Neon rain painted the streets of Neo-Eden like the city itself was bleeding light. Towers of glass pierced the clouds, their glowing logos reflected in puddles that never dried. Every building promised heaven. Every alley smelled like hell.
Sung Jin Ezio leaned back in the passenger seat, boots on the dashboard, hood pulled low. He watched the city slide past and wondered, not for the first time, if anyone ever truly escaped this place.
"You know," he muttered, "this city only looks beautiful because it's lying."
Ren laughed from behind the wheel. "Bro, even the air lies here. You pay just to breathe it."
Ezio smiled faintly. "When this job is done, I'm gone. I swear. No more running. No more killing."
Ren shot him a sideways look. "You say that every time."
"And you always pretend you don't believe me."
Ren's grin softened. "I believe you. I just don't trust the world to let you."
Ezio's thoughts drifted, uninvited, to her. The way she used to smile when he promised things he couldn't afford. The way she'd looked at him last time, like he was something already left behind.
Ren noticed the change in his expression. "Still thinking about her?"
Ezio didn't answer.
Ren nodded. "Yeah. That bad."
They drove in silence for a moment, passing neighborhoods drowned in holo-ads selling happiness like a product.
Ren finally said, "When this is over, you should take her somewhere far. Real sky. Real water. No towers watching."
Ezio stared at the rain-soaked glass. "People like us don't get real skies."
Ren smiled anyway. "Then let's steal one."
The car slowed beneath a hidden staircase glowing with soft violet light.
"Velvet Nine," Ren said. "Last drink before we become legends."
Ezio snorted. "Or ghosts."
"Same thing," Ren replied. "Just depends who's telling the story."
Velvet Nine was buried beneath three floors of legal businesses. Inside, the music was low and smooth, the kind that made secrets feel expensive. Smoke curled through golden light. Women in silk and cybernetic jewelry watched the room like predators pretending to be polite.
Ezio felt exposed, like the walls themselves were reading him.
A hostess approached. Her eyes glowed softly with augmented gold. "Private suite."
Ren leaned close. "If you get seduced and kidnapped, I'm not paying ransom."
Ezio muttered, "If you get seduced, you'll ask for a loyalty card."
The door slid open without a handle.
Inside, a man sat on a velvet couch. He wore a black suit so plain it was unsettling. His face shimmered faintly, as if the room itself couldn't decide how he should look.
"Ren. Sung Jin Ezio."
Ren tried to joke. "You've got us at a disadvantage already."
The man ignored it and placed a small device on the table.
A hologram bloomed to life.
A tiny black chip, threaded with crimson light.
Ezio felt a chill crawl through his chest. The lines inside it didn't just glow — they moved with intention.
"That is the Red Code," the man said. "A fragment of a language older than this world."
Ren frowned. "Looks like tech."
"It wears tech the way a corpse wears clothing," the man replied. "It is something else entirely."
The chip pulsed, and for a second Ezio thought it was watching him.
"It rewrites the human mind," the man continued. "Not memories. Not emotions. Fate."
Ren swallowed. "So… mind control?"
The man's lips curved faintly. "So… godhood."
Ezio felt suddenly very small.
"You will steal it from Ascendant Tower," the man said. "Floor ninety-nine. Neural vault."
"And then?" Ezio asked.
"You will be paid enough to erase yourselves from the world," the man replied. "Or you will fail."
Ren leaned back. "Why us?"
The man's gaze shifted, cold and weighing. "Because you are skilled enough to succeed."
A pause.
"And insignificant enough to be erased."
He slid a black card across the table.
TAKE WHAT IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU.
Ren took it, jaw tight. "Who else is in the building?"
The man smiled.
"Everyone."
Ascendant Tower stabbed into the clouds like a spear. Its mirrored surface erased the city, as if it refused to acknowledge anything below it.
Everything went too smoothly.
No guards.No alarms.No resistance.
Ezio's unease grew with every step.
They reached the vault.
The Red Code hovered inside a field of light, glowing like a living heart.
Ren whispered, "We actually did it."
Ezio stepped forward.
The chip reacted.
The crimson lines tightened, twisting into sharper patterns.
It felt like it recognized him.
Ezio reached out—
Alarms screamed.
Red light flooded the hall. Auto-turrets dropped from the ceiling.
"They set us up!" Ren shouted.
They ran.
Gunfire erupted.
Ren was hit.
Ezio caught him as blood soaked his jacket. "Ren!"
Ren gasped, eyes wide. "Bro… listen…"
Ezio shook. "Don't talk. We're getting out."
"If nobody uses it now," Ren coughed, "it drains. It dies."
Ezio stared at the glowing chip.
"And if it dies…" Ren whispered, "the Illuminati will kill you for failing."
Ezio's throat tightened. "We'll find another way."
Ren looked at him with painful clarity. "You know that's a lie."
The chip pulsed.
A whisper slid into Ezio's mind like a blade.
—TAKE ME—
Ezio trembled. "It's… alive."
Ren smiled weakly. "Then don't waste it."
The pillar beside them cracked.
Ezio pressed the chip to his skull.
The Red Code did not enter him.
It devoured him.
Crimson fire raced through his veins. His thoughts shattered into screaming patterns. He felt memories that weren't his — sins that weren't his — a language that cut instead of spoke.
The Red Code judged him.
The tower vanished.
Darkness laughed.
A massive black hole opened behind a figure in a black suit. Red Code symbols spiraled around it like burning scripture.
The figure held a scythe on his shoulder and clapped slowly.
"Oh, that was beautiful," he said cheerfully. "Absolutely terrible. I loved it."
Ezio tried to scream.
"I'm Ix," the figure said. "Aeon of Nihility. Void enthusiast. Professional end of everything."
He circled Ezio, peering at the Red Code burning inside him.
"And would you look at that? A human trying to swallow a god-virus."
The black hole roared.
"Oh, and fun fact," Ix added brightly. "A hacker in Neo-Eden just tried to crack the chip. So you're dying twice. Corporate curiosity is a killer."
Ezio felt his mind tearing.
Ix leaned close, eyes like collapsing stars. "But I adore broken toys."
The void opened.
"A new world needs a mistake like you."
Red Code spiraled into the abyss behind him.
"Welcome, Sung Jin Ezio."
"Prince of Nothing."
The universe folded.
And Ezio fell into destiny.