Shard

[Welcome to the Magic Universe, a world where magical power reigns supreme.] [Congratulations on awakening the Infinity Money System.] [Feel free to splurge your money and prove to the entire universe that there's nothing money can't solve.] [If there is, it simply means you don't pay enough money!] So, the show of your adventure begins! [Detected: Host burned Forbidden rank Scrolls for warmth, rewarded with God rank bloodline: Heart of Origin!] [Detected: Host used Temporal Shard to ripen grapes, rewarded with God rank talent: Master of Time!] [Detected: Host fed Leaves of the World Tree to a rabbit, rewarded with Mythical Beast: Aetherlapis!] [Dear Host, you now bought and own the entire Magic Universe.] [Which universe would you like to conquer next?] Good, let’s move on! [Ding! Abnormality detected.] [Warning, Host, you are not the only system processor…]

Elias Kael thought his life as a chef would be simple—until the day he bonded with a mysterious shard and awakened the power of the Sharder System. Now, with an eccentric companion named Dot, Elias is thrust into a world where Shard Bearers are hunted, their powers coveted by hidden factions. With his forgotten past resurfacing and deadly enemies closing in, Elias must unlock his true potential, master his growing abilities, and uncover the secret behind the shards before it’s too late. But the deeper he digs, the more he realizes—he isn’t just another Sharder. He might be the key to everything.

He is a firefighter, his face blackened by smoke, coming from the flames, and in one glance, his life was set. The first time he met the young girl, she bent slightly towards him and said, "Sir..." He was amused, thinking she was a little eccentric... She had never seen such a handsome man, tall like a general, and when their eyes met, she was bewildered and forgot she wasn't in the palace... Later, during the school art performance, the young girl sat on stage, dressed in ancient costume, with a veil covering her face, holding a pipa, her eyebrows shy, appearing both delicate and graceful... He raised his alluring eyes, recalling the girl said she knew a little about musical instruments and chess; she was modest. Seeing him in the audience, her heart raced, wanting to perform well but accidentally struck the wrong chord, fortunately unnoticed by him... Later still, the young girl, now grown, suddenly confessed to him, and the usually calm and composed man was caught off guard... It was a love she had hidden deep in her heart for many years, like shards of glass in her palm, both a patient endurance and impulsive agony... The joy of love at first sight, a hidden affection... She would never know that the brother she secretly admired had been waiting for her to grow up...

I died… killed by the very Shard of Mirror I shattered. And when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t myself anymore. I had transmigrated into my favorite game—not as a hero, not as a villain, but as an extra.  In a world where Sigils dictate power, I found myself in the body of a boy who had already died on the battlefield. Yet, as I drew breath in his place, his Sigil changed. A power never meant for him, never meant for me. Thrown into the bloodstained playground of rulers, I must carve my own path. But the deeper I walk, the more I realize… this world is far more mysterious than the game ever showed it to be.

In a city called Dunmore, where a weakened dome stands between its people and bloodthirsty demons, Aric, a young, defiant fighter who believes in equality, is part of its Vanguard: fearless soldiers that keep the demons at bay. When the crystal holding their dome—a remnant of the goddess Ilona—suddenly fails and throws the city into chaos, he’s among the brave ones sent beyond the walls to chase a shard of the Aetherion, a sentient energy that could save or destroy them, pulling him into a treacherous wasteland where survival is always beyond reach. The flawed gods resurface, their inevitable end drawing near, scheming and weaving promises to manipulate oblivious mortals into their power plays. But gods and men don't mix easy, and alliances tend to fray, turning friends to foe in a heartbeat as blood of both mortals and divine beings are spilled. Out there, Aric finds the enemies closer than anticipated, truths in his blood he never wanted, and each ally he makes, becoming casualties of enemies he can’t outrun. And as the realms are on the brink of annihilation, Aric must face the truth: sometimes, the greatest threats comes from those who have sworn to protect. Loss after loss builds Aric, altering his perception of the world, as he loses his moral tether, transforming from a man to something else. When an Obsidian Rift is about to release an ancient evil from their earthly prison, gods and mortals rally to make one last stand. Will Aric save the realms—or will he be the fire that consumes it all? ******* If you love narratives where the MC becomes the villain and the hero, then this book is for you.

Each awakening is a new life for her. Sometimes she's a goddess, sometimes a city, and sometimes just a whisper in the wind. She remembers nothing of her past, yet in every world, there awaits someone who knows her name all too well. Our heroine is a shard of a once-great being, lost through time and across countless realms. Her destiny is to unravel the mysteries of many worlds, seek answers, and encounter those who once were friends, enemies, lovers... or perhaps something more. Yet when memory returns, so does the realization: what if she was never meant to exist? An endless romantic fantasy, where magic intertwines with secrets, and love dances with eternity.

When the port of Franik chokes on briny fog thick with the reek of decay, a witcher pierced through the heart by a pitchfork opens eyes that no longer belong to him—Bai Lang, a 21st-century zoologist, now inhabits this scarred body. Hired by a tavern keeper for three silver coins to dredge up a drowned earl’s bastard, he finds a spoon stamped with royal wax in the corpse’s bloated stomach. As fishing nets haul up indigo cloth fragments from the New World, the gallows creaks under the weight of its seventh “witch,” her charred ankles swaying above the harbor. Twelve letters bearing disparate noble crests steer Bai Lang toward a fractured silver sword’s trail: a sarcophagus in a monastery crypt weeps with a banshee’s lament, a cyclops’ birthmark glows upon a fishergirl’s collarbone in rhythm with the tides, and Crusader curses fester as sentient barnacles devouring sailors in a merchant ship’s belly. Yet the deadliest snare lies in the crown prince’s chambers—a unicorn tapestry woven from twelve bastards’ umbilical cords, every thread stitched with the witchers’ vanishing truth. Shrouded sails pierce the North Sea’s fury as the fabled Isle of Witchers emerges from mythic fog. When pyres of burning witches stain the horizon and the Pope’s dagger presses against a laboring mother’s fevered throat, Bai Lang clutches the final shard of silver and understands: the plague ravaging the Old World is no act of God, but a funeral orchestrated by New World capitalists and Old World theocrats. The last witcher’s blade, once plunged into monstrous hearts, must now carve an epitaph for the devils mankind has birthed—and bury an era in its silver grave.

Front Page is "NAÍNDRA NUXINUS - CADET CUNN-69". The world is dangerous, yet, there is beauty in the chaos if you learn how to appreciate it. The "Imperishable", Entities Above Everything Else, understood this undeniable truth eons ago, gifting to the Mortals a few tools to overcome the challenges across their lives. With this, amusing their own boring existences, looking with enthusiasm what new story could unfold, or if the same mistakes would be done once again but by a different person. The First Gift, is "Shards", called "Cards" by some, this otorgue instant rewards when you exchange them in an "Imperishable Monolith". The Second Gift, is the mentioned structure, capable of craft almost anything if you have the recipe, blueprint and the required materials and ingredients, a true aberration depending on who you ask. The Third Gift, is the "Perennence", with a 100 you won't Die if you are slain, you simply would "Respawn" in a "Memory Hall", making you partially Immortal, because as long as you have 1 of Perennence, you wouldn't be really dead, and someone else can "Revive" you by providing the missing resource. However, this comes with a drawback, you become a "Servant" of the person or thing that save your life, at least until you repay the Perennence plus an Interest of 50%. The Fourth Gift, is "The Memory Hall", unfortunately, they had an evil twin, "The Howling Wall", which are created in places that had seen too many "Take Downs" in a short span of time; Differently to the prodigal twin, you must have a minimum of 25 Perennence to be Respawned, otherwise, at best, you become an Immaterial entity, similar to a ghost, if not, a mindless beast or a simple Drone for a Hive Mind is not far fetched. Lastly, The Fifth Gift, is divided in three concepts, "Repercussion", "Traits" and "Work", being the last, one of the most unfair of all the Gifts, as you can't change your Work under any circumstances, which applies even for "The Imperishable". But the Gifts don't come for free, as they attract a series of weird creatures from unknown territories, sprouting the so called "Graveyards", "Factories", "Hives", "Nests", "Lairs", "Crops" and "Farms" across the entire world of "Leathemnur". NO CHEATS NO PLOT ARMOR NO VANILLA EASY LIFE DON'T GET FOOLED BY THE START A FAIR SHARE OF: ACTION BEAUTIES MYSTERIES A WHOLE LOT OF: SMUT BONDING INDECENCY COMMENT FOR: KINKS DOUBTS SUGGESTIONS Additional Information: I would try and publish TWO or even THREE Chapters a Day, and TWO up to SEVEN Chapters on Sundays, of course, it would depend entirely on my current schedule IRL. My Personal Goal is Publish between 15 up to 25 Chapters every week. English is not my first language, that is why, any mistake I made across the story, feel free to point it out for me to correct it as soon as possible.

Each awakening is a new life for her. Sometimes she's a goddess, sometimes a city, and sometimes just a whisper in the wind. She remembers nothing of her past, yet in every world, there awaits someone who knows her name all too well. Our heroine is a shard of a once-great being, lost through time and across countless realms. Her destiny is to unravel the mysteries of many worlds, seek answers, and encounter those who once were friends, enemies, lovers... or perhaps something more. Yet when memory returns, so does the realization: what if she was never meant to exist? An endless romantic fantasy, where magic intertwines with secrets, and love dances with eternity.

A world filled with aether, a corrosive force and a source of power. In search of power, people started to attune thier bodies with aether, harmonising with its chaotic flow, the one's who resonated with aether successfully, became Luminers. But the true mysteries lay in shards, each containing a mystical power. Now that the wielder of time shard had died, disintegrating his shard with him...what will happen to the world? What changes will his death bring into the future world? What happend to all the shards?What became of the aether? What even are these shards? Zeill wanders on his journey which started with a single goal of finding the whereabouts of his father, but takes on a different route when his life takes a drastic turn. In this world filled with aether and shards, how will he fare.

Zack White’s life on the shard-mining dump of Korran’s Reach ends when the Skrixx swarm attacks, their insectoid claws raking the planet for Volthar Shards crystals pulsing with cosmic power. Barely escaping the flames, Zack grabs a shard that jolts him awake. He’s one in ten thousand: an electrokinetic, wielding electricity like magic. His gift? External type supercharging tech by siphoning juice from dead beasts, if he’s quick enough. But survival’s just the start. Thrust into a galaxy of cyberpunk sprawls, warring alien races, and mega-corp greed, Zack’s a nobody with a knack for trouble. The shards aren’t just loot they’re keys to a forgotten force, and everyone wants them: the hive-minded Skrixx, ruthless pirates, even VortexCorp’s shadowy execs. As Zack climbs the tiers of his power, hunting beasts and dodging death, he uncovers a truth that could fry the stars. Allies turn to enemies, planets fall, and his own spark might ignite a rebellion or doom them all. In a universe of starships, electric fury, and buried secrets, Zack’s fight isn’t just for family it’s for everything.

At the age of sixteen, each member of every shard—scattered across each specie—gets a core awakening that determines where they would belong. Karl doesn’t get an awakening, but he stays on the shifter shards, pretending to be a shifter for years until he turns twenty. At twenty, he gets a core awakening, but… there is an abnormality: he shows signs of more than six species, breaking the balance of the world he is in. People like him are rare and dangerous, and soon, he is discovered, turning him into a fugitive in all worlds. None of the shards can claim him, seeing that he had the ability of everyone. These unstable abilities leave him drained, and now he must fight magic and tech to survive while navigating each world, meeting people, sating his desires… and killing.

In a universe where realms are divided by the Veil—a mystical barrier—the sudden Shattering unleashes Chaos, intertwining magic and a game-like System. Kael, a street thief with a latent lineage tied to the Veil, becomes a Veilwalker, navigating three warring realms to restore balance. Each recovered Shard of the Veil grants immense power but exacts a personal toll, forcing Kael to evolve from rogue to reluctant savior.

Trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, Eryndor Veyth awakens in a cursed forest with no memory of his past or how he got there. Every time he dies, he resets to the same moment under a mysterious tree, forced to relive the nightmare over and over again. As he struggles to make sense of his predicament, he discovers fragments of ancient magic tied to time itself—and learns that his survival may hinge on finding the legendary Chronos Shard, an artifact said to control the flow of fate.

In an ancient universe where gods govern not just worlds but entire dimensions, a cosmic catastrophe shatters the Divine Realm into fragments scattered across time and space. The gods, once omnipotent beings, are stripped of their full power and bound to mortal forms, forced to exist among the worlds they once ruled. The fragments of the Divine Realm, known as Celestial Shards, hold immense magical energy and are sought after by mortals, monsters, and rogue gods alike. These shards warp reality wherever they land, creating zones where medieval landscapes blend with alien ecosystems, and magic intertwines with celestial technology.

A mysterious shard has appeared in the multiverse its origin unknown

OUR CHARACTER IN DAOLUO WORLD , NOT SURE OF WHAT TO DO ON A WAY TO FIND HIS WAY , HIS OWN ROAD , AN ORDINARY ROAD THAT HE FOLLOWS.

At the edges of the World of Vunreon lies the skeleton of a Dragon. A being once revered by many titels, such as God of Dragons, the first Dragon, Ruler of Space and Time and master of the Void, he was now nothing more than a imposing sight. Though unbeknownst to his slayers, his soul that they shattered didn't fully die. Instead its countless shards dispersed across time and space, reincarnating each into a mortal coil. When their lives came to an end, they slowly joined back together. After countless millennia, the last of these lives came to an end and thus his soul awoke once more. Whole again but only a soul without a body, he has to start anew on his path to once more stand at the peak of creation. This is my first novel and english is not my first language, so criticism and corrections are always welcome. I do not own the cover

The eruption of a volcano took Kael, an archaeologist, in an instant. Awakening in Aetherion, where magic is real and every being is endowed with powers through a mysterious system, Kael sets out to comprehend reality. With a user guide to a strange system interface and blurred flashbacks, he reluctantly starts flipping around his mind, attempting to assemble all the information needed. Rhea, a fierce warrior from the Fire Continent, soon appears before him; she reluctantly agrees to help him get through Aetherion. As they journey onward, Kael is unlocking ancient powers, and his memories begin to intermingle with the ancient history of the world. Some time afterward, he meets a wise mage, Eldric, who tells him that Aetherion was once whole, a great catastrophe shattered it, and Kael's arrival is no mere chance; he might be the key to restoring balance. With renewed determination, Kael, alongside Rhea and Eldric, seeks the lost shards of Aetherion's power. Meanwhile, dark forces move in the shadows claiming the shards for their sinister purposes. As Kael learns more about his role, he will be forced to make a great decision-embrace his destiny and heal a dangerously fractured world or risk being consumed by the very power he now wields. The path ahead is filled with danger, but one thing is certain: Kael's adventure has begun.

Clara Wilson the heiress to Diamond Group got engaged to the love of her life Isaac Hartford the heir to Starlight Group, due to an unforeseen betrayal, Clara Wilson on the brink of death on the night of full moon, Alpha and his pack hunting for prey, rescues Clara and turned her to a werewolf through an Alpha's bite. will she survive from the Alpha's bite? Excerpts: The ambient sound of waves gently lapping against the hull, coupled with the distant hum of the ship's engines, only amplifies her thoughts. She forces a smile, raising her glass in a toast, masking her emotions with practiced ease. The couple clinks their glasses with hers, their happiness an unspoken contrast to the quiet yearning in her heart. "I'll go inside the suite and rest now you guys enjoy." She said making her way to the suite. "Babe I need to get something inside the suite." Isaac said. "Alright don't keep me here waiting, I can't do without seeing you for a second." "Really that's my girl." He said, kisses her forehead and left. Isaac didn't go to their suite but he went to Jacqueline's suite he pushed opened the door. "Did I scare you?" He asked. "Why didn't you knock on the door before coming in what if I'm undressing." "Sighed softly it's not like this is the first time I'm seeing you undressed should I get rid of your night gown." He said kissing her collar bone. She didn't reject his offer, wrapped her arms around his neck he kissed her thin lips vigorously. Few minutes passed Isaac had not returned yet, she decided to go and check on him, she checked their suite he was not there, she headed to Jacqueline's suite to ask her If she had seen Isaac. She opened the door to Jacqueline's suite and then, her eyes flickered tears rapidly streamed down her face a pang of shame stabbed at her watching her best friend and the love of her life together on bed exchanging intimacies. "Isaac....you! How could you do this to me? What are you two doing together on bed?" Both of them stared at her without any sigh of remorsefulness. "It's just like what you're seeing right now" She moved closer to the bed drags the sheet off Jacqueline exposing her nakedness grabbed her brown hair hitting her head against the cluttered table beside the bed. Jacqueline stretches her hand reaching for the wine she held it and hits Clara's head with the wine bottle, the glass shattered against Clara's head. The sharp crack echoed in the tense silence and crimson blood began to seep, dripping onto the plush carpet and pooling under the shards of broken glass, Clara fainted. The room descended into chaos, the once romantic moments now marred by betrayal and violence. "Oh my goodness what have you done Jacqueline." "Is she dead?" She asked curiously in fear. "What are we going to do now?" "I don't think she is dead yet she fainted probably." He said.  "I know what to do." He carried her heading to the edge of the ship Jacqueline followed him , Isaac pulled off his shirt soaked with blood used it to clean the blood stain on his hand and neck. He folded the shirt and throws it into the sea. Jacqueline standing at the edge of the ship bitting her fingers  panicked about the situation. "Please don't kill me, help me I promise not to cause any trouble for both of you, I will forgive and pretend nothing happened here." Clara muttered in pain. "So you're finally awake"

WSA 2025 Entry What is a man, if not a vessel of hidden truths and whispered deceptions? Beneath the fragile facade lies a labyrinth of secrets—truths buried so deeply they intertwine with the lies we tell ourselves just to survive another day. The masks we wear may fool the world, but they cannot hide the fractures within. Even those we hold closest, the ones we entrust with our hearts, may be the very hands carving unseen wounds into our souls, feeding them to the monsters lurking in the shadows. He was never meant to uncover it. But when fragments of forgotten identities surface and unseen forces move in the shadows, Aramith is thrust into a web of deception, blood, and a history long buried. Worse still, within him stirs an attribute unlike any other—the strongest, yet the most chaotic. A power that bends to no master, a force that threatens to consume him whole. To wield it is to risk destruction; to reject it is to remain powerless. And yet, power alone does not reveal the truth, for blood tells no lies, flowing only when life is claimed, but even its crimson clarity is no guide to the truth. How does one find what is real when their very existence is a fractured mirror, splintered into shards that reflect only distorted glimpses of an identity lost? Each shard offers the promise of clarity, yet together, they form nothing but ruin. To uncover the truth is to face the darkness, and to risk losing what little remains of the self. For in the end, can a man truly hold a reflection if he no longer knows who—or what—he truly is?

Whole neighborhoods sink into mud, shards of glass fall like rain, birds chatter in nonsense, and parents of young children vanish without a trace. Millions starve while others sprout layers of mold. Yet, amid the ruin, a few endure—searching for light in the wreckage, revealing what we have become. Note: this is a short story collection.

In a galaxy where gods and monsters wage eternal war, one man becomes the architect of humanity’s last stand. When Kael Veyne, a disillusioned mechanic from 21st-century Earth, is torn from his world and thrust onto the corpse-planet Vyrion-9, he inherits a war he doesn’t understand. Armed with the Legion Architect System—a mysterious technology that grants him the power to summon soldiers, construct fortresses, and unlock arcane weapons—Kael must rebuild the planet’s shattered defenses from ashes. But Vyrion-9 is no empty graveyard. The planet is hunted by the Vorath Swarm, a ravenous hive-mind of crystalline xenos, and haunted by the Screaming Choir, psychic cultists warped by an alien artifact called the Warp Shard. As Kael’s fledgling legion grows, so does the attention of deadlier foes: Stalkers in Iron (ancient mechanical horrors) and the Eldritch Confluence (cosmic entities feeding on the Vorath’s carnage). To survive, Kael must evolve from a scavenger into a warlord. But the System demands a price: the more he upgrades his Imperial Regulars, Ascendant Legion, and Aetheric Conclave, the more his humanity erodes. His soldiers are expendable—husks, superhuman zealots, and unstable psykers—but Kael’s conscience isn’t. When he discovers the Vorath are not invaders but creations of a long-dead empire, he must choose: reignite the galaxy’s deadliest war machine or let Vyrion-9 become a tomb for his soul. "Legion of the Eclipse" is a relentless blend of grimdark warfare, base-building progression, and cosmic horror, where every victory inches Kael closer to becoming the monster he fights.

In the rugged shadow of Iron Fang Peak, Ren Kai, a seventeen-year-old outcast of the Iron Fang Clan, fights to defy his fate. Born with clogged qi channels, he’s mocked as a cripple in a village where martial prowess defines worth. Yet Kai’s unyielding spirit drives him to train harder than anyone, determined to pass the Trial of the Fang—a deadly ascent to claim a shard of the mystical Fang Crystal and earn his place as a true disciple. With his mother’s quiet fears and the clan’s disdain weighing on him, Kai sees the Trial as his only path to a better life.

The Shards of Fate is a tale of power, destiny, and the consequences of uncovering secrets that should have stayed buried. As Aedan and Kael race against time to control the shards' dangerous potential, they must grapple with not only the external threats but the internal demons that threaten to tear them apart. In a world where nothing is what it seems, only one truth remains: those who seek the shards must be prepared to face the consequences—whatever they may be.

"Aetherial Destinies: Embers of Magic" is a captivating fantasy novel that unfolds in the mystical world of Paragonia, where magic and technology coexist. The story follows Atharva, a disenchanted young man from the 21st century, who, through a twist of fate, finds himself transported to a realm of enchantment and adventure. As he navigates this new world, Atharva discovers a unique and rare gift - an affinity for all seven elemental magics. As he enrolls in the prestigious Magic University of Element Control, he uncovers hidden threats to Paragonia and groups of evils who want to control the world with the help of the shards of Brahmastra, which could grant unprecedented power to those who obtain them. Atharva's journey is marked by duels, challenges, and the formation of deep bonds. The novel weaves a tale of adventure, romance, and the eternal struggle between light and dark in a world brimming with wonder and peril. "Aetherial Destinies: Embers of Magic" is a spellbinding journey of self-discovery, with twists and turns that will keep readers captivated from beginning to end.

**Synopsis:** In a fractured world where gods have vanished, leaving behind shards of their divine power, *Kael*, a cunning street urchin, stumbles upon a cursed shard of the *Eternal Throne*. It grants him immense strength and the abilities—but at a cost: each use erodes his morality. Driven by ambition and survival, Kael embarks on a ruthless quest to gather the remaining shards, each hidden in treacherous realms and guarded by powerful foes. As he grows stronger, he manipulates kingdoms, betrays allies, and commits unspeakable acts,with hiding under the guise of a memeber of the holy church, all while wrestling with the remnants of his humanity. With a rogue sorceress, a fallen knight, and a demon-bound

In the age of Mecha for everyone, people could travel to the Endless Abyss to gather materials, enhance and forge their own Mechas, and thus wield the power to destroy heavens and earth. Jiang Chen had transmigrated and awakened the talent [Undying Barehand]. Once his Mecha shattered, he could permanently absorb its power and attain a multiple enhancement. ... At the bottom of the abyss, the ancient demon god exerted great effort and finally broke the titan Mecha, but from the shards extended a hand that held down its head. "Congratulations, you've unlocked my restraints."

In a world where power is determined by the eyes, the strongest are revered, while those without powers are left to fend for themselves. At the age of ten or eleven, most children awaken their abilities, but for Adrian Clarke, the world of magic and strength remains forever out of reach. Adrian is an introverted, highly intelligent high school student who has spent most of his life hiding behind books, avoiding the bullying he faces for being "powerless." While his mind excels, his lack of any tangible power makes him a target for his peers, and his friends, Lucas and Nova, are his only source of protection. Lucas, with his Light Eyes, and Nova, with her Dark Eyes, are both gifted with Unique Class abilities—powers that only one person per continent can possess. Together, they’ve always kept Adrian safe, but even their formidable powers can’t protect him from the whispers and sneers that follow him everywhere. Despite his position as an outcast, Adrian is not without strength. His analytical mind allows him to outwit bullies and navigate the complexities of high school life. But the nagging question remains: why does he have no power? Why has he been forsaken by the very system that praises the strong and the gifted? As Adrian struggles to find his place in a world that values power above all else, he learns that fate has a strange way of turning things around. When an unforeseen event awakens a mysterious force within him, Adrian’s life is turned upside down. What was once a world of helplessness and rejection suddenly becomes a world of possibilities—possibilities that may come at a steep price. Shard of Sight is a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and the exploration of power—both external and internal. As Adrian and his friends uncover secrets about their world, they must confront not only their own fears and limitations but also the dark truths that lie beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect society.

Elias Kane thought he’d hit the jackpot when he and Juliana—a scarred, feral genius—built an app from stolen alien tech, a mind-bending tool that syncs to a voice and rewires wills with a silent pulse. In a crumbling city lab, they fucked, fought, and forged their chaos—25% charge to attune, 10% to command—until Juliana’s revenge spiral turned it bloody. She aimed it at the world that broke her—baristas groveling, professors caving, a dean’s wife drained—until cops hauled her off, laughing, leaving Elias with the phone and a trail of heat and guilt. Now he’s back in Red Devils, his rotting hometown, crashing with old crew Karlee and India under a lie—city burned me out. India, steel-edged dean of Red Devils Community College, hands him a psych prof gig, but Elias doesn’t know she’s in deep with Sal Ricci, a mafia thug who muscled her into power and wants payback—cash, favors, flesh. The app’s at 65%, buzzing with glitches—Signal: Unknown—and Elias tweaks India to soften her edge, a slow burn set to hit in three days. RDCC’s a snake pit—Karlee’s flirty heat, Romi’s raw muscle, AJ’s rebel spark, all ripe for the app’s pull—but Sal’s limo prowls closer, and the alien shard’s hum hints at eyes beyond the stars. Elias’s lies unravel as Juliana’s ghost drives him—keep it alive—and Red Devils tightens its grip. Control’s a lie, chaos is king, and every pulse could be his last.