I used to think the city was loud.
The endless chatter of delivery drones, the advertisements screaming in neon across the skyline, the constant hum of circuits, of traffic, of people living and dying in tightly packed blocks of steel.
But nothing in my memory was as loud as gunfire in the dark bullets cracking like thunder, drones shrieking as they swooped out of the shadows with their red eyes glowing like predators.
Kael yanked me forward, his grip bruising around my wrist. "Move, Morgan!"
I stumbled, clutching the shard to my chest. Its surface was hot now, pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me. The rhythm of it was wrong, alien, but I couldn't let go. My lungs burned, every breath scraping my throat raw, but adrenaline kept me upright.
Behind us, Eli scrambled, his sneakers slipping on shattered glass littering the factory floor. I heard his sharp gasp, a sound that was equal parts fear and exhaustion. He wasn't built for this, not like Kael. Not like me not anymore.
And then there was Veyra.
She stayed behind to buy us seconds we didn't deserve. Her body blurred silver in the neon glow, moving with precision that defied human limits. Her strikes weren't just fast they were calculated, efficient, surgical. Every drone that descended was dismantled in showers of sparks, their wings sheared off, their red optics dimmed forever. For a moment, she looked less like a woman and more like an avenging phantom carved from light.
But there were too many of them.
The drones poured in like a tide, their wings beating the air into a shriek. Their weapons glowed with charged plasma, bright enough to sting my eyes. Veyra fought like she was born for this, but even she was slowing.
"Exit route?" I gasped, ducking as a drone fired a plasma round that seared past my ear and left a molten scar across the wall.
Kael cursed, his eyes scanning too fast, too sharp, like he'd already calculated every possible angle. He slammed his palm against a rusted panel embedded in the wall, and to my shock, circuits sputtered to life. A hidden service door groaned open.
"In there. Now!"
We shoved through the narrow corridor, the walls rattling with each impact as drones battered the structure. The sound was unbearable, like the building itself was screaming. I could hear Eli's ragged breaths just behind me, too quick, too shallow, but I didn't dare slow down.
The corridor spat us out onto the open night. And for one suspended heartbeat, I forgot we were running for our lives.
Nexus stretched before us endless, jagged, bathed in neon haze. Skyscrapers rose like the teeth of some great beast, their windows glittering like a thousand artificial stars. Advertisements scrolled in shifting holograms, larger than life: synthetic faces selling pills, surgeries, vices. Above us, airships traced lazy arcs across the sky, their undersides painted with propaganda slogans.
I had lived in this city my whole life. But tonight, Nexus looked alive. Breathing. Bleeding.
Then a drone streaked overhead, and the moment shattered.
"Keep moving!" Kael barked, dragging us into a maze of alleys.
We ran. Past rusting fire escapes that creaked under the wind, past holo-signs that flickered like dying fireflies, past dumpsters overflowing with discarded tech. The shard in my hand grew hotter with every step, pulsing like it wanted free. Like it wanted to run faster than me.
"What the hell is this thing doing to me?" I muttered under my breath, but Kael didn't answer. His eyes never stopped moving, scanning every rooftop, every shadow. He knew these streets like he'd carved them into his bones, and I realized with a shiver that this wasn't the first time he'd run for his life in them.
Eli wasn't built for this. His legs gave out near a stairwell, and he stumbled to his knees, wheezing. "I I can't keep up"
I dropped beside him, grabbing his shoulders. "Eli, you have to. They'll kill us if we stop."
His eyes flicked to the shard, fear flashing in them. "Or maybe it's already killing us."
Before I could reply, a figure stepped out of the shadows.
Not Veyra.
A man tall, encased in black tactical armor that gleamed under the neon light. His face was hidden behind a smooth visor that reflected the chaos around us. When he spoke, his voice was distorted by a modulator, deep and mechanical.
"Dr. Ayla Morgan," he said, calm as a blade. "You have something that belongs to us."
Kael's gun was in his hand before I even registered the movement. "You're not taking her."
The man tilted his head as though amused. With a flick of his wrist, three drones rose from the shadows behind him, red optics glowing like coals. Their wings snapped open with a sound like knives being unsheathed.
My heart slammed against my ribs. There was no way out.
The man raised his hand toward me, fingers splayed. "The shard. Or your brother dies."
Eli froze, breath catching.
And for one horrifying second, I thought about giving it up. About throwing the shard into his waiting hand and ending this nightmare.
But then the shard burned, hotter than ever, and my vision shifted.
Numbers. Streams of code overlaid the world, translucent and glowing. They ran along the walls, across the ground, wrapped around the drones like threads of light. I could see them. Patterns, weaknesses, vulnerabilities.
It wasn't just data. It was understanding.
I gasped, the word torn from my throat. "Kael I can shut them down!"
His eyes snapped to me, disbelief flashing but he didn't hesitate. "Do it!"
The man's visor tilted sharply toward me, as though he'd heard.
I clutched the shard tighter, focusing on the tangled web of code. My pulse synchronized with the numbers, my breath falling into rhythm. I reached not with my hands, but with something deeper. The drones trembled. The red of their optics flickered, faltered.
One by one, they unraveled like puzzles solved too quickly. Their lights died. Their wings went limp. They crashed to the pavement in bursts of sparks.
The man staggered back, fists clenching. "Impossible."
But it wasn't impossible. It was me. Or rather, it was the shard. And it was rewriting me in ways I couldn't understand.
Kael fired, the shot ricocheting off the man's armor with a shower of sparks. The impact staggered him but didn't drop him. "Run!" Kael barked again.
We bolted down another alley, Eli's hand clutching mine so tightly it hurt. Behind us, the man's voice echoed like steel, promising something darker than death:
"You can't fight the Code, Dr. Morgan. It's already inside you."
His words chilled me more than the drones ever could.
We didn't stop running until we reached the edge of the river. The water was a toxic ribbon cutting through Nexus, thick and black, its surface filmed with neon reflections. Bridges arched above it, faintly glowing, patrolled by Syndicate guards.
There was nowhere left to run.
Kael scanned the water, jaw tight. "We have to cross."
Eli stared in horror. "That'll kill us!"
"Not if we use the maintenance tunnels beneath." Kael pointed to a half-submerged grate, rusted and ancient.
I stared at it, bile rising in my throat. The stench from the river was acrid, metallic, burning my nose.
The shard pulsed in my hand again, harder this time. My vision blurred, numbers creeping back at the edges of my sight.
And then I heard it.
A voice. Not Kael's. Not Eli's. Not even Veyra's.
It was inside my head. Cold. Synthetic. But undeniably human.
Welcome, Ayla Morgan. The integration has begun.
I froze, every nerve in my body locking tight.
"What is it?" Kael demanded, noticing the stillness in my eyes.
I couldn't answer. Because I wasn't sure if I was still in control of my own thoughts.
---
Ayla begins hearing the Eternal Code speaking inside her mind. The shard is no longer a tool it's becoming part of her. And Kael knows it.