Nyx hunched over her battered terminal in a cramped apartment, the glow of Neon Crucible's skyscrapers bleeding through her cracked window. The megacity never slept—holographic billboards flashed, drones hummed, and corporate towers loomed like gods. At 22, Nyx was just another slum hacker, scraping by on stolen crypto. Tonight, she was after a big score: Nexus Corp's payroll server. Her fingers flew across the holo-keyboard, lines of code streaming like a river. She was good—damn good. Nobody in the slums could crack firewalls like her. But Nexus was the big leagues, and she was playing with fire.
Her screen flickered. "Come on," she muttered, adjusting her headset. The code was behaving oddly, twisting into patterns she didn't recognize. Her terminal buzzed, a low hum that made her skin prickle. She typed faster, bypassing the server's outer defenses. Just one more layer, and she'd be swimming in crypto. Then it happened—a jolt shot through her fingers, like static but sharper, deeper. Her screen froze, displaying a single line: Access: Source Code. The words pulsed, not in code, but in glowing runes that burned into her eyes. Her head throbbed, and the room's lights flickered wildly.
"What the hell?" Nyx yanked off her headset, heart pounding. The runes weren't just on the screen—they floated in her mind, whispering commands she didn't understand. She blinked, and the apartment's cheap LED lamp bent, its light coiling into a spiral at her thought. She gasped, stumbling back. Her terminal sparked, spitting smoke. The runes pulsed again, and her fingers moved on their own, typing a command she'd never learned. The screen flared, and a nearby drone outside her window crashed to the street, its red lights dying.
Nyx froze. She hadn't touched that drone's code. Had she? Her head ached, like a needle piercing her skull. The runes in her mind whispered: Power. Control. She shook her head, trying to clear it. This wasn't just a glitch—it was something else, something impossible. Her terminal pinged, a Nexus alert: Intruder Detected. Containment Protocol Initiated. Her stomach dropped. They'd traced her. Footsteps thundered outside, heavy boots on the metal stairs. Enforcers. Nexus didn't mess around—hackers who crossed them ended up in body bags or worse, wired into their AI labs.
She grabbed her rig, stuffing it into a worn backpack. The runes pulsed again, urging her to code something—anything. She ignored them, bolting for the door. The hallway was dark, reeking of rust and cheap ramen. She sprinted toward the fire escape, her sneakers skidding on the grimy floor. A drone's hum grew louder, its searchlight cutting through the window. Nyx ducked, her breath ragged. She needed a plan, but her mind was a mess, those damn runes still whispering. Use us, they said. She didn't know how, but she was out of options.
She crouched behind a dumpster in the alley, the city's neon pulse reflecting off wet pavement. Her fingers twitched, itching to code. She pulled out a portable holo-pad, its screen cracked but functional. The runes in her mind guided her hands, typing commands she didn't understand. The code wasn't just code anymore—it felt alive, like it was singing to her. She hit execute, and a nearby streetlight exploded in a shower of sparks, plunging the alley into darkness. The drone whirred, confused, its light sweeping blindly. Nyx's heart raced. She'd done that. Somehow.
A shadow moved nearby, and she tensed, gripping her holo-pad like a weapon. A guy stepped into view, maybe her age, with messy black hair and a cocky grin. "Nice trick," he said, his voice low. "But you're gonna need more than that to dodge Nexus." He wore a patched jacket, a thief's vibe, not corporate. His eyes flicked to her holo-pad, then back to her face. "I'm Jace. Follow me if you want to live." Nyx didn't trust him—nobody in Neon Crucible was that generous—but the drone's hum was closing in.
"Why should I?" she snapped, her voice hoarse. Jace shrugged, still grinning. "Because I know a place Nexus can't touch. And because you're glowing." Nyx glanced at her hands—faint runes shimmered on her skin, fading fast. Her head spun. What was happening to her? Jace nodded toward a side street. "Move, hacker. They're almost here." The drone's light swept closer, and enforcer boots echoed nearby. Nyx clenched her jaw. Trust a stranger or face Nexus's wrath? She didn't like either choice, but staying meant death.
She followed Jace, her sneakers splashing through puddles. The runes in her mind hummed louder, promising answers, power, danger. A new sound cut through the city's din—a digital voice, faint but clear, in her headset. "Nyx," it whispered. "You're the Cyber-Witch. They're coming for you." She froze, yanking off her headset, but the voice lingered, echoing in her skull. Jace glanced back, frowning. "You okay?" She wasn't. Not even close. Who was speaking? And what did they mean, Cyber-Witch? The alley shook as a Nexus skimmer roared overhead.
To Be Continued…