Chapter 4: Ghosts of Neon Silence
The night had teeth in the Undergrid.
Electric mist slithered through shattered vents and corroded fiber-tunnels. Every corner hummed with forgotten tech and whispered data ghosts—fragments of a world that no longer obeyed the old laws.
Kai leaned against a steel pillar in what used to be a shuttle maintenance bay, long since repurposed by scavengers. The lights flickered above, and water dripped from exposed piping. His jacket was torn. Lina lay curled beside a portable spirit lamp, her breathing shallow but steady.
The fight had drained more than his qi. It had cracked open something deeper—an ache in his soul he didn't know how to name.
"Are we safe?" Lina murmured.
He turned. Her eyes were half-lidded but alert. Sharp, like their mother's.
"For now," Kai said. "They won't track us through the ruins. Too much spiritual static."
Lina sat up, rubbing her eyes. "You did something… back there. Your arms were glowing. Are you okay?"
Kai didn't answer right away. He flexed his fingers. Even now, faint trails of violet pulsed beneath his skin, like stars hiding behind clouds.
"I activated a Protocol."
"You said the Protocol was broken."
"It was," he replied. "But it's... alive now. Inside me."
Lina stared at him. "Does that mean you're dangerous?"
He froze.
Was he?
He remembered the way the Enforcer flew through the wall. The look of shock on the soldier's face—the terror. He hadn't meant to use that much force. It had just happened. Like the Protocol wanted out.
"I don't know," he said finally.
Lina didn't flinch. She reached out and took his hand.
"You're still my big brother. That means you're the least dangerous person in the world to me."
His throat tightened.
For a long time, neither of them spoke. Outside, the sounds of pursuit had faded. The drones wouldn't risk scanning this deep into the power-dead zone without backup. But Kai knew they would come eventually. The Protocol wasn't just a legacy—it was a beacon.
He stood, walking toward a broken console still embedded in the wall.
"I need answers," he muttered.
He tapped into the system, jacking a line from the spirit lamp into a backup port. The old machine whirred to life with a ghostly shimmer. Lines of corrupted code scrolled by—until one symbol froze the entire interface.
A lotus.
Scorched in black.
Kai's fists clenched.
They were here. Long before me.
A hidden directory decrypted itself. Inside, data logs—recorded testimonies, blueprints, genetic maps—all tied to Project: Star Vein. One file caught his attention.
[Subject ARDENT - Emergency Transfer Log]
His parents' names glowed on the header.
He hit play.
A shaky voice—his mother's.
"They've found us. We can't run anymore. If you're hearing this, Kai, it means we didn't make it. But the Protocol... it's inside you now. You must not let the Ascendancy take it. You must protect your sister. You must—"
The feed cut off, replaced by a sharp, clinical voice.
"This asset is now under Ascendancy jurisdiction. Terminate all redundant assets. Initiate purge."
Then silence.
Lina had joined him without a word. She stared at the now-dark console, face pale.
"You don't have to protect me alone," she whispered.
Kai looked down at her—eyes full of something stronger than fear.
Resolve.
"I won't just protect you," he said. "I'll make them pay."
Outside, the Undergrid moaned like a sleeping beast. Somewhere far above, Adric watched. Somewhere deeper still, a force older than the Ascendancy stirred.
And far beyond, in the coded ruins of a dying starship, something had begun to wake.