Kalvos Prime felt different at night—quieter, colder, but no less alive. Neon signs flickered in the distance, casting their vivid glows on the rain-soaked streets. Big D moved through the alleyways, keeping concealed, his senses on overdrive.

  He slipped into a run-down, abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. It was the kind of place no one looked twice at.

  Inside, Big D found an old maintenance hatch and pried it open, revealing a hidden tunnel that led deeper underground. Reaching the end, he emerged into a small, dimly lit room. It was a makeshift hideout—littered with old monitors, discarded cables, and an array of modified equipment.

  “Home sweet home,” he said, his arms spread wide. “I'm back in business.“

  Powering up the monitors, the screens flashed to life, displaying various feeds from across the city. He could sense the Nexus’s potential everywhere—drones patrolling the streets and cameras monitoring every corner.

  He couldn't be certain of how far reaching its control was, if it was in control of anything outside of its data centers.

  Footsteps interrupted his thoughts, cutting through them like a dull blade through flesh. His head shot up and around, his gaze fixed on the door. It swung open, revealing a familiar face.

  Big D hunched over, his elbow pressed into his thigh.

  “Selene,” he said.

  She stared at him, her expression blank.

  “Dan,” she said.

  “It's like that, is it?“ he asked, his brow furrowing.

  “Your incompetence knocked me right back down to the bottom,” she said, curling her fingers into a fist.

  Big D stood up, bucking the chair into the desk.

  “My incompetence?“ he asked, jamming his finger into his chest. “Where the hell were you—”

  Another person stepped through the threshhold, stopping just behind Selene. A pale man—comparable to Big D's six foot seven frame.

  “Look at that. You missed me so much you found a knockoff.“

  Selene grabbed the man by his waist, dragging him closer.

  “The only knockoff around here is you,” she said. “This is a real agent. Not some one-note half-wit.“

  Big D scoffed, measuring up Selene's partner.

  “Who are you?“ he asked.

  “Arcturus,” the man responded. “I was recruited a year ago.“

  “Green,” Big D said, shaking his head. “Why are you two here?“

  “What do you mean 'why are we here'?“ Selene asked, narrowing her eyes. “This is an agency hideout, not your pad.“

  She looked around the room, taking in the grime and dust covering the surfaces.

  “I can see why you might think that, though,” she said.

  Big D sat back down on the couch, the frame creaking under his weight.

  “What's your mission?“ he asked.

  “We're entering the Nexus,” she said.

  “The hell with that. You go in, you might not come back out,” Big D said, pulling a data drive out of his coat.

  “I'm sure that drive isn't going to tell us anything new. As always, you're a step behind,” she replied.

  Big D forcefully exhaled. “What do you think you know?“ he asked.

  “Think?“ Selene asked, a grin spreading across her face. “I don't think—I know.“

  She picked the desk chair up off the ground, setting it back down on its legs.

  “The blackouts, the stuck players, all of it is the Nexus,” she said.

  “How did you come up with that?“ Big D asked.

  “When Miles vanished, a security team went looking for him,” she said. “Well, they found him. He's in the pod in the core lab.“

  She shifted her gaze toward Arcturus, remaining silent.

  “Right,” Arcturus said. “So, we analyzed the security footage, discovering he entered a pod after mumbling incoherent nonsense and never exited it again.“

  Big D looked between both of them.

  “And that somehow translates to entering the Nexus yourselves?“ he asked.

  “Orders are orders,” Selene said. “And the orders are to enter the Nexus and collect intel.“

  “If you can't log out?“ Big D asked.

  “We'll cross that bridge if we get there,” she said.

  Big D slapped his legs. “What a plan. Sounds like you know what you're doing. Can you go now? I have real work to do.“

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  “Arcturus, let's leave our hero to his real work,” she said, getting up from the chair.

  The two of them exited the room, leaving Big D to consider his next steps.

  His unblinking gaze mapped all of the ingress and egress points of the dimly lit chain-link barriers surrounding a relay station. From the hideout, he had access to all of the public surveillance cameras.

  The relay station was a key node in the local network, responsible for routing data to and from this region of Nexus servers. Big D gathered his gear, double-checking everything.

  A brief moment of white noise broke the silence. It was enough to capture Big D's attention. He glanced back at the monitor, displaying a face that appeared hollow-eyed, a grin spread across it. It lingered, its empty eyes locking onto his before vanishing—the surveillance feeds back on full display.

  “What's the point?“

  Big D swept the room, his head swinging in every direction.

  “It's too late for that now. You commit yourself to failure.“

  He strapped on his pack and moved toward the doorway in quick strides, glancing back toward the monitors briefly.

  “We'll see,” he muttered.

  Big D opened the door to a buzzing sound reverberating through the tunnel, growing louder every second. What was a black blob in the distance began to take shape into an aerial drone. The lines became sharper as it raced toward him. He slammed the door shut, the surrounding equipment on the walls clattering.

  As he spun around to dive behind cover, an explosion quaked the room. The door was ejected from its hinges, a wave of heat and a powerful unseen force following it inside.

  The door slammed into Big D, careening him to the opposite side of the room. The metal hatch, crumpled but intact, shielded him from the worst.

  He shoved the door aside, its groan echoing through the dust filled room as it peeled from his body.

  Staggering to his feet, coughing, his ears were deaf to anything but the ringing. He stumbled his way to the singed fabric couch, collapsing onto it, vision spinning as he focused on the ceiling.

  His internal compass was whirling around and around, unable to find true north.

  He shot back up, his head darting back and forth.

  “It'll send more.“

  “That's the second time you missed!“ he shouted, his gaze fixed on the monitors.

  He rushed into the tunnels, his hand sliding down the wall ahead of him—the training wheels he needed to keep him from making his acquaintance with the deck.

  >>>>>***********************<<<<<

  The relay station was nestled between two warehouses, guarded by a small detachment of drones. Big D watched from a distance, noting the patrol patterns and timing his approach.

  He knelt by a section of fence blanketed by a veil of darkness. He dug through his bag, gripping a pair of side cutters.

  Click.

  Click.

  Click.

  Slow and deliberate, each cut through the links were carefully executed as to avoid detection. Although, due to his size, he had to open it up more than he was comfortable with.

  “I'll just have to make this quick, before they find the opening.“

  Big D slipped through, his bag snagging against the jagged edges of the galvanized links. He silently yanked the pack, avoiding any tears.

  Keeping low, he slipped past the outer perimeter, locating an access panel on the side of the building. He scanned around it, his brow furrowing as he noticed proprietary fasteners holding it together.

  “Always finding ways to rip people off,” he murmured, pulling out a flathead from his bag.

  He jammed it into front cover, slamming his palm into it, the plastic exterior shattering on one side.

  Rinse and repeat.

  The drones continued their patrols, oblivious to his presence.

  “A wire here, a wire there,” he whispered, his fingers dancing around the box with the precision of an old bench tech.

  The terminal flickered from green to red, the security systems went offline. Big D slipped past the door, carefully closing it behind him.

  Moving through the narrow corridors, his footsteps barely made a sound. He reached the main control room, the glow of monitors painting the walls with colorful hues.

  He approached the control console, tapping through the prompts. System logs flickered across the screen as he bypassed security restrictions, disabling network relays and permissions to sever the station’s data feed. This was the thousandth time—but this time, it was against the Nexus, not just routine subterfuge.

  A sudden noise made him pause. Rhythmic sounds of a metallic clanging mixed with the whir of servos echoed down the corridor. He tilted his head toward the security displays.

  “What the hell is that?“ he whispered, straining to keep his voice low.

  He drew his side arm, white knuckling the grip as he faced the door. Taking aim, the sights jittered under the strain of his grasp.

  The door swung open, an eight foot alloy chassis stepping through the threshold. Its segmented plate armor covered artificial muscle fibers, only exposed through small gaps between joints. Its green, glowing eyes scanned the area.

  Big D squinted as he made out its weapon of choice.

  “A coil gun? Fuck this.“

  He darted for cover as projectiles flowed in steady streams close behind him. Sparks and smoke spilled out of the consoles as the rifle punch half inch holes through the sheet metal skins.

  He pressed his back against the barrier, keeping the pistol pointed up next to his temple. Chest heaving, heart racing, his instincts clawed at him.

  “I can't stay here.“

  He closed his eyes briefly, then popped out of cover, his pistol leveled toward the door.

  It was gone.

  A shimmer out of the corner of his eye betrayed its new position—immediately next to him. A blade sliced through the air, its razor sharp edge singing as it came down on him.

  Big D rolled out of under the blade, its edge sparking against the concrete floor.

  He discharged his pistol in rapid succession, the bullets sparking harmlessly off its armor as he advanced toward it.

  It swung again in a horizontal arc, Big D ducking under it. Its arm across its body, he saw an opportunity. With his free hand, he trapped its arm against its body, then jammed the pistol under its mandible and emptied the magazine.

  Big D's face was painted with amber, viscous substance highlighted by the orange flashes of failing circuits.

  The machine crumpled to the ground, its green optical sensors flickering.

  Big D knelt down, running his eyes across the failing drone.

  “That's three,” he muttered.

  It twitched.

  Big D leaped back, slipping on hydraulic fluid and crashing onto the floor. Looking over his feet, the green glow faded to black.

  “Did the Nexus build that?“

  His sole slick with oil, he retraced his steps back to the side entrance. Struggling to stay on his feet, he considered the implications of what he had just engaged.

  If the Nexus built that machine, it really was too late.

  He stepped out of the side door, his legs moving at a quick and controlled pace. The drones were gone, replaced by rumbles and pops in the backdrop.

  Big D watched the flashes of orange and red illuminating the city. The sky was blackened by the clouds of smoke left behind by the fireballs of missiles and bombs—bringing the once highly disciplined armed forces of Kalvos Prime down a few notches.

  A cigarette in one hand, and the coarse concrete under the seat of his pants, he just observed the destruction.

  “Was it really for nothing?“

  His head sank as his eyes traced the cracks in the asphalt. In all his hubris, he was confident he could slow it down, if at least marginally. Instead, he stepped outside to a chaos beyond his imagination. He played out the idea in his head—the Nexus taking over the automated systems throughout the city.

  The sound of gravel crunched under his boots as he stood up. It was time to get off the planet. There were miles of seperation between him and the starport—through a city filled with potential militants serving the Nexus, reprogrammed and merciless, absent any morality.

  He looked at his sidearm, loosely gripped in his hand. He slid it back into its holster.

  “Lets get this over with,” he said, double timing it toward the gunfire.