The device pulsed gently in Hua's hand as if it were waiting for her to make the next move. She stared down at it, a strange mixture of awe and unease swirling inside her. Her fingers traced the smooth surface, feeling the faint warmth it emitted.
"How does it work?" she asked quietly, not taking her eyes off the mysterious object.
Ming stood beside her, his posture relaxed but his eyes sharp. "It's not something you can just turn on with a switch. It's coded—specifically to you."
Hua glanced at him, confusion crossing her face. "Coded to me? What does that even mean?"
Ming sighed and moved closer, his coat brushing against the damp wall of the alley. "Your father built this with your DNA as the key. Without you, it's just a dead piece of tech. But with you..." His eyes flicked down to the device. "It's capable of unlocking things—things buried deep inside TechCorp's systems. Secrets that no one else can access."
Hua tightened her grip on the device. This was all too much. She had spent her entire life scraping by in the undercity, fixing broken machines and dodging the corporate enforcers that roamed the streets. Now, suddenly, she was supposed to believe that her father—her quiet, unassuming father—had been some kind of tech genius?
"Why would he do this?" she asked, her voice laced with doubt. "Why would he involve me in any of this? I'm nobody."
Ming's gaze softened for the first time since they met. "You're not nobody, Hua. Your father knew that. He knew that one day, you'd be the only one who could finish what he started."
Hua let out a bitter laugh. "And what exactly did he start? I've been living in this dump for as long as I can remember, while TechCorp rules everything. He didn't stop them from taking over. What's so special about me?"
Ming took a deep breath, leaning against the alley wall. "It's not about stopping them. It's about exposing them. TechCorp has been hiding something for years, and your father was on the verge of bringing it to light before they took him out."
Hua's chest tightened at the mention of her father's death. She had always believed it was a random accident, one of the many tragedies that came with life in the undercity. But now, hearing Ming talk, a new fear began to creep into her mind. Had her father been killed because of what he knew?
"So what now?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "You want me to just march up to TechCorp and start demanding answers?"
Ming shook his head. "No, that's not how this works. TechCorp doesn't play fair. They'll destroy you before you even step foot in their headquarters. That's why we need to be smart. We'll need to access their systems from the inside—quietly. Once we have what we need, we'll expose them."
Hua looked up at him, the weight of his words settling in her chest. It sounded impossible. Ridiculous, even. But at the same time, something inside her stirred—a small flicker of hope, buried beneath years of struggle and survival. Maybe, just maybe, this was her chance to do something more than just exist.
"What's in it for you?" Hua asked suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "Why are you helping me?"
Ming's expression darkened slightly, a shadow passing over his face. "Let's just say TechCorp and I have unfinished business," he said, his voice quieter now. "They took something from me, too."
Hua studied him for a moment, trying to read between the lines of his cryptic answer. She didn't know if she could trust him—didn't know if she could trust anyone, really. But something about Ming felt different. He wasn't offering her pity or charity. He was offering her a way out. A way to fight back.
"All right," she said, slipping the device into her pocket. "I'm in."
Ming smiled, the tension easing from his shoulders. "Good. We start tomorrow."
The next morning, Hua found herself standing in front of a towering building deep in the heart of the undercity. It was one of TechCorp's smaller facilities, but still much more advanced than anything she had ever been near. The sleek metal exterior gleamed in the dim sunlight that managed to penetrate the smog-covered sky.
Ming stood beside her, his gaze fixed on the building. "This is where we make our first move," he said, his voice low. "We're going to access their secondary servers from here. It's not as secure as their main headquarters, but it has enough information to get us started."
Hua swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest. This was it. The moment when everything would change.
"How are we supposed to get in?" she asked, eyeing the security cameras positioned around the building.
Ming grinned, pulling a small device from his pocket. "Leave that to me."
With a few swift movements, he activated the device, and the cameras blinked off, one by one.
"Now," he said, nodding toward the entrance.
They moved quickly, slipping through the doors and into the building. The interior was stark and sterile, with gleaming floors and humming machinery lining the walls. Hua's nerves buzzed with tension as they navigated the narrow hallways, every footstep feeling too loud in the silent space.
Finally, they reached a room filled with towering servers, their lights blinking in an endless rhythm.
"This is it," Ming said, pulling out his own set of tools. "I'll need you to interface with the system. The device you have—it'll connect directly to the data."
Hua nodded, her hands trembling slightly as she retrieved the device from her pocket. She didn't know exactly what to expect, but there was no turning back now.
With a deep breath, she connected the device to the nearest server. Instantly, a flood of information poured onto the screen in front of her. Names, dates, and encrypted files flashed by, and Hua's heart raced as she tried to make sense of it all.
"There," Ming said, pointing to a section of the data. "That's what we're looking for."
Hua's eyes widened as she read the words on the screen.
**Project Nexus.**
"What is that?" she whispered.
Ming's face was grim as he answered.
"It's the key to everything. And it's going to take us right to the heart of TechCorp