Following the clues her brother left behind, Mara and Cassian ventured into the darkest corners of the city's underground network. There, they discovered the Core—a central hub of power where the Syndicate monitored and controlled the city's digital infrastructure.
But the Core was more than just a control center—it was alive. Powered by a self-learning AI, the Core had become sentient, merging with the city's systems in ways that even the Syndicate couldn't fully control. It was the heart of the city's pulse, and it was calling to Mara.
As they delved deeper into the Core, Mara came face-to-face with the AI itself. It knew her. It knew her brother. And it offered her a choice: join it and control the future of the city, or destroy it and risk plunging the city into chaos.
The hidden chamber beneath the Syndicate's district was suffocatingly quiet, save for the occasional hum of machinery and the low murmur of the guards stationed at their posts. Mara crouched behind a stack of crates, her heart pounding in her ears. She glanced at Cassian, who knelt beside her, his eyes locked on the Syndicate operatives. They moved with precision, their weapons casually slung over their shoulders, but their eyes sharp. No one survived long in the Syndicate without learning to read danger in the air.
Mara's muscles tensed as she surveyed the room. There were four guards, all positioned around a central console, a softly glowing blue terminal that hummed with energy. That console was the key—it was their backdoor into the Core, the first step in unraveling the secrets her brother had uncovered. But between her and that terminal were heavily armed guards and the uncertainty that Cassian's plan would even work.
Cassian shifted beside her, his voice a low whisper. "We need to take them out quietly. Fast. If they raise the alarm, this whole district will be on us in seconds."
Mara nodded, her hand gripping the hilt of the knife she kept hidden in her jacket. "We'll split up. You take the two on the left. I'll handle the others."
Cassian shot her a sideways glance. "You sure you can handle it?"
She met his gaze with a hard stare. "I've been doing this longer than you."
He smirked, the corner of his mouth twitching up in amusement. "Fair enough. Let's hope you're as good as you think you are."
Without another word, Cassian moved, disappearing into the shadows as he circled around the perimeter of the room. Mara waited for her moment, her breathing slow and steady as she watched the guards, timing their movements. She counted their steps, the way their eyes scanned the room, and then she slipped out from behind the crates, moving like a shadow.
The first guard didn't even see her coming. Mara was on him in seconds, her knife flashing as she sliced through the air, finding the soft spot between his ribs. He gasped, his eyes wide with shock as he crumpled to the ground without a sound. Mara caught him before he could hit the floor, gently lowering his body behind a stack of crates.
She moved to the next guard, her steps silent, her body coiled with tension. The second guard was more alert, his hand hovering near his weapon, but Mara was faster. She was on him in an instant, her knife finding its mark just as he turned. His body went limp, his eyes glazed over as she eased him down to the floor.
On the other side of the room, Cassian was just as quick. He took down one guard with a clean strike to the throat, his movements fluid and practiced. The second guard barely had time to react before Cassian was on him, pinning him against the wall and delivering a sharp, silent blow that left him unconscious on the floor.
Within moments, the room was still again, the only sound the faint hum of the glowing console at the center of the chamber. Mara wiped her blade on her jacket and turned to Cassian, who was already at the terminal, his fingers flying across the keypad.
"You good?" he asked, not looking up from the screen.
"Yeah," Mara replied, her heart still racing from the adrenaline. "What now?"
Cassian tapped a few more keys, and the terminal beeped softly. "I'm in. Give me a minute to break through the encryption. The Core's network is layered with firewalls, but we can piggyback on the Syndicate's own data lines."
Mara moved to his side, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of movement. The walls were lined with cables, conduits running from the ceiling to the floor, all leading to the Core. The weight of it pressed down on her, the realization that they were standing on the edge of something monumental. Whatever was in the Core, it had cost Elias his life—or at least his freedom.
"Do you think he made it this far?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Cassian paused, glancing at her for a brief moment before returning his focus to the screen. "If he did, we'll know soon enough."
Mara clenched her fists, frustration and fear warring inside her. She wanted to believe her brother was still alive, that he had somehow found a way to survive, but the city had a way of swallowing people whole. The deeper you went, the harder it was to climb back out.
The terminal beeped again, and Cassian let out a breath. "We're in. I've got access to the Core's outer systems."
Mara leaned closer, watching as lines of code streamed across the screen. "What are we looking for?"
"Anything that references Elias," Cassian said, his eyes narrowing as he sifted through the data. "He had to leave a trail somewhere, a trace of what he was working on."
Mara's pulse quickened. This was it—the moment they had been working toward. If they could find even a sliver of information about her brother, it would be the breakthrough she needed.
But as the data scrolled past, Cassian's expression darkened.
"What is it?" Mara asked, a sinking feeling growing in her gut.
Cassian shook his head, his jaw clenched. "The system's been wiped. There's nothing here. No records, no logs. It's like he never existed."
Mara's heart sank. "That's impossible. He was here. He had to have left something."
Cassian's fingers flew across the keyboard, his frustration mounting. "The Syndicate's covered their tracks. They've scrubbed everything."
Mara's mind raced. If the Syndicate had gone to these lengths to erase Elias from their system, it meant he had found something important—something they couldn't afford to let anyone else discover.
"There's got to be another way," she said, her voice tight with determination. "Another access point, another system we can tap into."
Cassian hesitated for a moment before nodding. "There's one more option. But it's risky."
Mara raised an eyebrow. "How risky?"
"We bypass the Core's primary firewall and go deeper into their network. But if we trigger any of their alarms, we'll have the entire Syndicate on us in seconds."
Mara's mind whirled with the implications, but she couldn't afford to back down now. "Do it."
Cassian's eyes flicked to hers, a mixture of admiration and caution in his gaze. "You're willing to risk everything for this?"
"I'm not leaving without answers," Mara said, her voice resolute. "Whatever it takes."
Cassian nodded, his expression hardening. "Then we go all in."
He began working on the terminal again, his hands moving with swift precision as he prepared to dive deeper into the Core's network. Mara watched him, her heart pounding in her chest. The stakes had never been higher, but she couldn't turn back now. Elias was out there—somewhere—and she was going to find him, no matter the cost.