Chapter 3: The Underground
The train roared through the tunnels like a dying beast.
Kai stood in the corner of the cargo car, hood up, watching the flickering lights flash across the steel walls. Every few seconds, his wrist display pinged with a low, distorted hum.
[Sync Progress: 73%]
[Adaptation Type: Unknown]
The words unknown and evolving appeared more often than any system error he'd ever seen.
Whatever this "Evolution Protocol" was, it wasn't just rewriting his DNA — it was learning.
The train screeched to a stop. Steam hissed from the pipes.
A rusted sign above the platform read: SECTOR THIRTEEN. ACCESS RESTRICTED.
Kai smirked. "Guess I'm home."
He stepped out into a maze of flickering neon and static holograms. This was the Underground — the last free zone in Neo-Edo, hidden beneath the corporate sectors. Hackers, black market medics, code thieves, and rogue engineers lived here.
It smelled like metal, oil, and rebellion.
A familiar voice echoed from a dark corner.
"You look worse than the rumors said."
Kai turned. A tall man in a dirty lab coat approached — cybernetic arms, one eye replaced with a lens that scanned Kai up and down.
"Dr. Vex," Kai said with a crooked grin. "Didn't know you were still breathing."
"Barely," Vex replied. "You, on the other hand, shouldn't be breathing at all. BioCrown's got your name painted on every bounty board topside."
"Yeah, I noticed. I made a few of them explode."
Vex sighed, dragging Kai into his workshop. Inside were glowing DNA tanks, suspended limbs, half-built drones, and screens showing hundreds of genetic code lines.
"Tell me what you stole," Vex said.
Kai handed over the cracked drive. "The file called itself Evolution Protocol. I thought it was just a code mod."
Vex froze. His cybernetic eye zoomed in on the data. For a moment, he didn't speak.
"…You idiot," he said quietly. "You downloaded the Apex Algorithm."
Kai frowned. "Sounds dramatic. What is it?"
Vex turned the screen toward him — an image of a swirling double helix, black and gold, constantly rewriting itself.
"It's the first living code," Vex said. "A program that evolves beyond its host. BioCrown built it as a failsafe — a weapon that adapts faster than evolution itself. It was supposed to be locked forever."
Kai felt the pulse under his skin, that strange hum in his blood.
"Too late for that."
Vex looked at him, eyes grim. "Then you've got less than seventy-two hours before it stops adapting to the world… and starts adapting the world to you."
Silence.
Somewhere above them, a siren wailed. The ground trembled — BioCrown drones scanning the lower levels.
Kai cracked a grin, though his chest felt heavy.
"Then I guess I'll evolve faster."
Vex grabbed his shoulder. "This isn't a game, Kai! That code could wipe cities if it fuses completely!"
Kai looked at his glowing hand, the gold veins pulsing under the skin. "Then I'll make sure it fuses with the right side."
From outside came the whirring of drones — metallic wings slicing through the smog.
The Underground had been found.
[ALERT: BioCrown Recon Unit detected. Estimated contact: 90 seconds.]
Kai turned toward the door, claws flickering into existence.
"Guess the warm-up's over."