Rain lashed the glass exterior of a towering skyscraper in downtown Berlin, the city glittering below in streaks of neon and haze. Inside a sleek, private suite on the seventy-fourth floor, a man sat in near-darkness—his fingers dancing across a floating interface of glowing red symbols.
Codename: Richter.
Once a German intelligence officer in another timeline. Now a Resetter turned warlord.
He watched Rael's Kyoto signal replay for the seventh time, parsing it frame by frame. Every inflection. Every word. Every tactical move.
"They're organizing," Richter murmured in German, though the system translated it instantly.
[Node Detected: RAEL KESSLER | LINK STATUS: ACTIVE] [Subnode: HINA YUKIMURA | LOCATION: KYOTO, JAPAN] [Threat Level: Ascending]
Behind him stood three individuals, clad in exo-combat suits, their neural chips glowing faintly.
"You're sending us, then?" one asked.
Richter nodded.
"Deploy to Kyoto. Monitor first. Interfere second. If they reach Nairobi or Berlin—terminate."
Day 7 – New Albion Hydro Base
Rael's eyes flicked across the holographic world map. The Kyoto node now pulsed in green. But a new signal blinked to life across the Atlantic.
[UNREGISTERED NODE ACTIVITY – BERLIN] [Hostile Resetter Signature Confirmed: RICHTER | Class: Strategist | Timeline Influence: HIGH] [Mission Update: Delay Hostile Expansion. Infiltrate Berlin Sector. Optional: Convert or Neutralize Richter.]
He turned to the others.
"Change of plan," Rael said. "We're splitting up."
Avery frowned. "You said we stay together until the network stabilizes."
"I know. But if Richter is mobilizing, we have less than a week before he locks down Europe."
Hina leaned on a console. "He's dangerous. I've heard the name. If he gets control of even one country's military AI, he'll rewrite the war before it starts."
Rael pointed at the blinking red node. "Then we take the fight to Berlin."
Day 8 – Berlin, Germany
Jaxon and Rael touched down under aliases, exiting a private flight onto a rooftop helipad disguised as wealthy defense consultants. Their systems masked any digital signature, piggybacking off corporate satellite protocols.
"Where's the intel drop?" Jaxon asked.
Rael handed him a transponder beacon.
"Local contact embedded in the Underground Net Resistance. Goes by 'Vera.' She's ex-cyberwarfare, knows the backdoor paths to Richter's bunker."
The city was darker than Rael remembered. Cameras dotted every block. Drones patrolled rooftops. Whatever Richter had done here, it had turned the city into a near-fascist techno-state.
They met Vera in a hidden server café beneath a crumbling bookstore in the Kreuzberg district.
Vera was in her early 30s, shaved head, tattoos that glowed when she connected to the Net.
"You two really Reset?" she asked, scanning them both with a custom lens. "Because if this is a trap, I'll end you with a voltage spike through your skull."
Rael smiled. "I wouldn't blame you."
Jaxon passed her the beacon.
Vera's screen lit up.
"Holy hell. You brought a real node key."
[Node Authentication Successful – Proxy Link Created] [New Contact Established: VERA | Status: Informant/Ally]
"I'll help you," Vera said, "but you have to see what he's building."
Inside the Berlin Spire
Through Vera's hacked feeds, Rael and Jaxon watched hours of security footage. Richter wasn't just building a base—he was constructing a command AI.
[Codename: ARBITER]
[Function: Predictive Warfare | Timeline Sim Engine | Behavior Override Capable]
It could run billions of future simulations in seconds and pick outcomes with surgical precision. If Richter activated it, any opposition would be outmaneuvered before it even acted.
"We can't let him finish that AI," Rael said.
Jaxon cracked his knuckles. "So we take it down?"
"No," Rael said. "We steal it."
Day 9 – Infiltration Protocol
With Vera's help, Rael and Jaxon entered the outer zone of the Berlin Spire disguised as engineers performing thermal audits. The deeper they went, the more apparent Richter's paranoia became—biometric scanners, EM-pulse shields, active-defense turrets.
But the system helped.
[Stealth Skill Upgraded: Urban Cloak Lv.2]
[Hacking Subroutine Acquired: Silent Override – Tier I]
Finally, they reached the core chamber. ARBITER rested within a titanium cage, suspended in magnetic field, humming with unborn intelligence.
Rael tapped into the mainline.
[Downloading Partial Blueprint… 12%... 54%... 98%... COMPLETE] [Warning: Alert Triggered – Security Lockdown Initiated]
Red lights flared.
Sirens screamed.
Jaxon cursed. "We're blown!"
Richter's voice boomed across the Spire's comm system.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice? Come face me, Kessler. Let's finish what never got to begin."
Escape & Revelation
Rael and Jaxon raced through backup corridors as gunfire erupted. Automated sentries clipped Jaxon's arm. Rael threw a flash grenade, stunning a guard drone. They leaped through a maintenance shaft into the storm drain below.
Back at Vera's bunker, Avery's voice came through Rael's channel.
"You triggered a global ripple. Richter's starting emergency protocol. He's going to accelerate ARBITER's launch."
Rael clenched his jaw.
"Then we upload what we stole. Everywhere."
Global Uplink – 2 Hours Later
Using Vera's network, Rael distributed the partial ARBITER schematics to every verified Resetter node. Hina intercepted it in Kyoto. A new Resetter in Nairobi joined seconds later. Three more pings lit up.
[Command Network Level Increased: Tier II] [Skill Gained: Distributed Coordination]
Richter's face returned to Rael's private channel.
"You think this weakens me? You just gave every war criminal on Earth a chance to copy ARBITER."
Rael answered, calm.
"No. I gave everyone a reason to stop you."