The soft hum of the Cyberslip Module filled the room, a faint, almost soothing noise that Kaius had become all too familiar with. His eyes were fixed on the screen, the strings of code flickering as the module worked its way through the encrypted layers of the chip. It had been days since he'd found the chip, weeks since he had started this obsession, and yet every time he thought he was getting close to the truth, something else would pull him back.
Today was different, though. Today, he could feel the shift in the data.
The module's progress bar ticked forward slowly, painfully slow, but it was moving. Kaius's hands hovered over the keys, ready to dive in the second it broke through. His heart raced, anticipation building with every moment that passed.
Then, finally, the screen flickered.
Access granted.
Kaius leaned forward, his breath catching as the encrypted numbers unraveled into a series of broken messages and scattered data. It wasn't everything, not yet, but it was a start. He scrolled through the fragments of code, his eyes scanning for something—anything—that made sense.
And then he saw it.
An address. A set of coordinates buried deep in the data.
His pulse quickened. This was it. A lead. But just as he moved to extract the coordinates, the screen froze.
CRYPTO COMMUNICATION DETECTED.
"What the hell?" Kaius muttered, his fingers hovering over the keys as the system began to lock up. A warning flashed across the screen in angry red letters.
EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED.
EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED.
EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED.
EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED.
Someone's trying to access the module?
Panic surged through him as he slammed his hands down on the keyboard, scrambling to shut down the system before whoever it was could get in. The screen flickered, the data scrambling again, and with a final keystroke, the module powered down. The room fell silent, the hum gone, leaving only the sound of Kaius's labored breathing.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the blank screen. His heart pounded in his chest. Someone knows.
He didn't know who or why, but he felt it in his gut—someone was watching him. And it wasn't Sura or her team. This was something else, something darker.
He stood up, pushing his chair back, and walked to the window. The street outside was quiet, the usual bustle of the city reduced to a soft murmur in the distance. But there, just beyond the line of hover cars parked on the curb, was a figure.
A shadow.
Kaius's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't see their face, couldn't make out any features, but the figure was watching. He knew it.
"They've been watching for days now."
Kaius swallowed hard, stepping away from the window. The strings flickered faintly at the edges of his vision—red, pulsing with that familiar sense of danger. The longer he stared at them, the more they seemed to tighten, constricting around him.
He turned away from the window, trying to shake off the feeling.
Focus on the chip, Focus on the work.
But even as he sat back down at the table, the shadow lingered in the back of his mind.
Hours passed, but the sense of unease stayed with him. Gareth sat at the table across from him, hunched over his usual stack of papers, his face obscured by the dim light of the apartment. Kaius glanced up at him occasionally, hoping for some kind of guidance, some reassurance that everything was fine. But Gareth's presence felt distant, more so than usual.
"Dad," Kaius said quietly, his voice breaking the silence.
"I almost cracked the chip. There was… there was an address. But someone tried to access it. They're watching me."
Gareth didn't look up. His fingers tapped slowly against the edge of the papers, his voice soft, almost disinterested. "Just be careful, Kaius."
Kaius frowned. "That's it? Just be careful? You don't think this is important?"
For a moment, Gareth didn't respond. The silence stretched on, suffocating in its stillness. Finally, Gareth spoke again, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You've always been destined for something more, Kaius. You know that."
Kaius stared at his father, the words hanging in the air like a fog. Something about them felt… wrong. But he didn't know why.
He shook his head, pushing the thought away. "I just… I don't know what to do."
Gareth didn't answer.
The silence returned, heavier this time, like the weight of a thousand unsaid things pressing down on Kaius's shoulders. He glanced back at the chip, the screen of the Cyberslip Module still dark. He didn't have a choice. He had to figure this out, with or without his father's help.
That night, Kaius lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, the strings flickering in and out of his vision like ghosts. They were stronger now, more vivid, as if they were trying to tell him something, to pull him toward a truth he wasn't ready to face.
The red strings pulsed with a sense of urgency, wrapping around his thoughts, tightening like a noose. He could feel them now, more clearly than ever before. His powers were growing, faster than his father had said they would. He wasn't supposed to fully unlock them until he turned 20, but it didn't feel that far away anymore.
The strings were everywhere now, not just around people. They were in the air, in the walls, in the space between thoughts. They pulsed with life, with meaning, but Kaius couldn't fully grasp what they were trying to tell him.
All he knew was that something was coming. And it was coming fast.
The next day, Kaius stepped out of the apartment, his senses on high alert. The red strings flickered at the edges of his vision, warning him that danger was close. He pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders as he made his way down the street, his mind still racing with the events of the previous night.
He had barely made any progress on the chip. The breach had set him back, and now he wasn't sure if he could trust his own system. But he couldn't stop now. He was too close.
As he walked, the familiar feeling of being watched returned. He glanced over his shoulder, scanning the crowd. And then he saw it.
The shadow.
It was closer this time, standing at the end of the street, partially obscured by the corner of a building. Kaius's heart pounded in his chest. The figure wasn't moving, wasn't trying to hide. They were just… watching.
Kaius's pulse quickened. He started to walk faster, his eyes darting between the figure and the road ahead. But when he reached the next intersection, the shadow was gone.
He stopped, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The strings pulsed violently around him, their red glow almost blinding.
They're getting closer.
He didn't know who they were, but he knew one thing for sure.
He couldn't run forever.