The rain had eased into a thin, oily mist by the time Raze reached the dead-drop tower again.
Same roof. Same water tower. Same faded pink YUI graffiti that still hadn't been scrubbed off. He moved like a shadow between the ventilation stacks, boots silent on the wet metal. The package from Chapter 1 was long gone; this time he carried nothing but the faint ache in his shoulders and the low hum of adrenaline that never quite left his veins.
He dropped into a crouch beside the access hatch and waited.
Thirty seconds later the hatch hissed open. A thin man in a hooded raincoat slid out, no words, no eye contact. Just an old-style cred-chip pressed into Raze's gloved palm. The contact's fingers trembled once. Raze closed his fist around the chip, gave a single nod, and the man vanished back inside like he'd never existed.
Payment received. No questions. No thanks. That was the deal Raze lived by.
He stood, slipped the chip into a hidden pocket, and turned to leave.
That was when the memory hit him, sharp, uninvited, the way it always did on quiet nights.
Two years ago.
Same district. Different tower. The sky-bridge had been collapsing under him, rebar screaming as it tore free. Corporate security drones everywhere. Pulse rounds chewing the air. He'd been cornered with the stolen prototype case in his hands, the one Yui had sold him for a stupid amount of money and a wink.
No way out.
So he'd cracked the case, yanked out the glowing neural chip, and swallowed it like a pill. Just to keep it out of their hands. Just to buy one more second.
The pain had been white-hot. Then nothing. Then the world had flipped upside down and he'd *run*.
Raze blinked the memory away. The rooftop was quiet again. Neon from a distant billboard painted the puddles cyan and magenta. He rolled his shoulders once, pulled his hood lower, and started walking.
He was halfway across the next roof when his earpiece crackled to life.
Not static this time. Not corporate chatter.
A voice he hadn't heard in months, bright, wired, impossible to ignore.
"Well, well. Look who's still breathing, Messiah."
Raze didn't stop walking. Didn't even flinch. But his jaw tightened.
Yui.
Her voice poured through the cracked comm like she was lounging right next to him instead of somewhere in a fortified hideout three sectors away.
"Miss me? Don't answer that. I know you won't. Strong silent type and all. Anyway, Ascendant just tripled the bounty on your pretty head. Patient Zero is trending on the dark boards again. They're calling in the big guns. Silas himself. You remember Silas, right? The one with the glowing eye and the personality of a parking ticket?"
Raze kept moving. A low gap between buildings yawned ahead. He took it without breaking stride, simple vault, clean landing, keep going.
Yui laughed, low and sharp. "Still ignoring me? Cute. Look, I'm not calling to chat about the weather. They upped the reward and they're offering a side bonus for anyone who brings in the girl who sold you the chip. That's me, genius. So maybe we should talk about that alliance thing again. You know, before one of us ends up as spare parts."
He reached the edge of the roof and paused, staring out across the glowing grid of the megacity. Rain misted his face. The cred-chip felt heavy in his pocket.
Yui's voice softened, just a fraction. "Three minutes isn't forever, Raze. Sooner or later you're gonna need someone in your ear who isn't trying to kill you. Think about it."
The line went dead with a soft click.
Raze stood there another heartbeat, neon reflecting in his dark eyes.
Then he pulled the earpiece out, tossed it once in his palm, and slid it back in.
He didn't answer.
He never did.
But for the first time in months, he didn't throw the comm away either.
The rooftops stretched out ahead of him, endless, rain-slicked, waiting.
Somewhere in the distance, a drone's red running lights flickered across the skyline.
Raze exhaled once through his nose, adjusted his gloves, and started running again.
The ghost in the neon was still out there.
And the clock was ticking louder than ever.