The warehouse hadn't changed since they left it.
Cold. Silent. Waiting.
Elias Kane swept the beam of his flashlight over the cracked floorboards and rust-stained walls of the Dockside Relay. Dizzy followed behind, fidgeting with the strap of his hoodie and glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
"You sure nobody's squatting here?" Dizzy whispered.
Elias didn't answer. His eyes locked on the relay panel embedded in the center console — an old industrial terminal retrofitted with data ports, cracked screens, and loose wires. The place stank of sea rot and machine oil. This was no ordinary node.
It was a listening post.
And now, it was his.
[System Message: Dockside Relay Node Claimed – Status: Stable]
[Resource Generated: +1 Intel Packet per 24hr Cycle (Unclaimed)]
[Warning: Signal Interference Detected – Potential Trace Risk]
[Quest Update: Shadow Infrastructure – 1/3 Node Control Complete]
******
Elias exhaled and stepped forward.
His fingers brushed over the metal panel and the screen flared to life, flickering with green-tinted code and static distortion. Then:
[System Branch Interface Unlocked – RogueNet]
Branch Menu:
– Black Market Communications
– Encrypted Intel Exchange
– Data Broker Network (LOCKED)
– Deep Node Configuration (LOCKED)
Each menu pulsed like a heartbeat, tempting and dangerous.
"You're gonna fry your brain if you stare at that thing too long," Dizzy muttered.
Elias didn't look up. "This isn't just a radio. This thing's wired into whatever network the system feeds off."
"You mean like… other people using it?"
He nodded. "Or whoever built it."
Dizzy shivered. "Yeah, well, congrats. You own a creepy techno ghost box."
Elias navigated to the Intel Exchange tab. The screen split into two panes — one listing local factions, the other showing blacked-out data files.
[Available Intel Trades – Tier 0 Access]
– Scavenger Patrol Routes (1 Intel Packet)
– Syndicate Gun Locker Location (2 Intel Packets)
– Crimson Fang Leader Profile (3 Intel Packets)
None of them could be claimed yet — he hadn't accumulated any packets. But the potential was clear: control the flow of information, control the game board.
And the board was about to shift.
******
Back at the safehouse, Elias laid out the plan.
The map overlay on his HUD displayed the Redline Sector and Vire Alley, but now a glowing circuit traced a line from the Dockside Relay to two other potential nodes — one under an old telecom tower in East Blackridge, and another inside a condemned subway control room.
"The telecom tower's probably guarded," Elias said. "The subway station might be empty, but if it's tied to transit routes, it could be crawling with Fang runners."
Dizzy scratched his chin. "You think we can even hold three of these things?"
"If we can't, we shouldn't be playing this game."
A beat passed in silence before Dizzy nodded. "Alright. What's the play?"
"We go after the subway node first. Less visibility. Lower profile. I'll go in solo — I need you to check in on that gun locker we spotted near Scavenger territory."
Dizzy raised a brow. "Alone? You sure?"
Elias nodded. "I don't trust anyone else to get near the node without drawing heat. You handle the logistics."
It wasn't just about control anymore.
He was building a system inside a system. One node at a time.
******
The subway terminal reeked of mildew and burnt plastic.
Elias moved through the darkness with practiced steps, ducking beneath torn caution tape and shattered turnstiles. The deeper he went, the stronger the hum of power beneath his boots — faint electromagnetic pulses, syncing with his system HUD like whispers through static.
Then he saw it: the node access point.
A rusted maintenance terminal mounted to the wall, half-buried behind a fallen sign. He knelt, brushed away the debris, and tapped the screen.
[System Node Detected – Subway Control Hub]
Claim Node? [Y/N]
Cost: 5 CP
He confirmed it.
[5 CP Deducted – Remaining: 20]
[Node Claimed – Shadow Infrastructure Progress: 2/3]
[New Feature Unlocked: Ghost Line Pings – Reveals Recent Transit Movements & Heat Zones]
A minimap flickered to life, showing red-tinted motion trails along the subway tunnels — signs of gang activity, scavenger patrols, and maybe worse. But the moment he linked the node to the relay back at Dockside, the system chimed again.
[Message Received – Origin: Unknown Black Signal]
It was a fragment. A recording — distorted, guttural, and barely human:
"…you're not the only one… system's watching… cut the relay or it cuts you—"
Then silence.
Elias's breath caught.
The system wasn't just a tool.
It was a weapon — and it might not be his alone.
******
Back topside, Dizzy was already waiting near the lot where they'd stashed the stolen bikes. He was breathing hard and bleeding from a cut on his eyebrow.
"You good?" Elias asked.
"Gun locker was a setup. Fang boys jumped me near the corner store — but I got out. They're moving hardware, though. Lots of it. Saw crates with Syndicate logos, too."
Elias processed that. "Fangs are working with Syndicate now?"
"Looks like it. Which means your little relay game might've just pissed off two bosses instead of one."
He opened his inventory.
[Available CP: 20]
He bought one thing:
– [Random Skill Boost Lv.1] – 15 CP
[Purchase Confirmed – Skill Unlocked: Field Technician I (Passive)]
+10% effectiveness to Node Repairs, Traps, and Surveillance
It wasn't flashy.
But it made him better at holding what he took. And right now, control was survival.
[Remaining CP: 10]
The moment the skill integrated, the screen shifted again.
[System Alert: Shadow Infrastructure Milestone In Range]
One Node Remaining. Unlocking Final Tier Grants RogueNet Sovereignty.
Benefits: Encrypted Messaging | Black Contracts | Signal Masking | Data Drain (PvP Mode Enabled)
That last part sent a chill down his spine.
PvP?
Was this just a game after all?
Or was the city — and everyone in it — part of something bigger?
******
Night fell hard over Blackridge.
Elias and Dizzy sat on the rooftop of the safehouse, looking out over the flickering skyline. Gunshots echoed in the distance. Sirens, too. And beneath it all, the silent pulse of systems and signals no one else could see.
"What happens if we win?" Dizzy asked quietly.
Elias didn't answer at first.
Then: "We change the rules."
"Big dream for two dudes in a roach motel."
"Dreams don't matter," Elias said. "Power does."
And now, he had a map to it.
And the will to take it — node by node, block by block, until the city knelt or burned.
————————
The warehouse hadn't changed since they left it.
Cold. Silent. Waiting.
Elias Kane swept the beam of his flashlight over the cracked floorboards and rust-stained walls of the Dockside Relay. Dizzy followed behind, fidgeting with the strap of his hoodie and glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
"You sure nobody's squatting here?" Dizzy whispered.
Elias didn't answer. His eyes locked on the relay panel embedded in the center console — an old industrial terminal retrofitted with data ports, cracked screens, and loose wires. The place stank of sea rot and machine oil. This was no ordinary node.
It was a listening post.
And now, it was his.
[System Message: Dockside Relay Node Claimed – Status: Stable]
[Resource Generated: +1 Intel Packet per 24hr Cycle (Unclaimed)]
[Warning: Signal Interference Detected – Potential Trace Risk]
[Quest Update: Shadow Infrastructure – 1/3 Node Control Complete]
******
Elias exhaled and stepped forward.
His fingers brushed over the metal panel and the screen flared to life, flickering with green-tinted code and static distortion. Then:
[System Branch Interface Unlocked – RogueNet]
Branch Menu:
– Black Market Communications
– Encrypted Intel Exchange
– Data Broker Network (LOCKED)
– Deep Node Configuration (LOCKED)
Each menu pulsed like a heartbeat, tempting and dangerous.
"You're gonna fry your brain if you stare at that thing too long," Dizzy muttered.
Elias didn't look up. "This isn't just a radio. This thing's wired into whatever network the system feeds off."
"You mean like… other people using it?"
He nodded. "Or whoever built it."
Dizzy shivered. "Yeah, well, congrats. You own a creepy techno ghost box."
Elias navigated to the Intel Exchange tab. The screen split into two panes — one listing local factions, the other showing blacked-out data files.
[Available Intel Trades – Tier 0 Access]
– Scavenger Patrol Routes (1 Intel Packet)
– Syndicate Gun Locker Location (2 Intel Packets)
– Crimson Fang Leader Profile (3 Intel Packets)
None of them could be claimed yet — he hadn't accumulated any packets. But the potential was clear: control the flow of information, control the game board.
And the board was about to shift.
******
Back at the safehouse, Elias laid out the plan.
The map overlay on his HUD displayed the Redline Sector and Vire Alley, but now a glowing circuit traced a line from the Dockside Relay to two other potential nodes — one under an old telecom tower in East Blackridge, and another inside a condemned subway control room.
"The telecom tower's probably guarded," Elias said. "The subway station might be empty, but if it's tied to transit routes, it could be crawling with Fang runners."
Dizzy scratched his chin. "You think we can even hold three of these things?"
"If we can't, we shouldn't be playing this game."
A beat passed in silence before Dizzy nodded. "Alright. What's the play?"
"We go after the subway node first. Less visibility. Lower profile. I'll go in solo — I need you to check in on that gun locker we spotted near Scavenger territory."
Dizzy raised a brow. "Alone? You sure?"
Elias nodded. "I don't trust anyone else to get near the node without drawing heat. You handle the logistics."
It wasn't just about control anymore.
He was building a system inside a system. One node at a time.
******
The subway terminal reeked of mildew and burnt plastic.
Elias moved through the darkness with practiced steps, ducking beneath torn caution tape and shattered turnstiles. The deeper he went, the stronger the hum of power beneath his boots — faint electromagnetic pulses, syncing with his system HUD like whispers through static.
Then he saw it: the node access point.
A rusted maintenance terminal mounted to the wall, half-buried behind a fallen sign. He knelt, brushed away the debris, and tapped the screen.
[System Node Detected – Subway Control Hub]
Claim Node? [Y/N]
Cost: 5 CP
He confirmed it.
[5 CP Deducted – Remaining: 20]
[Node Claimed – Shadow Infrastructure Progress: 2/3]
[New Feature Unlocked: Ghost Line Pings – Reveals Recent Transit Movements & Heat Zones]
A minimap flickered to life, showing red-tinted motion trails along the subway tunnels — signs of gang activity, scavenger patrols, and maybe worse. But the moment he linked the node to the relay back at Dockside, the system chimed again.
[Message Received – Origin: Unknown Black Signal]
It was a fragment. A recording — distorted, guttural, and barely human:
"…you're not the only one… system's watching… cut the relay or it cuts you—"
Then silence.
Elias's breath caught.
The system wasn't just a tool.
It was a weapon — and it might not be his alone.
******
Back topside, Dizzy was already waiting near the lot where they'd stashed the stolen bikes. He was breathing hard and bleeding from a cut on his eyebrow.
"You good?" Elias asked.
"Gun locker was a setup. Fang boys jumped me near the corner store — but I got out. They're moving hardware, though. Lots of it. Saw crates with Syndicate logos, too."
Elias processed that. "Fangs are working with Syndicate now?"
"Looks like it. Which means your little relay game might've just pissed off two bosses instead of one."
He opened his inventory.
[Available CP: 20]
He bought one thing:
– [Random Skill Boost Lv.1] – 15 CP
[Purchase Confirmed – Skill Unlocked: Field Technician I (Passive)]
+10% effectiveness to Node Repairs, Traps, and Surveillance
It wasn't flashy.
But it made him better at holding what he took. And right now, control was survival.
[Remaining CP: 10]
The moment the skill integrated, the screen shifted again.
[System Alert: Shadow Infrastructure Milestone In Range]
One Node Remaining. Unlocking Final Tier Grants RogueNet Sovereignty.
Benefits: Encrypted Messaging | Black Contracts | Signal Masking | Data Drain (PvP Mode Enabled)
That last part sent a chill down his spine.
PvP?
Was this just a game after all?
Or was the city — and everyone in it — part of something bigger?
******
Night fell hard over Blackridge.
Elias and Dizzy sat on the rooftop of the safehouse, looking out over the flickering skyline. Gunshots echoed in the distance. Sirens, too. And beneath it all, the silent pulse of systems and signals no one else could see.
"What happens if we win?" Dizzy asked quietly.
Elias didn't answer at first.
Then: "We change the rules."
"Big dream for two dudes in a roach motel."
"Dreams don't matter," Elias said. "Power does."
And now, he had a map to it.
And the will to take it — node by node, block by block, until the city knelt or burned.