CHAPTER THREE: THROUGH THE JACKAL'S TEETH
A matte-black sedan idled by the curb outside. When Kael approached, the back door unlocked with a click and he got in without a word. The car picked up speed, heading towards Neon Jackal territory. He sat in the back watching the city flash by in snapshots, wondering what his life would mean now that he'd accepted this offer. He'd never heard of the substrate before, but it's cause seemed legitimate, and although he had questions, there wasn't any question about the abilities he'd neurologically inherited. He'd have to play it day by day and see where this led. One thing was for sure, the corruption of society was very apparent, and if there was any way to put an end to it he was on board. A half hour later, they pulled into a maintenance corridor that split open to reveal a tunnel of shifting light and distorted bass.
THE DEN
Kael's HUD crackled.
"WARNING: ZONESHIFT ─S12─ THE DEN
ENVIRONMENTAL: HIGH ACTIVITY MODSECTOR
INFILTRATION MODE: ADAPTIVE SENSORY DAMPENING ENGAGED."
He felt a strong feeling of recessing, as if someone pulled a cover over his senses. The car pulled to a stop under a large gleaming LED arch with a digital amp jumping with the vibrations. He opened the door and stepped out, just as the atmosphere hit him like a wave of heat and heartbeat. Powerlines pulsed to an invisible tempo. Signs hypnotized rather than advertised. "RAVE," "BURN," "MOD YOURSELF," "SELL YOUR SENSES." This was the Jackals' domain. They were loud, wild, and unapologetically alive.
In the distance he could see towering vertical malls that had long ago been stripped and rebuilt into rhythmic fortresses. Their walls shimmered with glyphs and pulsing graffiti. He started down the walkway, lights blinked beneath his boots as if reacting to his steps, syncing to the bass tremors thumping from deeper in the hive. Children tagged each other with UV paint markers, ducking behind synthwave-spewing speakers. Although it looked like a continuous party on the surface, Kael knew this place well enough to stay away from it. No one lived in the gang territories unless they had nowhere else to go. The beat here wasn't just for show. It was their warpaint and identity. He exhaled slowly, adjusted his collar, and moved into the violent rhythm of the crowd toward Dr. Marr.
Seven blocks in, he turned down a narrow alley and caught a flicker of movement. A hunched figure crouched beside a fire barrel burning blue. "You look like someone with purpose," the man rasped. His voice was dry and digitized, like it had been patched together with broken firmware. Kael stopped. The figure stood slowly. He wore a half-mask, mirrored on one side, jawline exposed on the other. A long coat with data-cables stitched into the lining. A necklace of burnt-out data slugs swung as he moved.
"I used to work for someone like you," he said. "Before I asked to forget." Kael said nothing.
"No need for names. Call me Trace. I've got something that might help you, ghost. But it'll cost you."
Kael's HUD pinged:
UNKNOWN ACTOR. NO HOSTILITY DETECTED. ADVISE: NEUTRAL INTERACTION.
"What are you offering?" Kael asked. Trace grinned, revealing metal teeth. From his coat, he produced a sleek, curved device no longer than a wrist brace, coiled in insulated wiring. Its data signature shimmered faintly in Kael's vision. "EchoPulse Node. Syncs to ambient rhythm. Turns beat into bounce-back. You stand still, it sings the walls back to you. Makes the ghosts glow."
He held it out, the light casting slow pulses across Kael's fingers.
"Only works here, where the sound never stops. Everywhere else, it's just pretty metal."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "And what do you want for it?"
"Simple. I've got a courier that vanished three blocks from here carrying a memory cache I need returned. The Jackals got him, or he got stupid. Either way… if you find him and bring me the case? The mod is yours."
Kael's HUD chimed.
SIDE MISSION AVAILABLE
OBJECTIVE:Locate Trace's lost courier
REWARD: Submersion Chip – Temporary Full Signal Masking DANGER RATING: Moderate – Jackal Interference Likely ACCEPT? [Y/N]
Kael's eyes stayed on the mod, then flicked to the man's burned-out slugs, the worn coat, the scars peeking through the reflective mask. "I'll keep an eye out," he said flatly. Trace gave a slow, knowing nod—like he didn't expect a yes, only a maybe.
"Good. He answers to 'Lennix.' Had a blue tracer line burned into his scalp. Carried a gray case about the size of your fist. If he's dead, don't bother bringing anything else, just the case." Kael turned to leave.
"And hey…" Trace's voice followed him, low and oily. "If you decide you want to disappear for a while—come back. The Jackals might own the noise, but I own the silence."
Kael didn't reply. He pressed on as the crowd swallowed him again. Ahead, the lighting color changed along with the rhythm. It seemed to be more purposeful movement the further in he went, with fewer scavengers around. More people stood still. He pulled up his digital map and looked at the indicator resembling Dr. Marr. He was getting close now. His HUD pinged. Heat signatures were clustered three blocks ahead with an unusual formation. They were moving tactically, like a group of wolves hunting their next victim. He decided to take a higher path, climbing a narrow stairwell to an overpass, his boots soundless on the rusted mesh. Below him, he saw them. A six-man squad all in custom rigs. Some wore metallic jackal masks with LED-threaded armor, their weapons modded with aftermarket coils and shortwave signal disruptors. One carried a coil-spike launcher, another had a drone trailing on a silent tether. They were tracking someone.
Kael's HUD flickered again:
Unknown Vanguard-Class Agent Detected. Approximate location: One block west. Movement speed: Non-human. DO NOT ENGAGE.
The squad leader made a signal and the group fanned out. One scaled a wall using grip mods and planted an anti-matter shard mine. Then the world broke. From the west came a blur, silver and black. It was a humanoid figure wrapped in segmented armor, moving faster than the eye could track. One Jackal turned and shouted something just as a mirrored blade carved through him. Gunfire exploded. The coil-spike launcher fired and missed. The drone tried to deploy countermeasures, but its signal cut off with a screech as its owner's head snapped backward in silence, neural systems flash-frying on impact. Kael froze. His HUD went completely dark for half a second, like the system itself flinched. When it returned, only one Jackal was left. A knife embedded itself in the back of her neck just as she turned to run, thrown from over thirty meters away.
Kael dropped low behind a steel beam, half from fear, half from strategy. He was watching and calculating. The figure walked through the corpses without a sound. His armor shimmered in the flickering glow. It resembled black chrome with digitized lines trailing like afterimages. He paused and turned his head slightly in Kael's direction, but then continued walking, vanishing into the maze of alleys like he'd never been there. Kael's HUD slowly re-engaged.
"That was not a standard operative," the AI whispered. "Classification: Unknown. Threat Level: Unknown. Do not engage." Kael exhaled and moved on. There was still a mission to complete, but now… he knew there were levels to this. And he was at the bottom.
He descended the stairs with deliberate care, eyes scanning the aftermath. The blood hadn't dried yet. The kill zone was surgical, like an exhibit of failure; a message written in bodies. He stepped over the drone's still-spinning rotor, its optics cracked and flickering static. His HUD tagged potential salvage.
[PULSE MOD: Tactical Sight Rail – Blue Tier]
Status: Intact
Compatibility: Confirmed
"Enhances mid-range tracking. Pulse-pings targets behind low cover."
[ARMOR NODE: Reflex Sync Weave – Blue Tier]
Status: Usable
"Increases reaction time. Partial integration supported."
Kael knelt beside what was left of the Jackal squad leader. His weapon was scorched, fried at the core. But the sync weave was still embedded in the left arm plate, and faint blue lines glowed underneath. With practiced hands, Kael disconnected it and slid it into his inventory module. The pulse sight rail came next—light, modular, still humming.
"Authorization override accepted," the AI confirmed.
"Salvage retained. Uploading data to Sovereign archives."
"Behavioral note: Opportunistic efficiency."
Kael stood, gear stowed, the smell of ozone still in his nose.
The alley beyond was quiet again as if the agent had never existed, but he knew better. He adjusted the collar of his coat and disappeared back into the pulse of THE DEN, now a ghost carrying someone else's tech, with eyes on a target Sovereign wanted alive.
The building ahead loomed like a wound in the city. It was mid-rise, pre-Grid era, patched with modern tech but structurally forgotten. The lower floors glowed faintly with jackal tags and rotating symbols. Gang warnings were disguised as street art. One window flickered, revealing a silhouette pacing behind a green curtain of electric mesh. Kael stood across the street in the shadow of a flickering ad wall.
His AI whispered, "Target location verified. Mid-floor: Room 17A. Two armed guards outside the door. Infrared shows four additional heat signatures in adjacent hall."
"Mission Strategy Interface Online."
"Select Operation Style:"
[1] Stealth Infiltration – Low Profile]
Ingress via roof or service duct Eliminate guards with silence Extract target through maintenance exit Minimal resistance. High discretion.
[2] Direct Assault – Shock Entry]
Breach through side wall or front Flash disorientation + rapid force Extract target through cleared path High resistance. Quick resolution.
[3] Civilian Covert – Deception Entry]
Pose as lost courier / maintenance / buyer Gain proximity to guards Neutralize via close-range takedown Risk of discovery if deception fails. Medium resistance.
Kael stared across the street. One flick of his fingers inside the jacket and the AI would queue the plan. He muttered under his breath, "Let's see what works tonight." Kael's eyes flicked to the upper edge of the building where an old maintenance hatch clinging to the roofline like a forgotten scar. A faint trail of grime suggested it hadn't been used in years.
"Silent entry." He whispered.
The AI responded instantly. "Confirming stealth protocol. Entry route: Rooftop access → Vertical duct shaft → Sublevel bypass → Corridor 3B."
Recommend loadout: Suppressed Initiate-01. Tactical sight rail. Close-quarters fallback: Shock Blade."
Mission timer active. Surveillance dampeners engaged."
Kael moved quickly, crossing the street in one smooth motion and ducked into a side alley that reeked of burned coolant and iron rot. A service pipe ran up the spine of the building, old, but solid. He climbed swiftly, his boot clamps clicking silently on the rusted steel.
At the roof, he pried the hatch open with a servo-wedger—one of Rika's handbuilt tools—and slipped inside into darkness. Only the AI's soft lines guided him now. It traced the walls, mapping silence. He dropped into a ventilation shaft, crawled six meters forward, and dropped again into a corridor lined with peeling paint and static-warped security cameras.
Corridor 3B
He crouched near a corner just outside the glow of a malfunctioning ceiling lamp. Voices echoed from Room 17A. Two guards were talking, bored. His HUD tagged their positions. One stood too close to the doorframe. The other leaned on a stack of crates.
"Initiate silent elimination?" the AI asked.
Kael drew the Initiate-01, its matte finish absorbing light. He moved without sound. One step. Two. The first guard turned just enough to glimpse a shadow—
Thffk.
A suppressed shot cracked through his skull. The second turned, hand reaching for his weapon, but Kael was already there. The butt of the pistol struck hard beneath the chin. As the body fell, he pressed the shock blade into the base of the neck—silent seizure. No alarms. No movement from inside the room.
"Threats neutralized. Interior thermal scan confirms target inside, restrained. No immediate combatants nearby. Ready when you are, Agent Strade."
Kael exhaled once, then approached the door, tapping his temple once. The AI synced the pulse mod with his HUD.
"Activating Tactical Sight Rail."
"Scanning adjacent chamber…"
His vision shimmered and the walls turned translucent, edges pulsing in soft light. The interior unfolded like a tactical diagram:
The woman in the chair: vitals stable, elevated heart rate, minor cranial trauma. Two guards, confirmed positions, both armed with modded submachine coils. The seated figure: leaned slightly forward. His right hand twitched once—a nervous tic or a trigger habit. Hidden armor nodes under his coat. No firearm visible… but something long and bladed at his back.
Kael's breath slowed. The room was tight, so precision was critical.
"Recommend: Rear vent infiltration. Eliminate the seated target then neutralize the guards in sequence. Extract with speed. Pulse mod synced to engagement overlay.
Tactical advantage: yours."
That was all he needed to hear. Kael slid toward the rear access panel, moving like he'd trained for this a thousand times.
He scaled the corridor's side shelf and popped the rear vent open with a silent twist. The AI compensated with micro-vibration dampeners, syncing each motion with ambient noise from the sector's distant pulse beats. He dropped three meters into the room in a vertical descent, Landing in a crouch behind the observer; the one in the corner. For a half-second, the man flinched, as if something primal in him sensed death. Kael didn't hesitate. His shock blade drove clean into the base of the skull, severing the spine and shorting out whatever implant sparked beneath. The man's eyes widened, then dimmed.
The guards turned—one was already reaching for his coil weapon.
Thfft. Thfft.
Two suppressed headshots from the Initiate01. Both dropped before their weapons cleared the shelf. Silence reclaimed the room. Kael stepped past the fallen and moved to the woman. He brushed her short hair aside, examining her bruised temple. She sat restrained in a neural sync chair.
"Vitals stable," the AI confirmed. "Neural siphon charge incomplete. Identity tag matched—Marr Vesari. Level 3 blacklisted tech operative. Sovereign priority asset."
Kael disabled the siphon and cut her restraints as she stirred with unfocused eyes.
"Are you… with them?"
"No," Kael said flatly. "I'm your way out."
"Extraction path ready," the AI said. "Elevator 6A, service shaft. Minimal hostiles en route."
Kael helped her up, sliding her weight under his shoulder. He didn't look back at the corpses.
The building's bones groaned as Kael led Marr down a narrow utility stairwell. The scent of old circuitry and mold were thick in the air.
"Route clear," the AI whispered.
"Elevator shaft ahead. 100 meters down to retrieval point."
Marr moved better than expected. She was still dazed, but functional. She winced with every step, her left leg dragging slightly. Whatever the Jackals had done to her, it hadn't broken her completely. They reached the elevator housing And Kael jammed a crowbar-like servo wedge between the doors to pry them open. Inside, the platform waited, grimy but still operational. A maintenance panel buzzed to life as he stepped in and slammed the button for sub-level.
"EMP suppressor activated," the AI noted. All scans deflected. We're shadows again." The lift dropped with a soft vibration.
When the doors hissed open, they emerged into a narrow alley glowing faintly blue from chemical runoff leaking from nearby neon sign rigs. Trashbots blinked and rolled away as Kael stepped forward with Marr at his side.
His HUD pinged.
"Vehicle inbound. Drone-blocked corporate lane. Identity masked as Red Jackal med-unit."
A sleek, matte-gray car—low to the ground and unmarked—rolled to a quiet stop.
The doors opened and he helped Marr inside. She slumped into the seat, eyes half-shut but alert. The door hissed shut behind her, the engine idling low.