JAXON'S APARTMENT – EARLY MORNING
Faint sunlight leaks through half-closed blinds.
Jaxon wakes abruptly — sitting upright as if pulled from a long fall. Sweat on his forehead. Breathing uneven.
He blinks, grounding himself.
His eyes drift to the photo of Dr. Elira Cross on the shelf.
[Agent Steel]:(mutters)Okay… new day, new chaos.
He stands, rolls his shoulders, pops his neck — trying to shake off the exhaustion clinging to him.
---
MAPLE VALLEY – MORNING COMMUTE
The city is alive.
Students rush toward Westridge University.
Trams glide overhead.
Office workers flood the corporate district.
Church bells ring in the distance.
Everything feels normal…
but under the normalcy, something darker stirs.
---
INN HQ – OPERATIONS FLOOR
Jaxon walks in, hair still messy, eyes slightly better rested but still carrying last night's weight.
The moment he enters, INN personnel exchange looks — subtle, quick, nervous.
He notices.
[Agent Steel]:(raising an eyebrow)Wow. Okay.
Did someone put my face on a "do not approach" poster?
No one answers.
He smirks, but the unease settles deeper.
He spots Susan and Romer at a central console.
---
BRIEFING WITHOUT A LEADER
Susan looks relieved to see him.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:You actually slept.
Miracles do happen.
[Agent Steel]:Don't get used to it.
Therapeutic sleep is not my brand.
Romer gives a thin smile before shifting back to the holographic map.
[ROMER]:We've got movement from Maple Valley PD.New data. Fresh witness statements.
But still no word from Madison.
Steel tenses, eyes narrowing.
[Agent Steel]:Right. Madison.(studies their expressions)Still "classified"?
Susan maintains her professional calm.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:Until we hear from her, we proceed with her last standing protocol.
Focus on the case.
But Steel doesn't miss the slight hesitation in her voice.
He steps closer, lowering his tone.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:Susan…Whatever she's doing...Why am I the only one left in the dark?
Susan holds his gaze — softening but not breaking.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:Because some missions aren't meant to be shared.Even with the people we trust.
It hits him harder than she intends.
Steel nods slowly.
[Agent Steel]:Yeah.Trust.Right.
Romer clears his throat, shifting the focus.
Romer expands a hologram: three crime scenes glowing on a city map.
[ROMER]:Pattern analysis indicates a new cluster forming.If our unknown aggressor continues, the next activity zone is likely—
(points)—along the North Rail Corridor.
Susan crosses her arms.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]That's near the old industrial district.Mostly abandoned… except at night.
Steel steps forward, studying the map.
[Agent Steel]:Perfect place for someone who doesn't want to be seen.
Or something.
He taps a location marker.
[Agent Steel]:Run thermal scans, motion capture, anything we have.
If our killer's scouting, he'll leave crumbs.
Romer nods.
[ROMER]:Already running it.
Steel turns to Susan.
[Agent Steel]:I'll head to the district.
If Madison's not here, someone has to keep the momentum going.
[Dr. SusanThomas]:Just be careful.
You've already pushed too hard this week.
Steel gives a playful grin — but it doesn't reach his eyes.
[Agent Steel]:Careful is my middle name.
Well… between "bad idea" and "why did you do that?"
Susan lets out a soft laugh despite everything.
---
INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT – MIDDAY
Rusting storage units.
Silent conveyor lines.
Cranes frozen mid-air like skeletons.
Steel steps into the quiet zone — alert, scanning.
A soft breeze moves through broken windows, carrying faint chemical smells.
He kneels near a wall where faint claw-like indentations scrape across the surface.
Then — he finds a second bio-synthetic scale, slightly different from the first.
He lifts it with gloves.
[Agent Steel]:(whisper)You again…
A distant metallic hiss echoes through the corridor.
He freezes.
STEEL
(low)
Show yourself…
Nothing.
Then — a small drone, black and serpentine-shaped, zips across a rooftop and vanishes behind a derelict tower.
Steel jumps up instantly.
[Agent Steel]:Got you.
He begins chasing.
---
INDUSTRIAL ROOFTOPS –
Steel leaps across platforms with agility and speed, his movements sharp despite his fatigue.
The drone darts unpredictably, almost taunting.
Steel pushes harder.
[Agent Steel]:(grinning)Alright, not today, you metallic noodle.
The drone slips behind a billboard.
Steel follows—
But when he turns the corner—
Nothing.
Gone.
Only the soft hum of the wind and a faint serpentine mark scorched onto the rooftop floor.
He stares at it.
[Agent Steel]: (low, serious)Ghost Serpent…
you're not just watching.
You're choosing.
---
INN HQ – LATE AFTERNOON
Steel returns, evidence bag in hand.
Susan looks up as he enters.
Her smile softens — but again, there's something guarded underneath.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:Find anything?
Steel places the scale on the table.
[Agent Steel]:Yeah.And I don't think we're dealing with random attacks anymore.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:What do you think it means?
Steel leans against the console, voice low, thoughtful.
[Agent Steel]:I think we're circling something bigger.Something organized.Something waiting.
His eyes drift to the empty glass office above — Madison's office.
Lights off.
Silent.
Absent.
A chill runs through him that he doesn't show.
[Agent Steel]:(quiet)And whatever happens next…we're not ready.
New Atlantis pulsed with its usual, efficient energy—hover-trams gliding above the skyline, neon reflections rippling across the metallic surface of the Central Loop.
But for Jaxon Steel, the city felt like a closed circuit.
A dead end.
Every single Ghost Serpent trail?
Wiped. Clean. Polished. Sanitized.
The syndicate operated like a shadow with a legal department—precision, silence, and zero exposure.
Even INN's internal analytics flagged the situation as "tactically suspicious."
Steel stood in the middle of the INN mobile field van, screens flickering around him.
Before Jaxon could respond, the van's alarm blared.
A red tactical marker flashed across all screens.
NEW ATLANTIS CITY CENTRE – THREAT INDEX: CRITICAL.
The doors slid open.
Steel stepped out…
…and the cityscape erupted.
Pedestrians screamed as a hulking figure crashed onto the plaza—metal plating rippling like living steel, hydraulic joints hissing, a spiraling crimson optic scanning the environment.
A C-Series Autonomous Hybrid Enforcer.
Outdated on paper.
Obsolete in the files.
But this one carried upgrades no database recognized.
It turned toward Steel.
"TARGET: AGENT STEEL. PRIORITY ONE."
The ground trembled.
Steel cracked his neck.
"Great," he muttered. "Corporate demolition day."
The cyborg lunged first—
a pneumatic punch that shattered the pavement.
Jaxon rolled sideways, drew his PlasmaLine Blaster, and fired a high-density bolt.
The beam struck the cyborg's chest—
a perfect hit.
It barely flinched.
"Fantastic," Jaxon sighed. "A tank with legs."
The machine charged.
Steel sprinted forward, slid under its reach, kicked its knee joint with a reinforced spin-kick, and jumped backward into stance.
Every strike he delivered triggered flashes of blue Neuro-Link energy tracing across his suit.
But the cyborg was learning.
Adapting.
It fired an ion burst from its wrist cannon—
a shockwave that blew through an advertising holo-board and sent Jaxon flying into a support pillar.
His visor flickered. Sparks spat from his gauntlet.
Breathing hard, Steel braced himself.
---
ESCALATION – THE POWER MOVE
The cyborg grabbed a parked hover-tram car—
lifted it—
—and launched it straight at Jaxon like a piece of scrap metal.
Steel leaped onto the car midair, ran across it in three steps, and launched himself directly at the cyborg's head.
A Neuro-Link enhanced punch connected—
CRACK.
The cyborg stumbled.
But didn't fall.
Its optics shifted from red to deep violet.
A new mode.
Unregistered.
Unknown.
He charged up his suit's power core.
The Neuro-Link surged.
The air shimmered blue around him.
Time slowed.
He dashed in with a sequence of kicks—
an aerial roundhouse
a downward heel strike
a point-blank plasma shot—
Each hit sending metallic fragments flying.
Finally, he struck with a full-charge kinetic blast that sent the cyborg skidding across the plaza, its metal body scraping sparks.
---
AND YET… NO ANSWERS
As Steel approached the wreckage—
The cyborg suddenly self-erased.
Its entire chassis dissolved into a cloud of microscopic ferro-dust, scattering into the air like silver ashes.
All evidence—gone.
Again.
Steel stared at the empty plaza, jaw clenched.
"Yeah," he whispered.
"And they want me frustrated."
He holstered the blaster.
"And it's working."
TO BE CONTINUED....
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