your marrow. Let the kinetic resonance flow outward. Do not hold it back. Force it into the steel.”

Daren roared as a massive jolt surged from his chest down his arms. The metal hummed, rattling his teeth.

“It’s burning!” His vision flashed white.

“More! Overload the magnets! Break the seal!”

He poured every ounce of strength into the door. Blue and violet sparks danced across his skin.

A loud metallic clunk echoed. The magnetic hum died.

Daren collapsed backward, muscles twitching. The massive door slowly slid open, releasing a hiss of cold pressurized air.

“You see? You survived. Now stand up. The fragment is within your grasp.”

He dragged himself to his feet. “I hate you. I really, really hate you.”

“Your hatred is noted. Now enter.”

Daren stumbled into a pristine white laboratory filled with towering servers. In the center stood a massive cylindrical glass tank filled with swirling silver liquid.

“Where is the fragment? Is it inside that tank?”

“Yes. Break the glass. Retrieve the core.”

He approached cautiously. As the liquid settled, his eyes widened in horror. “Wait. That’s… that’s not a machine.”

“What are you waiting for? Shatter the glass!”

“Aethelgard, there’s a person in there! You told me we were retrieving a fragment of your power! You didn’t say it was a living human!”

“She is not human. She is a vessel, just as you are. She holds the spark of the Defiler—the one who sought to unmake my heavens. She must be purged.”

“I’m not a murderer! I didn’t sign up to kill people!”

Inside the tank the silver liquid drained away, leaving a young woman suspended by wires. Her hair was stark white. As she raised her head, her eyes flickered open—brilliant molten silver, not violet.

“Who… who are you?” Daren stammered.

Her gaze locked onto him. Her lips curved into a cold, mocking sneer.

“So,” she said, voice carrying a strange metallic echo. “The Architect has finally chosen a new puppet.”

Daren gasped. “You… you can hear him?”

“I can feel his disgusting stench radiating off you.” Her silver eyes narrowed at his violet pupils. “But I didn’t think he would sink this low. You’re nothing but a pathetic tool, Daren.”

“How do you know my name?”

“Because we are the same, you fool. Or at least we should have been. But you chose to kneel to the Unmaker of Dawns. You’re a traitor to the heavens.”