Sector 7A – Encrypted Courier Dropzone – 11:45 PM
It had rained earlier, leaving puddles that shimmered under the white streetlight like spilled mercury. Auron stood under the metal awning of an abandoned postal depot, clutching the red-stamped data drive.
ORIGIN — that single word still burned in his mind.
He glanced at the decrypted files.
Every line. Every corrupted image. Every surveillance reel told the same truth:
The system wasn't born from accident or genius.
It was a weaponized experiment conducted decades ago by a deep-state branch of the Nexora Federal Council—Project Seedline. Only 37 test subjects survived exposure to the unstable algorithm, and only six were chosen for deployment.
They were called: The First Generation.
Lucien Kael had been one of them.
So was Auron's father.
VaultPod – Sub-Level Archives, 1:12 AM
"I checked," Kara said, her voice low. "No birth certificate for your dad before the year 29. No records of any Auron Riven in the school logs either until you showed up four years ago."
Auron didn't respond.
He just stared at the document projected in front of him—an old file, half-corrupted:
Subject 009: Elan Riven Status: Terminated Notes: Genetic adaptation unstable. Son extracted, monitored remotely. Classification: Dormant Carrier.
"I wasn't supposed to activate," Auron muttered.
"What made you?"
He remembered the day clearly—when Riva collapsed in the slums, when no doctor would take them because they were 'class-damaged', and when he screamed in that alley for something, anything, to save her.
And it came.
Like a light inside his skull.
Downtown Nexora – Next Day
With Kara, Auron drove to the HighSec housing agency. Not undercover. Not masked. Today, they were legitimate citizens. Kara wore a business coat. Auron held fake but flawless credentials for Kale Riven — heir to one of Nexora's 'new rich' data mining companies.
"Sir, we've shortlisted three options," the broker said.
"Only interested in detached builds," Auron replied, bored. "Nothing below 2000 square meters. I need quiet zones. EMP compliant walls. And private power cores."
They were shown a model house in Emerald Ridge, one of the most exclusive eco-districts. Built on a hill, solar paneled walls, glass canopy roofs, synthetic waterfall interiors.
Kara leaned toward him. "This screams rich psycho."
"Perfect."
Final price: $4.9 million
Auron paid in crypto-fed tokens, silently transferred from GreenByte shell company profits and ghosted syndicate vaults.
He signed without blinking.
Evening – Delivery Zone 4
Patch unloaded the first truck.
Inside:
Furniture embedded with biometric locks
A hologram kitchen with nutritional AI
An armored safe disguised as a reading desk
And Riva's new room — filled with softlights, digital ceiling stardust, and shelves of plush creatures
Spindle walked in, whistling.
"This isn't a hideout. This is a goddamn fortress."
"That's the point," Auron said. "We're not hiding anymore. We're rooting in."
Riva's Reaction – 8:12 PM
She stood in the middle of her new room, blinking. Then dropped her toy bag, ran to the bed, squealed, and bounced three times.
"Is this mine?" she asked.
Auron nodded.
"And I can stay here forever?"
"As long as you want."
She hugged his leg tight. "You're magic."
He smiled, but his eyes didn't.
Midnight – Kara's Room
She stood by the window, overlooking Nexora. Lights blinked in waves. Far away, the towers of Sector 9 still glowed like a dying fire.
"We're being watched," she said softly.
Auron nodded. "The Index?"
"Worse. Two ghost-pings on Riva's ID. Someone tried to trace her hospital records."
Auron clenched his fists. "They won't find anything."
"You sure?"
"I burned those records myself. If they get anything—it's bait."
CrowJaw's Update – The Lab
"I cracked part of the ORIGIN drive," the boy said, turning the hologram.
Lines connected to six portraits:
Lucien Kael (Status: Unknown)
Elan Riven (Status: Terminated)
Valara Vesk (Status: Exiled)
Domi-Null (Status: Encrypted)
Subject Zero (Status: Redacted)
Name Unlisted (Codename: Shadow Prince)
"Guess who Shadow Prince is tagged to?" CrowJaw asked.
Auron didn't move.
"Me," he said quietly.
"Bingo."
Sector 5 – Dusk Alley
Two men in black suits spoke softly in an alley beside a vending unit.
"You sure it's him?"
"The data lines up. He fits the dormant carrier profile. They called him Shadow Prince."
"What do we do?"
"Same as Lucien Kael. Terminate or recruit."
The man dropped a card.
A thin metal plate, carved with one symbol:
Ω (Omega)
VaultPod, Later That Night
Auron sat by the fireplace, watching Riva sleep.
Kara joined him. Sat cross-legged.
"You can't stay in the light forever," she said. "They'll come. First the Index. Then Omega. Then the ones we can't even name."
"I'm not running."
She nodded. "That's what scares me."
Auron's jaw clenched.
"I've seen the seeds. I know the fire. Let them come."
He stared into the flames.
"Let them all come."