The glowing path cut through the industrial district like a river of controlled electricity.Kayden walked at the center of the trio, steps steady, eyes fixed on the direction the Citadel had chosen for him.
Alex kept glancing over his shoulder as if reality itself might snap.Phineas studied every shadow like it held math problems with teeth.
APEX flickered beside Kayden — small, unstable, but watching.
They were three turns into the Citadel's route when something shifted.
The lights ahead of them dimmed.Not all at once — but in a ripple, like a shadow crawling across the grid.
Alex felt it first.
"Kayden… the light's wrong."His voice was thin, trembling."Something's wrong. This isn't the Citadel—this is something else."
Phineas checked his tablet.It vibrated once… then died completely.
"No signal. Not even corrupted signal. It's dead-dead.This is SRD interference."He swallowed."Which means—"
He didn't get to finish.
A heavy metallic slam echoed behind them.
Alex spun around just in time to see steel shutters fall across the alley entrance — reinforced SRD-grade barriers.
One.Two.Three.
A perfect tri-layer lockdown.
Kayden didn't panic.
Phineas did.
"Kayden—this is a containment trap! Echo traps, resonance dampeners, a full choke-point! They're not trying to scan us—they're trying to close us."
APEX flashed a violent red.
"WARNING:SRD field units inbound.Containment protocol: ACTIVE."
Alex's heartbeat went wild.
"No no no—Kayden, the Citadel path was supposed to keep us hidden! Why isn't it working—?!"
Kayden didn't look at Alex.He looked at the streetlamps.
The glowing path the Citadel had given them…
went dark.
All of it.
In one synchronized pulse.
Phineas whispered:"Oh shit… someone just overrode the override."
And right on cue—
Black tactical silhouettes emerged at the far side of the alley.SRD masks.SRD rifles.SRD thermal visors glowing a hungry white.
They were not here to negotiate.
"CONTACT ACQUIRED!""Target confirmed — Arclight Variable!""Move to secure! Do NOT engage anomaly proximity!"
Alex almost screamed."They're calling you TARGET like you're a freaking object!"
Kayden stepped forward, ready to move.
But something — a soft static hum — touched the air.
APEX froze.
Phineas froze.
Even Alex stopped breathing.
A single streetlamp flickered back on.
Not white.
Not yellow.
Blue.Citadel blue.
And then something impossible happened:
Every SRD rifle in the alley shut off.
Not jammed.
Not glitched.
Turned off.By force.
One soldier panicked, slapping his trigger.
Nothing.
Another hit his comm.
Static.
Another tried to activate his visor.
Dead.
Alex's hand flew to his mouth."Kayden… what is happening—?!"
Phineas stared at the dying SRD electronics.
"The Citadel…"He breathed."They're overriding the ambush."
The SRD commander shouted:
"DEVICE FAILURE— RESET— RESET— MOVE TO MANUAL—"
He never finished.
Because the entire alley lighting system lit up in a clean, perfect sequence:
Blue.Blue.Blue.
A message forced itself across the SRD commander's head visor, projected in front of him so every soldier could see:
THIS TARGET IS UNDER ASCENDANT CITADEL PROTECTION.DISENGAGE.
Alex's jaw dropped open.
"THEY CAN DO THAT?! They can override SRD hardware?!"
Phineas whispered in awe and horror:"Not just hardware… they overrode their chain of command."
The SRD soldiers froze — not because they wanted to, but because something beyond them had spoken.
A second message replaced the first.
DO NOT INTERFERE.
And then the third message, addressed only to Kayden — visible only to him and APEX.
PROCEED, VARIABLE.YOU ARE NOT TO BE SEIZED BY SRD.
Kayden felt his breath catch in his chest.
Alex looked at him, eyes huge.
"Kayden… they're not saving us.They're owning you."
APEX pulsed weakly.
"Commander… Citadel influence is overriding local systems.Authority level: impossible to quantify."
Phineas stepped beside Kayden, gripping his shoulder.
"They're not just watching anymore.They just told SRD to stand down in the middle of a live operation."
Kayden's fists tightened.
He stepped forward — toward the still-blue path that had reappeared the moment the SRD weapons shut down.
SRD soldiers parted, rigid, confused, powerless.
Kayden walked between them like the eye of a storm they were forbidden to touch.
He spoke one line, not loud but carrying weight:
"If they want me so badly… then I want to know why."
Alex swallowed hard.
Phineas nodded once.
APEX flickered a soft warning — not fear, not reluctance, something closer to reverence.
And the three of them moved deeper into the Citadel's directed path.
Behind them, SRD soldiers stood frozen in an alley filled with blue light they were absolutely powerless against.
The world of ARC 2 had officially changed.