The magnetic elevator screeched to a halt beneath an abandoned subway terminal outside Edinburgh. Anderson and Agent V emerged into the silence of dust-covered rails and shattered tiles. The lab was gone—buried—but the knowledge it held now burned in Anderson's mind like a second heartbeat.Agent V scanned the area with a compact drone. "We've got twenty minutes at most. They're triangulating."
Anderson looked at her. "You had a chance to kill me. Why didn't you?"
"Because I saw what Dr. Z built. And because I don't trust the people I work for anymore." Her voice carried the edge of someone who had seen too many lies behind polished glass. "You're not a threat, Anderson. You're a question."
A quiet ping came from her wrist device. "They're broadcasting a global alert. You're not just wanted anymore. You're considered a class-A bioweapon."
Anderson's pulse spiked. "Then I need to disappear Again.Agent V nodded And you'll need help to do that."
She activated a secure call channel and spoke a single word: "Ferryman."
Ten minutes later, an armored hover cycle descended from the ceiling track, piloted by a wiry man with copper eyes and a cybernetic arm. "Ferryman" was a ghost in hacker legend—one of the last untracked technoman.He looked Anderson up and down. You're Z bloodline Didn't think it'd be you."
"Can you get me out?" Anderson asked.
"Out? No." Ferryman smirked. "But I can take you deeper in. There's a place called The Fracture. Off-grid. No satellites. Only rebels, exiles, and old secrets. You'll find allies there—or enemies worse than the ones chasing you."
Anderson looked to Agent V who gave a slight nod. It's your choice. But whatever Dr. Z encoded in you… it's waking up."
He climbed aboard the hover cycle, Agent V behind him. Ferryman adjusted his visor. "Hold tight. We're going below the map."
The engine roared to life, and they vanished into a hidden tunnel that curved away from the world.
Above them, satellites locked on. Corporations readied their drones. And in the deepest labs of the elite, scientists began recreating something terrible… from a single stolen drop of Anderson blood.
The tunnel stretched for miles beneath Scotland's forgotten ruins. Ferryman guided the hover cycle through magnetic rifts and collapsed architecture like he was navigating a memory. Anderson watched the world change around him—no lights, no signals, no sounds but the hum of their engine and the beating of his heart.
Hours later, the path opened into a vast underground canyon pulsing with bioluminescent veins of energy. Crumbling remnants of old-world cities jutted from cavern walls like the bones of a buried giant. At the center, suspended between iron pillars and cables, was a city of light and shadow: The Fracture.
It was unlike anything Anderson had ever seen—part resistance camp, part data haven, part dream. Buildings made from scavenged tech and ancient stone. A marketplace alive with every kind of exile: rogue AI, gene-modified monks, synthetic children, and human outcasts with burning eyes and cybernetic limbs.
"This is it," Ferryman said, cutting the engine. "Safe from satellites. Invisible to governments. But not without rules."
They passed through the gates under the watchful gaze of a dozen sentries. At the central node a glowing obelisk known as The Spine they met the council.
An elder woman in a neural robe stepped forward. "I am Elira," she said. "Keeper of Memory. You've brought us the heir."
Anderson felt the weight of eyes—dozens, hundreds—fixed on him. For the first time, he understood: the underground knew who he was. Some revered him. Others feared what he might become.
Elira gestured toward a spire marked with Z insignia. "Your great-grandfather visited us long ago. He gave us part of his consciousness. What he left behind… is meant only for you."
Inside the spire, Anderson found a chamber lit by threads of energy. A single chair sat at the center. When he touched it, the ring on his finger activated, and light engulfed him.
Suddenly, he stood in a dreamscape—a neural construct of Dr. Z mind. The scientist's voice echoed all around.
"Welcome, Anderson. This is the seed of who I was. You must decide what to do with it. Share the formula and risk chaos. Hide it and risk extinction. Or evolve it—make it something the world has never seen."
Back in reality, Agent V stood guard as agents from the surface breached outer sectors of The Fracture. Explosions thundered.
Anderson opened his eyes, breathless. "They're coming."
Elira placed her hand on his shoulder. "Then we must awaken The Fracture's defenses. And you must choose who you are meant to be."
Blood and Code
Sirens wailed deep within The Fracture. Red pulses swept across the ceiling like falling embers. Anderson stood at the threshold of the spire, the echo of Dr. Z voice still fading in his mind. Around him, the underground city braced for war.
Agent V emerged from the upper ramp, her face grim. Surface agents breached Sector West. They're moving fast. Whoever leads them knows this place."
Anderson clenched his fists. "Then it's not just a raid. They're after the seed."
He turned to Elira, who activated The Spine. It extended cables like tendrils, interfacing with her neural implant. "The defenses were built for this. But The Fracture has not seen open war in decades. We'll need more than guns."
From behind them, Ferryman rolled out a portable console. "Then let's fight with what we've got—data, deception, and a virus."
He pulled up a file labeled Z-Vault Protocol. "Your blood, Anderson—it carries a signature code. A failsafe. Dr. Z embedded a recursive lock into your DNA. We can use it to override every biotech weapon developed from the stolen sample."
Anderson blinked. "You're saying I can shut them down?"
Ferryman smirked. "If we inject the code into the enemy's network. But you'll have to reach the uplink tower. And it's crawling with their elite unit."
Before Anderson could answer, an explosion rocked the eastern gate. Dust fell from the ceiling. Lights flickered.Agent V drew her weapon. "We're out of time."
Anderson grabbed the vial and Ferryman injector disk. "Guide me to the tower. I'll do it."
They sprinted through underground corridors lit by emergency strobes. Gunfire echoed behind them. Rebels and agents clashed in brutal silence.
At the base of the uplink spire, Anderson climbed a ladder as drones fired from above. Agent V returned fire, covering him with precise bursts.
Reaching the terminal, he slotted the injector. His blood, encoded with Dr. Z lock, flowed into the network.
For a moment—nothing.
Then the enemy drones froze mid-air. Biotech soldiers collapsed. Across the battlefield, implants sparked and shut down.
The invaders were paralyzed.
Anderson slumped beside the terminal, gasping. Below, The Fracture roared with a victory that felt too sudden.
Ferryman voice buzzed over comms. "That was only phase one. Whoever's funding these agents—they'll send something worse next."
Anderson looked at the vial—still half full.
He whispered, "Then I'll be ready."