The air in the apartment was thick with silence, the kind that seemed to press down on Kaius, making his every breath feel heavy. He stared at the small chip resting on the table in front of him, its surface glinting under the dim light of the room. He had barely slept, and the fatigue was beginning to take its toll, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from it.
Sura's warning still echoed in the back of his mind, like a phantom whisper he couldn't shake off. You're in danger. But it wasn't the warning that had kept him up—it was the chip. He knew, somehow, that it was left there intentionally. His gut told him it wasn't just a coincidence.
It was bait.
And even though he knew it, he couldn't help but take it.
Kaius had spent the past few days attempting to crack into the chip's encryption, but it had been harder than anything he'd encountered before. The numbers didn't follow any traditional patterns, and each time he thought he was close to breaking it, the code shifted—like it was alive, reacting to his attempts.
Damn it. He rubbed his eyes, his vision blurring from hours of staring at the Cyberslip Module—a sleek, portable device he'd rigged together to interface with the chip. It wasn't standard tech; it was something he had learned to make in the underground forums, a way to dive deep into encrypted data without setting off any alarms. But this chip… it was different. It was like it didn't want to be opened, like it was defending itself.
Still, Kaius felt that pull. Something about the chip was calling to him, urging him to dig deeper. And even though he couldn't explain it, he knew this wasn't just a random piece of tech. It was connected to something larger.
Five days… That's how long he had been trying to crack it, and yet he was no closer to the truth. The Cyberslip Module had worked its way through layers of encryption, but it was painfully slow, each layer peeling back like a stubborn shell. His father had once warned him that diving into things like this could attract unwanted attention, but Kaius hadn't told him about the chip.
Or at least, he hadn't told him in a way that Gareth could understand.
Kaius had always been the one to push the boundaries, to dig into things when others would walk away. His father had told him about his powers—how they would fully reveal themselves when he turned 20—but Kaius couldn't wait. There were moments lately, like flashes of light, when he felt something new awakening inside him. The strings had become clearer, more vivid. They were almost alive, like they knew something he didn't. The red strings, in particular, had become more frequent, their pulse strong, almost warning him.
He felt like something was building inside of him, and it scared him. He was only 19—he wasn't ready for whatever was coming.
"One more day, he told himself, glancing at the clock on the screen. Just one more day, and I'll stop."
But deep down, he knew that was a lie.
Ten days later, the chip was still a mystery.
The Cyberslip Module hummed softly beside him, continuing its tireless work as Kaius sat hunched over the table. His face was drawn, dark circles hanging under his eyes from the lack of sleep. The apartment felt colder, emptier, despite Gareth sitting nearby, as he always did, quietly observing the work.
"Still working on that?" Gareth's voice was distant, almost an echo in the quiet space.
Kaius nodded, not looking up. "Yeah. It's… taking longer than I thought. The encryption is deeper than I've ever seen."
Gareth didn't respond right away. Kaius glanced over at him, seeing his father's familiar hunched figure at the table, but something about the way Gareth didn't move, didn't say more, bothered him. He shook the thought away, chalking it up to exhaustion.
"Don't push yourself too hard, Kaius. You're not invincible," Gareth said quietly, before turning his attention back to the stack of papers he always seemed to be reading.
Kaius didn't respond. He wasn't sure why, but his father's words, once a source of comfort and guidance, felt distant, almost rehearsed. Like Gareth was there, but not entirely present.
1 month later
The breakthrough finally came.
Kaius stared at the Cyberslip Module in disbelief as the encrypted numbers on the screen slowly resolved into readable data. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think for a moment. The chip had finally given up its secrets—or at least, part of them.
But just as he was about to dive deeper, to explore the contents, a notification flashed across his screen.
CRYPTO COMMUNICATION DETECTED
The module buzzed softly, alerting him to a cryptic message. Kaius frowned, his heart skipping a beat. Not now, he thought, but the message demanded his attention. He opened it cautiously, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar numbers.
Suddenly, the screen blinked. The entire display froze for a second before the cryptic numbers scrambled into an unreadable mess.
Damn it!
He felt his stomach drop. Someone knew he was trying to access the chip. He could feel it in his gut, a cold twist of fear that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Quickly, Kaius shut down the system, his hands trembling as he disconnected the module from the chip. Someone was watching. He didn't know who, but he had felt the strings pull the moment the communication appeared. It wasn't Sura. It wasn't her team.
It was someone else.
The next day, Kaius couldn't shake the feeling that he was being followed. Every time he walked down the street, it felt like there was someone watching him from the shadows, lurking just beyond his field of vision. He could almost sense them—dark shapes that flitted in the corner of his eye. But whenever he turned to look, they were gone.
The strings pulsed, their colors more vibrant than ever. The red ones, in particular, glowed fiercely, as if warning him of the danger that lurked just beyond his reach. He knew that something big was coming. He just didn't know what.
Back in the apartment, Gareth sat at the table, quiet as always. Kaius sat across from him, staring at the chip in his hands, his mind racing with possibilities. He hadn't told his father about the cryptic message, or about the feeling of being watched. Something inside him told him to keep it to himself.
And then, as if sensing the tension in the room, Gareth spoke.
"You're getting closer, aren't you?"
Kaius looked up, surprised. "Closer to what?"
"To the truth. About who you are. About what you're meant to do."
Kaius frowned, confused by the sudden shift in his father's tone. "What do you mean?"
Gareth's eyes seemed to glint in the dim light, his voice low and steady.
"You've always been destined for something more, Kaius. You know that. The strings… they're showing you the way."
Kaius blinked, taken aback. He hadn't told his father about the strings, about how vivid they had become, or how they seemed to be pulling him toward something.
"How do you—"
But before he could finish his sentence, Gareth stood up from the table, his movements slow and deliberate. "Just… be careful, Kaius. The path you're on… it's dangerous."
And with that, Gareth turned and walked toward his room, leaving Kaius alone with his thoughts.