Aria's POV
I'm going to the address.
I know it's stupid. I know it could be a trap. But Kaelen Voss—the man who executed Juno—just messaged me. And something in my gut says I need answers more than I need safety.
The address leads me to the old sector, where buildings are crumbling and cameras are broken. This is where The Depths bleeds into abandoned ruins. No one comes here except criminals and people with secrets.
I guess I'm both now.
The building is a gutted warehouse. Broken windows. Collapsed roof. Perfect place for an ambush. I approach carefully, every muscle tensed to run.
"You came."
I spin around. Kaelen Voss steps from the shadows like a ghost. He's not in his uniform anymore—just dark civilian clothes that make him look almost human. Almost.
Those storm-gray eyes lock onto mine.
"Stay back!" I raise my fists even though I know it's useless. He's trained. Enhanced. I'm just a factory worker with shaking hands.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He stops ten feet away, hands visible. "I'm here to help."
"Help?" I laugh bitterly. "You killed Juno!"
Pain flashes across his face—real, raw pain. "I had no choice. If I'd refused the execution order, they would've killed him anyway and exposed my cover. At least this way, his death meant something."
"Meant something? He's DEAD!"
"He gave you the Phoenix Protocol!" Kaelen's voice rises, cracking with emotion. "The most powerful hacking system ever created. My parents died protecting it. Juno died transferring it. And now you have the only weapon that can bring down the Council."
I stare at him. "Your parents?"
Kaelen's jaw tightens. He reaches behind his ear and does something that makes my blood run cold—he pulls out a small chip. His connection to The Watchers. He just disconnected from the system.
He's invisible now, just like me.
"Twenty years ago, my parents created the Phoenix Protocol," he says quietly. "They were brilliant hackers, rebels who wanted to free humanity from AI control. The Council discovered their plan and executed them. But first, they took me—their eight-year-old son—and performed memory wipe surgery." He turns, showing me a scar behind his ear. "They erased my parents from my mind. Raised me to be their perfect weapon. Made me into the thing my parents died fighting."
My anger falters. "You... you didn't remember them?"
"Not until three years ago. The memory wipe started failing. Fragments came back—my mother's voice, my father's code lessons, the sound of gunshots." His hands clench into fists. "I've been searching for the Phoenix Protocol ever since. It's the key to everything. The one weapon that can shut down The Watchers permanently."
"And Juno had it?"
"Juno found fragments of it scattered through the system. He was brilliant—better than he knew. He reconstructed parts of the code." Kaelen's voice drops. "When I saw his arrest report, I knew what he'd discovered. And I knew Lysandra would execute him to bury the evidence."
"So you let him die to get the Protocol?"
"No!" Kaelen's composure cracks. "I tried to save him! That message last night—that was from me! I was going to break him out during transport. But they moved faster than expected. By the time I realized the trap, it was too late." He steps closer, anguish written across his face. "Juno made the choice himself. In his final moments, he chose to give you the Protocol instead of letting it die with him. He trusted you with it."
I want to hate this man. I want to scream at him. But I see the truth in his eyes—he's suffering too.
"What do you want from me?" I ask.
"I want to teach you to use the Protocol. I want to help you become strong enough to fight back." His gray eyes burn with intensity. "I want to finish what my parents started and what Juno died for. I want to burn the Council to the ground."
Before I can respond, my implant screams a warning.
ALERT: WATCHERS SCANNING FOR PHOENIX SIGNATUREALERT: TRACE DETECTED IN OLD SECTORALERT: COMBAT UNITS DISPATCHED
"They found us," Kaelen hisses. "The Protocol leaves traces when it's new. You haven't learned to hide yet."
"What do we—"
Explosions rock the warehouse. The roof caves in. I dive sideways as debris rains down. When I look up, combat drones are pouring through the holes—sleek, deadly machines with weapons charged and ready.
"Run!" Kaelen grabs my hand and yanks me toward a back exit.
We burst into an alley. More drones descend from above. Their targeting lasers paint red dots across my chest.
"I don't know how to fight these!" I scream.
"Yes, you do! Use the Protocol!"
"I don't know how—"
A drone fires. The blast scorches the wall beside my head.
Instinct takes over. I don't think—I just react. My mind reaches out toward the drones through my implant, feeling for their code the way you'd feel for a light switch in the dark.
And I find it.
The drones' programming unfolds in my vision like a map. I see their targeting systems, their weapon controls, their flight algorithms. All of it vulnerable. All of it hackable.
I push.
Every drone freezes mid-flight. Their red targeting lasers blink out. They drop from the sky like dead birds, crashing into the alley.
I did that. I just killed six military drones with my mind.
"Good!" Kaelen pulls me forward. "But more are coming. We need to get underground where their sensors can't reach."
We run through twisting alleys. Behind us, I hear the whine of more drones, the shouts of ground troops. The entire security force is hunting us.
Kaelen stops at a rusted metal hatch in the ground. He yanks it open, revealing a dark tunnel. "The old subway system. Abandoned for decades. Get in!"
I drop into darkness. Kaelen follows, slamming the hatch closed above us. In the pitch black, I hear his ragged breathing beside me.
"Did we lose them?" I whisper.
"For now." He activates a light on his watch. We're in a concrete tunnel covered in graffiti and rust. "But Lysandra knows you have the Protocol. She'll tear the city apart to find you."
"What do I do?"
"You disappear. Change your identity. Go to ground." He pulls out a small data chip. "This has everything you need—fake ID, safe houses, contacts in the resistance network."
"Resistance network?"
"Did you think I was the only one who wants the Council dead?" A bitter smile crosses his face. "There are dozens of us. Higher Beings who remember what freedom looked like. Citizens who are tired of living in fear. We've been waiting for the Phoenix Protocol to give us a fighting chance."
He presses the chip into my palm. His hand lingers on mine for a moment—warm, steady, human.
"I'll contact you in three days," he says. "That gives you time to learn basic Protocol functions. Practice accessing cameras, bypassing locks, reading encrypted data. When we meet again, your real training begins."
"Why are you helping me?"
Kaelen meets my eyes. "Because Juno trusted you. Because my parents would have wanted this. And because..." he hesitates, something vulnerable crossing his face, "...because when I look at you, I remember what it feels like to hope."
Footsteps echo above us. Voices shouting. They're searching the alleys.
"Go," Kaelen whispers. "Follow this tunnel east for two miles. You'll come up in The Grid. Get lost in the crowds."
"What about you?"
"I'll lead them away. I'm still the Supreme Commander—they won't question me." He starts moving toward a side passage, then stops. "Aria? Your friend's last words—'burn it all down.' He was right. That's exactly what we're going to do."
He disappears into the darkness.
I run the opposite direction, the data chip clutched in my fist. My mind is spinning. Twenty-four hours ago, I was nobody. A factory worker. Invisible.
Now I'm a fugitive with the most dangerous weapon in Neo-Seoul buried in my brain.
My implant chimes. A message appears, but not from Kaelen:
"Attention, Aria Chen. This is Lysandra Vex. I know what you possess. Surrender the Phoenix Protocol and I'll make your death quick. Run, and I'll kill everyone you've ever spoken to. You have 48 hours. —L.V."
Below it, a live video feed opens.
It shows a small hospital room. A little girl lies in bed, tubes running from her thin arms. Maya. Juno's sister.
Lysandra's voice purrs through the speaker: "Starting with this one."
The feed cuts to black.