Paris – Two Days Later – Midnight
Rain traced down the windows of a rusted AV, its sleek edges long since dulled by time and disuse. The skies above Paris had always been heavy, but tonight they weighed more than clouds, they carried war.
Inside the dimly lit cabin, Solomon Reed grunted as the AV descended below radar altitude. Across from him, M sat silent, dressed in black as usual, hands resting on a sleek duffel bag that looked suspiciously like it could start a coup.
"Can't believe we're smuggling ourselves into Paris using fake IDs from a Militech rat," Reed muttered, adjusting the zipper on his jacket. "You realize this guy sold me out in Bangkok once?"
M didn't look up. "Then it's only fair you return the favor. Make a call and rat him out"
The AV rocked slightly as they passed under a stone bridge, skimming over the Seine. The river's reflection bent around them like oil-slicked glass.
Reed watched the flickering lights of the city approach through the viewport. "So, this Skylight team... you trust them?"
"No."
"Wonderful. That's comforting."
"I trust her," M added, eyes locked on the skyline. "And I am scared of meeting her."
Reed raised an eyebrow but didn't press. Not yet.
The AV finally touched down on a hidden rooftop helipad across from the crumbling façade of an old Parisian theater, now just another cover in a city full of secrets.
A contact was waiting. Young, slick, with a cigarette in his mouth and mirrored lenses hiding his eyes.
"Bienvenue à Paris," the man said, accent sharp. "Names?"
"Jean-Luc Picard," Reed said dryly, flashing a fake ID.
M didn't bother. He simply walked past him.
The man didn't stop him.
Lower Catacombs – Safehouse Skylight – 2:12 A.M. ...
The walls were lined with old servers, cooling tubes snaking like ivy down cracked masonry. Ancient catacomb bones lay respectfully untouched behind glass partitions, as if history itself was watching them.
It smelled of damp stone, old cables, and ozone.
Two figures stood near the main console, one with a holopad, the other reclining with feet on a server cabinet, humming some unrecognizable tune.
"Aurore", M said.
The reclining figure froze.
Aurore turned slowly, a subtle flicker of disbelief flashing through her green eyes before ice snapped back in place. Her red hair was darker now, her posture looser, but the fire behind her gaze hadn't dimmed. If anything, it had sharpened.
"You have the gall to show up here? You bastard" she said, arms crossing.
M stepped forward but didn't break stride. "I need your help."
"Oh, you need my help? That's rich," she snapped. "I needed you five years ago. Where were you then?"
"Saving a war from having a winner."
"Charming," she said flatly. "You disappeared. Again."
Flashback – Paris, Seven Years Ago – Rooftop of Rue Lafayette ...
"It's gonna rain," Aurore whispered, legs dangling off the ledge of their rooftop apartment.
M stood beside her, arms folded, eyes on the empty skyline where distant thunder pulsed like cannon fire.
"Then we stay in," he said. "You cook, I read. Simple."
She turned, eyebrow raised. "I don't cook, and you don't read."
He grunted. "That is beside the point."
She leaned into him, head on his shoulder. "I know you'll leave me. Eventually."
M said nothing.
"Just… when you do," she continued, "don't pretend it's for my sake."
He looked down at her. "I won't."
And in that brief silence between lightning and rain, they sat in the calm before a storm that would burn the world.
"I had to."
"You always 'had to'. "
End of flashback ...
Reed whispered in an audible voice, "This is better than those drama BDs, do you by any chance have popcorn?"
"Shut up," both M and Aurore said at once.
A third figure emerged behind the console, tall, wiry, sharp as a scalpel and twice as smug.
"Moriarty," he said with theatrical flair. "You're even taller than I remember. Were you always this… chiseled?"
"Aymeric," M said flatly.
Aymeric winked, brushing a lock of dyed red hair behind his ear. "Solomon Reed, I presume?"
Reed nodded.
"You are much more handsome in person. I expected a meat wall. Instead, I get rugged. I like rugged."
Reed blinked. "Uh…"
"He's harmless," Aurore muttered. "Unless he's drinking."
Aymeric gave a mock gasp. "I'm offended."
"We don't have time for flirting," M cut in. "You know why I'm here."
Aurore folded her arms again, then sighed. "Yes. We've seen it. Something is in our systems. Too clean, too adaptive. It's not just an algorithm, it's thinking."
Aymeric flicked the console, and a dozen city schematics opened up on holographic panels. "We traced anomalies across the municipal grid. Power fluxes, subroutine rewrites, even light rail delays. It's getting smarter."
"Paris is a testbed," Aurore said. "If it takes full control here, it'll breach the Blackwall via EuroNet. There's nothing in place strong enough to stop it."
"Blackwall has limits," Reed said. "Physical space. Entry nodes."
"It doesn't need to breach," Aurore replied. "It's already inside. Dripping code. Slow corrosion. When it reaches saturation... it triggers the failsafe."
Reed frowned. "Failsafe?"
Aymeric pointed at a schematic of the metro network. "Citywide cyberpsychosis outbreak. Hijacked citizen neuralware, custom-built malware. Turn the people into puppets, soldiers, bombs."
M stepped closer, jaw tight. "Where's the signal origin?"
"Somewhere in the city. We're triangulating, but it's a moving target. It hides by jumping control nodes, public infrastructure, banks, elevators, even coffee machines."
"Of course," Reed muttered. "The AI's first kill will be an espresso machine."
Aymeric chuckled. "Oh, I do like you."
Aurore cut the mood with a sharp voice. "Earlier today, an entire metro station lost contact. Dozens of people are down. Internal logs say they all suffered spontaneous neuro-spikes."
Reed's voice dropped. "It's testing how far it can reach."
M turned to her. "Take us there."
Aurore stared at M his disappearance seemed like it happened yesterday.
Flashback – Aurore's Apartment – The Morning He Left ....
The bed was cold when she woke up.
M was already gone.
On the kitchen counter, next to a bowl of cold cereal he never ate, sat a note. Folded neatly. Written in his clean, mechanical hand.
_"I have to go, I need to do something. The situation in the states is getting worse by the minute. It is my chance to get in but I can't take you, my love. It is too dangerous.
I never lied, at least not about what I felt.
But if I'm gone long enough… maybe you'll stop waiting.
I hope you don't.
I love you."_
No signature. No goodbye.
Just truth, wrapped in cruelty.
She burned the letter. But not the memory.
end of flashback ...
"Sure" Aurore replied through gritted teeth.
Paris Metro Ruins – 4:00 A.M. ...
Rain still fell, harder now.
The once-busy Saint-Lazare metro entrance was cordoned off, its neon signage flickering like a dying firefly.
M walked the perimeter, Eye of Delphi active. Crimson fractals spun in his irises as he scanned the scene.
Blood. Spinal scorches. No gunfire. No struggle.
"Neural detonations," he muttered. "Internal. Fast."
Aymeric tapped into the station's dead camera feed, a crude recording flickering alive.
People collapsing. Eyes wide. Screaming.
One man convulsed violently… then stood again, twitching.
Until his head exploded.
M's face didn't change.
"I've seen worse," Reed said, trying to lighten the mood. "Though not by much."
"EMP protocols failed," M said. "The AI adapted."
"They were just testing," Aurore added. "Next time, it won't be a station."
It was then that Reed's comm pinged.
A scrambled data packet.
Encrypted with an old Arasaka war cipher.
He opened it slowly.
"Coordinates," he said, eyes narrowing. "Looks like one of the rogue scientists finally grew a conscience."
"A trap, maybe?" Aymeric shot back.
M looked at Aurore.
"I'm going. You in?"
Aurore hesitated for just a second too long.
Then nodded.
"Skylight rides again."
Aymeric grinned, loading a pistol far too big for his wrists. "Finally."
Reed rolled his eyes. "Great. A flirty hacker and his emotionally damaged sister. This is gonna be fun."
M didn't smile.
But he did look up at the storm-clouded Paris sky.
The Lion had landed.
And the shadows in the City of Light were about to learn what darkness really looked like.
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Author here,
I was high on drugs when I wrote this act. I hope the characters don't feel too unnatural.
Do tell me what you think. any advice will be appreciated.
this chapter is for the new review we just got, keep at it guys.