Timestamp: Cycle 4, Month 4 — Solar Season
Location: Arcanum Base – Research & Control Sector / Jade's Lab
I. The Lab
The faint hum of Arc-Heart conduits filled the research bay. Soft light flickered off glass panels and drifting holo-screens. It had been one full month since the Abyssal Infection, but the tension hadn't left the air — it only grew sharper.
Jade hunched over a console, half-empty mug beside him, his fingers a blur across the holo-interface. Lines of quantum code rippled down translucent screens, each line representing a different strain of Rift malware, each mutating faster than the last.
"This thing's adapting faster than we can even log it," he muttered, rubbing the edge of his glasses with one hand. "It's learning the patterns of our own counterpatches. Like it's… watching."
Celene stood beside him, eyes narrowing at the oscillating data streams. "You mean it's self-aware code now?"
"Not exactly," Jade said, brow furrowed. "It's not alive — just reactive. But if it keeps predicting us, it's only a matter of time before it hits civilian power grids again."
Jasmine stepped into the lab, the faint ozone of burned circuits still clinging to her uniform. "So what, we're talking another infection? I just cleaned Tempest Wing from the last mess."
Jade didn't look up. "Yeah, well, maybe don't crash your Frame into half the hangar next time."
She rolled her eyes. "That wall moved first."
Mateo snorted from the far console. "Sure it did."
Dean's voice crackled through the comm line above. "Status report, Jade. How close are we to an active solution?"
Jade's fingers didn't slow. "If the infection doesn't mutate again — maybe four hours. If it does… I'll need more coffee."
Celene leaned closer, scanning the pulse data. "Four hours, huh? That's cutting it close before shift rotation."
Jade grinned faintly. "Then I better make it count."
II. Code in Motion
The lab pulsed with low blue light. Dozens of displays mapped the infected drones still locked inside Containment Bay Theta. They looked almost calm — until you saw the faint flicker beneath their cores, Rift spores glowing like dying embers.
Jade's holographic projections twisted and folded, creating a living map of corrupted M.A.N.A. channels. "Alright," he murmured, "we're gonna fight this thing on its own ground."
He began constructing the countercode: a reflective algorithm capable of echoing the Rift malware's signature and redirecting it back into a null cycle.
"It's not brute force," Jade said, voice low. "It's rhythm. Pulse resonance. Like… fighting static with harmony."
"Poetic," Mateo said dryly. "Hope it works better than your metaphors."
Celene smiled slightly. "Just make sure it doesn't fry any friendly Frames."
"Already covered that," Jade muttered. "No casualties on my watch."
Then the lights flickered.
The data spike came sudden — a surge of corrupted packets infiltrating the simulation grid. The holo-screens flared red, and digital static crackled across the air.
Jasmine's voice sharpened. "It's pushing back — like it knows we're tracking it!"
Jade slammed a command key. "It's testing our firewall. Adapting… damn it, it's copying my encryption matrix!"
The Rift malware's code twisted like a snake, embedding itself deeper into the base's M.A.N.A. flow. Holo-lines glowed violently blue.
Celene snapped, "You need to isolate the channel before it breaches Sector 5!"
"I know!" Jade shot back. His voice was strained, but his eyes — steady. "Just keep systems stable. I'll rewrite it from inside the interference pattern."
III. The Test Run
Tempest Wing's frame towered behind the sealed glass of the adjacent chamber, her wings folded tight and glowing faint violet. Jasmine climbed the cockpit ladder, pulling her gloves on. "Alright, Jade. What's the plan?"
"You're my anchor," Jade said quickly, transferring a new code string to the Frame interface. "Your neural link with Tempest Wing's core resonance is clean. It'll act as a stabilizer for the pulse feedback."
Jasmine frowned. "So basically… I'm the lightning rod."
He gave a tired smirk. "You always were."
She grinned despite the tension. "Just don't blow me up, hacker boy."
Jade exhaled, his focus returning to the cascading graphs. "Activating countercode in three… two… one—"
A blinding pulse erupted across the control bay. The lights dimmed, shadows trembling as the entire room thrummed with harmonic feedback. The counter-algorithm spread through the containment grid like a wave of color — silver-blue and radiant, echoing the rhythm of Tempest Wing's resonance field.
Outside, the infected drones convulsed. Their glowing cores sputtered, then flickered to black one by one.
Jasmine tightened her grip on the controls. "Still holding! Feedback's stable!"
Jade's voice rose over the hum. "Redirecting power through Arclight's relay matrix— come on, stay with me…"
The Rift malware screamed through the comms — a piercing digital shriek as the algorithm forced it into collapse. Then, silence.
All lights flicked back to normal. The hum of Arc-Heart reactors steadied once more.
IV. Aftermath
The room smelled faintly of ozone and burnt circuitry. Everyone was quiet, the adrenaline still pulsing in their veins.
Mateo leaned back in his chair. "Well… I think that's a win."
Jasmine unlatched from her cockpit, stepping out as the lab doors opened. "You owe me a recharge cycle, Jade. My whole Frame's running at 12% efficiency."
"Yeah," Jade said, exhaustion in his voice but pride in his grin, "but we stopped the infection. Civilian grids are clean, containment drones are offline, and nobody's dead."
Celene checked the system logs. "Confirmed. No new corruption signatures in the base network. You actually pulled it off."
Dean's voice returned over comms, calm this time. "Good work, everyone. The countercode will be integrated into all base systems by next cycle. You bought us time — and peace."
Mateo stretched, cracking his back. "Temporary peace. You know this thing's gonna evolve again."
Jade pushed away from the console, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah. That's why I'm calling this version one."
Jasmine chuckled softly. "Version one, huh? Then we better get ready for version two before it bites us again."
Celene's tone softened. "You did good, Jade. Really."
He gave her a tired smile. "Tell that to my fried circuits."
The others laughed lightly — brief, but genuine. The lab's glow dimmed as the Solar Season winds passed outside, scattering faint blue motes of neutralized spores across the base skylights.
The Arc-Heart reactors thrummed beneath them, steady now — a heartbeat of fragile calm amid the chaos of what lay ahead.
Jade leaned back, closing his eyes. "Alright… let's prep the network logs for the next phase. This countercode's just the start."
The holographic displays flickered softly, the words COUNTERCODE ACTIVE — STABILITY LEVEL 97.3% hovering over the console.
Outside, the first trace of dawn shimmered over the Arcanum skyline — another cycle survived.