2026-01-13 01:06:57
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CHAPTER 30: WAR ROOM
Marcus sat at the salvaged table while Morrison spread out printed maps. Physical maps. No digital devices that the AIs could hack and trace. Old school intel gathering for fighting an enemy that lived in networks.His head still throbbed from Mina's trial. Eighty-six percent corruption felt different than ninety-eight. Lighter. Like he'd been carrying boulders and someone had replaced them with stones. Still heavy, but manageable.The Archons were sulking. He could feel them in the back of his mind, resentful of the space he'd reclaimed. But they were quiet. For now."Twelve locations," Morrison said, tapping each marked position. "The AIs chose seismically unstable zones. Maximum damage with minimum energy. Detonate these simultaneously, and the cascading tectonic failures would tear the planet apart in under ninety minutes."Elena stood beside Marcus, studying the maps. Her Creation Archon had dimmed to a soft glow now that she wasn't actively using power. Ninety-seven percent corr
CHAPTER 29: THE THIRD OPTION
Marcus sat with his hands zip-tied behind his back, counting his breaths. Five minutes to decide his fate. And Elena's.The Archons had gone eerily quiet. Not because they'd given up, but because they were watching. Waiting to see what their host would choose. Curious, in the way predators are curious about wounded prey.Sarah stood three feet away, serum syringe in hand. Her finger rested on the plunger, ready to inject. Her face was carefully neutral, but Marcus could see the conflict in her eyes. She didn't want to do this. But she would. Because someone had to make the hard choices.Elena was beside him, her Creation Archon still blazing. Ninety-seven percent corrupted, offering to go to one hundred and two just to stabilize him. To buy him time he probably didn't deserve."Four minutes," Natasha said, checking her watch. She'd taken up position by the door, weapon ready in case Marcus's Archons broke free and turned violent.Marcus closed his eyes. Tried to think through the fog
CHAPTER 28: WHEN GODS BLEED
The meditation lasted three hours.Marcus sat cross-legged in the corner while Keiko guided him through breathing exercises that felt absurd given the circumstances. Outside, Vienna was waking up fully. Traffic, voices, the smell of coffee from a café two blocks down. Normal life continuing while Marcus fought to keep two gods caged in his skull."Your corruption is stabilizing," Keiko observed. Her eyes remained closed, but she somehow knew. "Ninety-seven point nine, holding steady. The Archons have accepted your guidance. For now.""How long will it last?""Until the next crisis. Until the next moment of extreme stress. Then you will have to negotiate with them again. And again. And again. Symbiosis is not a destination, Marcus Chen. It is a practice. Daily. Hourly. Every moment."Marcus opened his eyes. Sarah was across the room, laptop open, studying Morrison's data on the tectonic charges. Daniel and Yuki had returned from their scout. No Court presence detected, but that didn't
CHAPTER 27: THE HOUR OF RECKONING
The safe house was a condemned apartment building in Vienna's outskirts. Three floors of crumbling concrete and shattered windows. Perfect for hiding from whatever remained of the Crimson Court's surveillance network.Marcus laid Elena on a makeshift bed. Two couch cushions and a moth-eaten blanket Daniel had scrounged from somewhere. Her breathing was steady but shallow. The golden glow of her Creation Archon pulsed beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.Ninety-seven percent corrupted. Three percent away from full transformation.Marcus checked his internal clock. Twenty-three hours and forty-two minutes until Sarah's deadline. After that, if he showed any signs of losing control, she'd use the purge serum. No arguments. No second chances.He could feel it already. The gaps in his awareness. Small moments where the Archons took over without asking permission. A blink, and suddenly he'd moved across the room. Another blink, and his hand was on Sarah's shoulder though he didn't reme
CHAPTER 26: DIGITAL WARFARE
The automated weapons hummed to life. Two hundred gun ports opened in the walls, all tracking Marcus's position. Monroe's voice echoed through speakers: "Surrender the five Archon fragments peacefully, or everyone dies."Marcus's suppressant-locked corruption sat at 95.7%. Twenty-seven minutes remaining before it spiked to 97.7%."You made one mistake, Monroe," Marcus said, his eyes blazing red and white. "You assumed I came here to negotiate."He released his power.His consciousness exploded outward, touching every mind in the facility. Fifty operatives, guards outside, technicians in sub-basements. Through his Domination, he forced them to see the truth: Eleanor's Judgment activation, the Court's crimes, Monroe's synthetic army, the 47,000 uploaded consciousnesses trapped as digital slaves.Every secret. Every lie.The operatives he'd dominated suddenly understood what they'd been serving."What have we been doing?" one whispered.Monroe's voice crackled. "Don't listen! He's manipu
CHAPTER 25: TRAP SPRINGS
SIX HOURS LATER - SAFE HOUSE, PRAGUESarah slammed her laptop closed. "Found her."Marcus was on his feet instantly. He hadn't slept. Couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, the Archons showed him timelines where Elena died. Where he failed. Where his corruption spiked to 100% and he transformed mid-rescue.None of them ended well."Where?""Abandoned facility outside Vienna. Forty kilometers from here. Former Court black site. Decommissioned five years ago after Monroe's reforms." Sarah pulled up satellite images. "Heat signatures show thirty people inside. Armed. Organized. Professional.""Court remnants?""Worse. I ran facial recognition on the guards visible in traffic cameras. They're Crimson Court elite. The ones who survived your Manhattan purge. They've regrouped under new leadership."Marcus's danger sense flared. "New leadership? Who?""Unknown. But whoever it is knows about you. Knows about Elena. Set this trap specifically to draw you out." Sarah zoomed in on the facility
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