The fire still hadn't stopped burning.
From his perch on a half-collapsed apartment rooftop, Kai watched the dark column of smoke curl into the rust-orange sky.
The explosion from the Dead Zone had torn half the sector's power grid apart.
Drones buzzed overhead, their red eyes sweeping across the ruins, searching for survivors or bodies.
Down below, the scavengers had already begun to move.
They always did.
He leaned back against the rusted frame of a rooftop vent and pressed a hand to his ribs.
The pain throbbed with every breath, deep and constant, like a heartbeat that wasn't his.
His system had told him earlier that his ribs were cracked and that he needed food — real food. Kai let out a weak laugh.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Because steak and vitamins grow on trash heaps."
Still, it was comforting in a strange way. The system's cold, synthetic voice meant he was still alive.
Alive when he shouldn't be.
The faint markings on his arms glowed under the grime — thin blue lines that pulsed faintly, like veins filled with starlight.
When he focused on them, they shifted, crawling slightly beneath his skin.
Shadow Hunter. Null-Walker. Monster killer.
He didn't know which title fit anymore.
Below, the slums moved on as if nothing had happened.
Vendors shouted beneath flickering lamps, their stalls tilted and leaning against one another like tired skeletons.
The smell of fried grease mixed with rust and old rain. Children darted between crowds, fingers quick and practiced as they stole ration chips.
Kai's stomach growled.
"Guess that's a sign," he muttered, pushing himself up.
The Rust Rat was louder inside than out.
Broken speakers blared music that was at least two decades old.
A haze of smoke hung low under the cracked ceiling, glowing green under the flicker of holo-lanterns.
Kai kept his hood low as he slipped into a shadowed booth in the back.
He traded a scrap chip for a bowl of steaming broth. It tasted like salt and chemicals, but it was warm. That was enough.
He watched the crowd. Same tired faces, same hollow eyes.
But then he saw him — a man sitting too still in the far corner. Clean jacket. Polished boots. No one in this district wore clothes that clean unless they didn't plan to stay long.
The man's fingers tapped lightly on the table in a steady rhythm. A code pattern. Enforcer training habit.
Kai's chest tightened.
He dropped his gaze, finished the broth in silence, and left through the back door.
The alley behind the bar was slick with oil and shadow.
The air buzzed faintly — energy discharge from the damaged grid. Kai's head throbbed, the markings on his arm flickering to life again. The shadows seemed thicker here, almost breathing with him.
He didn't like it.
Not what it meant.
Not what he was becoming.
A faint rustle came from behind a dumpster.
He froze.
The sound came again — cautious footsteps, light, almost too light.
When the figure stepped into view, Kai's breath caught.
"Lia…"
She froze too. Small, thin, soot on her face, hair tied back with a frayed ribbon. Her hands shook as she pointed a knife at him.
"Don't move," she said. "Who are you?"
"It's me." His voice was soft, disbelieving.
Her eyes narrowed. "No… I saw you die."
Kai pulled back his hood. The dim light from the alley revealed his face — thinner, sharper, but still him.
The knife clattered from her hands.
"Kai?"
He nodded once.
She ran into his arms before either of them could think. He caught her, holding tight, feeling the tremble in her body.
"I told you to run," he whispered.
"I did," she said, voice breaking. "But there's nowhere left to go."
They found a dry corner in the basement of a collapsed building.
Kai lit a small lamp. The orange glow spread across cracked walls and broken pipes.
Lia sat wrapped in a torn blanket, knees pulled close, shivering even without the cold.
She looked like she hadn't eaten properly in days.
"What happened after that night?" he asked quietly.
She hesitated, then began to speak.
After Kai's death, the Fangs took over the lower sectors. They ruled through fear. Those who resisted were dragged to a place they called the Pit. No one ever came back.
Rumors said the Pit was where the "aberrations" came from — twisted things that used to be people.
"The Fangs call them sacrifices now," she whispered. "They think the Pit gives them power."
Kai's jaw tightened.
"What about Goro's crew?"
"Gone. Something killed them last night. They said it wasn't human."
Kai stayed silent for a long time. He didn't have to ask who they thought it was.
Hours passed before Lia fell asleep.
Kai sat against the wall, watching the flame from the lamp flicker and fade.
He could feel something pulling at him again. The shadows around him seemed to hum, like a current passing through the air. His vision dimmed as his breathing slowed.
And then, everything went quiet.
Darkness stretched in every direction.
He stood in the middle of it, surrounded by veins of blue light that pulsed slowly like a heartbeat. His reflection stared back at him — the human half fading, the other shifting, darker, alive.
A faint whisper reached him, neither human nor machine.
Welcome, Kai.
He turned slowly, but there was nothing there. Only light and shadow.
You've reached the first synchronization threshold.
His pulse quickened. "Who's there?"
Do you wish to access the Nexus?
"Nexus?" His voice echoed. "What is that?"
The place between systems. The graveyard of forgotten hunters.
The air rippled. He saw faint shapes — silhouettes flickering like dying stars, all marked by strange glowing symbols.
And then he heard them whisper.
"Another one."
"He's early."
"He doesn't even know what he carries."
The lights vanished. The world fell away.
Kai gasped awake.
The lamp had gone out. The basement was cold.
Lia was still asleep beside him.
He looked down — and froze.
On the concrete floor near his hand, a symbol had been burned into the surface. A circle of chains surrounding a black sun.
He stared at it for a long time, heartbeat pounding in his ears.
He didn't know what it meant. But deep down, he understood the message.
Someone — or something — had marked him.
And it was watching.
Far above the slums, past the fog and broken towers, a control screen flickered to life.
Data streamed across the surface.
"Null-Walker synchronization detected," a voice droned.
"Subject: Kai. Observation level raised to Tier Alpha."
"Deploy Seeker-Class Enforcer."
Kai sat in silence, the faint pulse of the mark burning under his skin.
He exhaled slowly, eyes dark and steady.
"They know I'm alive."