Caelia disappeared into the tangle of neon arteries beneath the Splice District, her boots echoing against rust-stained walkways. The world above had turned hostile, ruled by fear and lies. But down here, in the smoke-choked underbelly of the city, there was still someone who worked with fire. Someone who had no love for Parallax and even less for mercy.
If Shane Warne was to survive what came next, he needed a new kind of weapon. And Caelia knew exactly where to find the one who could build it.
Time: 2:46 a.m.Location: Lower Splice District - Kira's Hideaway
Smoke curled above the scarred metal table as a fusion torch hissed and sizzled against a slab of synthetic alloy. Sparks leapt into the darkness, briefly illuminating the cluttered, close-quartered workshop. Every surface was draped in wires, coiled cabling, cracked cooling tanks, and repurposed junk tech, some blinking softly, others twitching with unstable life.
Kira Solen knelt over a disassembled spider-drone, her knees pressed into a stained rubber mat. The faint glow of circuitry lit her cheekbones, sharp and soot-streaked. Her dark copper hair was tied back with a twist of flexible wire, the same kind she used for neural band relays. Her gloves were scorched and patched in six places, their fibers stiff with solder and grime.
"There you go, little bastard", she muttered, reattaching the vocal module to the drone's humming core. It chirped in reply, a static-pitched yelp that vibrated through the cramped space. The thing wobbled once, stabilized on its new gyros, and skittered up a wall with a happy chime.
Kira leaned back, popping her neck as the tension caught up to her.
Then, a knock.
Three sharp raps. Precise. Patterned. Familiar.
Her muscles tightened. She stood in one motion, fingers curling around the still-hot welder. She stalked to the door, silent save for the faint hum of her gear belt.
The door slid open on a low, mechanical whir.
"You're late," she said flatly, raising the welder's tip.
Caelia Voss stepped through, the shadows wrapping around her coat like smoke. Her eyes moved quickly, one pass around the workshop, another toward Kira's torch hand.
"I'm being hunted. Shane too", Caelia said. "We need help."
The name hit like a pulse grenade.
Kira blinked. "Spectra Nova?" she asked slowly. "That's real?"
"Very. And he's not what the vids show."
Caelia tossed a data-chip onto the table. It cracked against the alloy, bounced, and landed near the spider-drone, which recoiled from it with a twitch. Kira snatched the chip, slotted it into a busted holo-pad, and watched as shaky, distorted footage flickered to life.
Grainy frames showed Shane, clearly cybernetic now, taking cover in a decaying subway arch. He shielded a group of civilians with his own body, intercepting autonomous Parallax hunter drones. Bolts of searing plasma struck his shoulder. He didn't flinch.
"They turned on him", Caelia said, "the moment he chose people over protocol."
Kira watched silently. Her expression had hardened, but something beneath her eyes moved, a flash of old grief smothered under years of soldered numbness.
"You're saying the tech inside him, what they built, he's overriding it?" Kira asked.
Caelia nodded. "He's still human. Whatever they did to him, it didn't erase him. He's fighting it. And they know it."
For a long moment, Kira said nothing.
A memory stirred, unbidden. Her older brother, Jace. The way his hands had trembled before the override took hold. His eyes, empty, silent, then burning. The fire he leapt into wasn't ordered. It was mercy.
She clenched her jaw.
Then, "Then let's build him a war."
Later That Night - Tunnel Transit, Edge of Sector 47-Epsilon
The city above bled red and blue light from its vertical arteries, veins of neon flickering through acid rain. Down here, in the understructure, only cold steel and the hiss of leaking pressure lines kept company.
Kira moved fast, her fusion core sealed in a blast-proof case over her shoulder. Caelia followed, weapons drawn, eyes scanning shadows.
"Zone grid's cold", Kira said, checking her scanner. "Either a lucky window or a trap."
"You've always been the optimist", Caelia replied dryly.
Kira snorted. "Optimism doesn't solder phase mesh at 3 a.m."
They ducked into a broken freight tunnel once used for glassworks. Now it smelled of ozone and decay, walls damp and covered in Parallax graffiti tags: ORDER THRU ASCENT. ALGORITHM ABOVE ALL.
Caelia broke the silence. "You're sure the Phase-weaver core will sync with his central array?"
Kira slowed, then sighed. "No. I'm sure it's the only way to stop his grid from going nuclear when they finally corner him. With this, he can displace, bend location across blink threads. If it works, he'll be untouchable."
"And if it doesn't?"
Kira didn't answer. The glowstick between her teeth pulsed dimly.
"You never told me why you came back", Caelia pressed.
Kira froze.
Rain drummed faintly above, echoing through the cracked city skin.
"I saw what they did to him. That footage. The control systems trying to seize his limbs… and him choosing pain over obedience. It wasn't instinct, it was will."
She looked down. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"He reminded me of Jace. The second before the override took him. The second he chose the flame."
Her jaw tightened. "I won't let that happen again."
Meanwhile - Parallax Global News Feed
Stream Node 9-A, Kessara Delyth Live Broadcast
[Camera opens on a striking woman in her thirties, white hair, sleek nanofiber suit. Her lips are soft pink, eyes blue-lensed, designed to inspire trust.]
"This is Kessara Delyth, bringing you clarity in a time of chaos."
"Parallax has officially designated the entity known as Spectra Nova a Red-Level Threat, a fugitive cybernetic hybrid responsible for at least four recorded infractions across metro nodes."
[Images of Shane flicker behind her, pause frames of destruction, edited angles, a figure shrouded in fire.]
"He was once hailed as hope incarnate. Now, his presence is synonymous with system failure, rebellion, and collapse."
[Voice tightens, subtle. Controlled.]
"If you see this anomaly, Do not engage. Report immediately. Your compliance ensures your city's survival."
[Cut to static.]