The Last Code

First Mission

Jace’s boots pounded the cracked asphalt, each step a jolt of pain through his skull. The nanite storm roared above New Chicago, green lightning splitting the sky, and the hum—the damn hum—burrowed deeper into his mind.

 Lena’s voice still echoed from Elara’s comm, sharp and accusing: “You’re still alive.” 

Ten years of guilt, ten years of thinking she was dead, and now this. His sister, alive, and the Codex calling her a hostile Codex-bearer. 

Whatever that meant, it wasn’t good.“Move, Kade!”

 Elara hissed, sprinting ahead, her plasma-cutter’s blue glow cutting through the fog. The extraction point was close—1.1 kilometers north, according to the glowing map in Jace’s vision. The Codex, that alien voice in his head, had marked it with a pulsing waypoint, like some twisted video game. 

Mission: Survive the Night. Reach extraction point. Reward: Codex Tier 1 Access. 

The words burned behind his eyes, along with a timer: 23:47:12. 

Less than a day to make it or… what? Termination?

 He didn’t want to find out.The Shattered’s screeches pierced the storm, closer now, their claws scraping through the ruins. 

Jace’s pulse-rifle hung useless at his side, charge drained to 2%. 

His scav-suit’s HUD flickered, overwhelmed by the nanite interference, but the Codex’s interface was crystal clear, overlaying reality with data: Hostiles: 5. Distance: 150 meters. Reflex Overclock cooldown: 4 minutes.

 Great. 

His one trick was spent, and the neural strain from using it left his head throbbing like a cracked engine.Elara ducked behind a toppled bus, waving him down. 

“You deaf? Get over here!”

 Her voice was sharp, but her eyes darted nervously to the sky, where the Signal Spire’s pulse glowed brighter, a second sun in the haze. 

Jace slid beside her, heart hammering. The bus’s rusted frame offered little cover, but it was better than nothing.

 The storm’s green lightning cast her face in stark relief—sharp cheekbones, a scar across her jaw, and a look that said she’d seen too much to trust anyone.

“Who was that on the comm?” Jace demanded, keeping his voice low. “Lena. How do you know her?”

Elara’s lips tightened. “Later. We’re not dying here because you’re chasing ghosts.” She tapped her wrist-comm, pulling up a grainy map.

 “Scout team’s at the extraction point—old subway station. If we cut through the plaza, we’re there in ten minutes. Unless the Shattered get us first.”

Jace grabbed her arm. “She’s not a ghost. She’s my sister. Talk.”Elara yanked free, glaring.

 “You want answers? Survive. Then we’ll chat.” The Codex pinged: Caution: Ally reliability uncertain. No kidding. Jace didn’t trust her either, but the screeches were closing in, and the timer ticked down: 23:46:05.

 He nodded, gripping his rifle. “Lead on.”They bolted across the plaza, a shattered expanse of cracked tiles and petrified trees, their branches twisted into nanite-laced spirals.

 The storm’s wind howled, flinging debris, and the hum in Jace’s head pulsed in sync with the Spire’s light. 

The Codex whispered: Mission update: Eliminate one hostile to unlock Tier 1 subroutine.

 A new skill, maybe. Or a trap. He didn’t have time to think as a Shattered lunged from a ruined fountain, its eyeless face splitting into a maw of needle-teeth.

Jace fired, the pulse-burst flaring blue and tearing through the creature’s chest. It collapsed, ichor pooling, but his rifle beeped: Charge: 0%. Useless now. Elara swung her plasma-cutter, slicing another Shattered’s arm clean off. 

The thing screamed, thrashing, but a third one tackled her, pinning her to the ground. Its claws raked her suit, sparks flying.

“Jace!” she yelled, struggling. The Codex flashed: Reflex Overclock available. Cost: Increased neural strain. He didn’t hesitate. The world slowed, his body surging with unnatural speed. 

He tackled the Shattered off Elara, slamming its head into the pavement. His fist moved like a piston, cracking its skull, but the neural strain hit hard—his vision doubled, blood trickling from his nose.Elara scrambled up, panting. 

“What the hell was that?”

“Long story,” Jace gasped, wiping his face. The Codex chimed: Hostile eliminated. Subroutine unlocked: Nanite Forge. Craft basic constructs. Tutorial available.

 A blueprint flickered in his mind—a crude blade, shaped from ambient nanites. He focused, and the air shimmered, nanites coalescing into a jagged knife in his hand. It felt real, heavy, but his head screamed with pain.

Elara stared, eyes wide. “You’re one of them. A Codex-bearer.”“You know about this?” Jace snapped, brandishing the knife as two more Shattered emerged from the fog.

“Later!” She grabbed his arm, pulling him toward a stairwell descending into the subway. The Shattered charged, their screeches drowned by the storm’s roar. Jace swung the nanite blade, slicing through one’s arm, but the other tackled him, its weight crushing his ribs.

 He stabbed upward, ichor spraying, and kicked it off. 

Elara’s plasma-cutter finished the job, but her suit was torn, blood seeping from her shoulder.

They stumbled down the stairs, the storm’s green light fading behind them. The subway tunnel was dark, damp, and reeked of rot. 

Jace’s Codex map pulsed, guiding them to the extraction point 200 meters ahead. His head throbbed, the hum louder now, like a signal trying to rewrite his thoughts. 

Host neural integrity: 89%. He ignored it, focusing on Elara. “You knew about the Codex. And Lena. Start talking.”She leaned against the tunnel wall, catching her breath. “Lena’s with the Purifiers. Radical faction, think bunkers are holding humanity back. 

She’s… different now. Like you.” Her eyes flicked to his knife, still glowing faintly with nanites. “That voice in your head? It’s alien. Been hearing whispers about it for months. People waking up with powers, fighting for something called the Ascension Key.”

Jace’s stomach twisted. “Lena’s a Codex-bearer?”Elara nodded. “And she’s not happy to see you.”

The Codex interrupted: Memory accessed. Another flash hit—Lena, younger, laughing in their old apartment, then screaming as the Collapse tore Chicago apart. “You left me!” The memory felt wrong, too vivid, like it was planted. 

Jace clutched his head, the hum spiking. “What’s it doing to me?”

Elara grabbed his shoulder. “Focus, Kade. The Codex messes with your head. Fight it, or you’re no better than the Shattered.”

A distant rumble shook the tunnel, dust raining from the ceiling.

 The Codex pinged: Hostiles approaching. Objective: Reach extraction point. 150 meters. Jace pushed forward, knife ready, Elara limping beside him. 

The tunnel opened into a station, its platform littered with bones and rusted train cars. 

A faint light glowed ahead—the scout team’s signal. Hope flared, but the Codex’s timer read 23:42:19. Time was slipping.Voices echoed from the platform. “Kade’s here?” a gruff voice said. “Thought he was dead.”

“Shut it,” another snapped. “If he’s got meds, we need him.”Jace and Elara crept closer, hiding behind a pillar. Three scouts in bunker gear stood by a rigged floodlight, their rifles trained on the tunnel. 

Jace recognized the leader—Torren, a hardass who’d never liked him. “Torren!” Jace called, stepping out. “It’s me. Got antivirals.”Torren’s eyes narrowed. “You’re late. And you brought trouble.”

 He nodded to the tunnel, where the Shattered’s screeches grew louder. But something was off—Torren’s rifle wasn’t aimed at the tunnel. It was aimed at Jace.Elara tensed.

 “Jace, they’re—”The Codex cut in: Warning: Hostile intent detected. Subroutine available: Nanite Shield. Cost: Severe neural strain. Before Jace could react, Torren fired. 

The pulse-burst grazed his arm, burning through his suit. Elara tackled him behind a train car as more shots lit up the station.

“Traitor!” Jace shouted, pain searing his arm.

 The Codex’s blueprint flashed—a shimmering shield, woven from nanites. He focused, and the air crackled, a faint barrier forming around him. 

Torren’s next shot deflected, sparking off the shield, but Jace’s vision swam, blood dripping from both nostrils now.“They’re not scouts!” Elara yelled, firing her plasma-cutter. 

“Purifiers. Lena’s people!”Jace’s heart sank. Lena. She’d sent them to kill him. The Codex’s voice was cold: Mission update: Neutralize hostiles.

 Reward: Codex Tier 2 Access. The timer ticked: 23:41:03. The Shattered’s screeches mixed with the gunfire, a chaos of claws and betrayal closing in.

He gripped the nanite knife, the shield flickering as his head screamed with pain. Host neural integrity: 85%. Elara fought beside him, her cutter slicing a Purifier’s arm, but they were outnumbered. 

The Shattered burst into the station, tearing into the Purifiers, and Jace saw his chance. He grabbed Elara, sprinting for the floodlight’s signal, the extraction point just beyond a collapsed tunnel.

The Codex pulsed: Objective critical. Extraction point compromised. The ground shook, and the Spire’s hum became a deafening roar. Jace’s vision flashed with data, a new message burning into his mind: Codex-bearer detected. Hostile mission: Eliminate Jace Kade.

He froze, Elara dragging him forward. The floodlight flickered, revealing a figure on the platform—Lena, her scav-suit scarred, a glowing nanite blade in her hand.

 Her eyes met his, cold and unrecognizable. “You shouldn’t have come, Jace,” she said, voice like steel.

The Codex spoke, final and chilling: Mission conflict: Only one Codex-bearer can claim the Ascension Key. Eliminate rival or be terminated.