Page 75

EON

T he Magenta data center’s maintenance level hummed with the discordant symphony of ancient hardware—cooling systems that wheezed instead of purred, drives that clicked audibly as they cycled through operations. POM never bothered upgrading infrastructure in the lower districts. Not cost-effective.

The abandoned maintenance shaft reeked of rust and stagnant water, nothing like the sterile corridors of POM Headquarters.

Stellarium pipes hung exposed from the ceiling, their casings cracked to reveal the pulsing veins of power beneath—bright magenta rather than the pure white of POM’s central systems. The data center’s heart still beat, but the rhythm was irregular. Neglected.

Just like the district above it.

“Ready, E?” Taos’ voice crackled through my Vysor.

I flexed my fingers, watching violet electricity dance between them. “Full spectrum.”

The fresh hit of Vector coursing through my veins made everything crystalline—every sound, every sensation amplified to near-unbearable clarity.

The access door before me was a joke—its security systems long outdated, maintained just enough to keep out casual intruders but nothing more.

My Flux slipped through the circuits like a ghost, the lock disengaging with barely a whisper of resistance.

I didn’t even need cyberspace or code. I let my Flux do the talking now.

Where the Tech District’s servers stood like gleaming monoliths, perfectly aligned in a temple of digital efficiency, this place was chaos.

Towers leaned precariously, jury-rigged connections spiderwebbing between them.

The air hummed with an unsettling dissonance, the sound of a system on the verge of collapse.

“DITA, you reading me?” I whispered.

“Signal’s weak but present,” she replied. “Power fluctuations are affecting transmission stability.”

I moved deeper into the forest of neglected hardware, trailing my fingers over dusty casings. Beneath my touch, the systems flickered to life, responding to my Flux like sleeping creatures stirred by a familiar scent.

This felt wrong. The ease of access, the minimal security.

This felt right. The way the systems seemed almost eager for my intrusion.

“E, status?” Taos again, her voice tense.

“Working on it,” I replied, reaching the central hub.

The power distribution panel sprawled before me like an open wound, cables spilling out in tangled heaps. This hardware was ancient. I knelt before it, my Flux extending into the chaotic mess of circuitry.

“DITA, what am I looking at here?”

“System architecture suggests multiple critical failures are imminent. Power regulation is…unstable.”

I could feel it—the erratic pulse beneath my fingers, electricity running wild through pathways never designed to contain it. This server wasn’t just neglected; it was practically sabotaged. Set up to fail.

“Taos, something’s wrong.” I began rerouting power, my Flux weaving through the system like threads through fabric. “This whole place is unstable.”

“Just do your part,” she replied, her voice suddenly flat. “We need that access.”

My fingers hovered over the circuits. “At what cost? If this goes down, it takes half the district with it.”

Silence.

“Taos?”

Nothing.

I worked faster, redirecting surges, stabilizing pathways. My Flux seemed to resonate with the data center’s chaotic energy, soothing it where I could.

“DITA, can you—"

The AI's voice cut out abruptly, leaving only static in my ear.

Perfect. Alone in a failing server with enough unstable Stellarium to level several city blocks. The Vector made everything too bright, too sharp—the magenta glow of the exposed pipes casting everything in a surreal light, making the shadows come alive.

I reached deeper into the system, my consciousness expanding through the electronic maze. If I could just balance the load, distribute the power evenly…

Then the shadows really did move.

“Always getting into trouble, doll.”

The voice froze me in place. He’d hidden in the electrical chaos to sneak up on me, but now I could feel his signature. Like coming home.

I slowly straightened, my Flux retracting from the circuits. When I finally faced him, he stood silhouetted in the magenta glow, familiar and yet utterly transformed by the tactical gear molded to his frame. The mask obscured his features, but it was him. It was always him.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Cy.”

He laughed—low and dangerous. His mask retracted in sections so I could see him. That beautiful face, etched with pain and anger. His eyes glowed with that familiar electric blue, but there was something different now—something raw and exposed. A live wire ready to spark.

“Don’t lie to me now, doll. Not after everything we’ve been through.”

Electric tension crackled between us as we stared at each other across the failing heart of the Magenta District—two forces as unstable as the data center itself, primed to collide.

“You came for me.”

“I told you, I always get what I want.”

“And if I don’t want you?” He didn’t need to feel my Flux to sense the lie there. Even I heard it.

He grinned. “Why are you fighting this?”

I held his gaze, violet electricity dancing across my skin as magenta light bathed us both in its sickly glow.

“Because nothing good survives in this city,” I whispered. “Especially not things that burn this bright.”

Something flickered across his face. Understanding, or maybe recognition. We were twin sparks in a world that extinguished anything that didn’t serve its purpose.

“Some things are worth the burn.” He stepped closer, the air between us supercharged. His Flux reached for mine instinctively, our frequencies already finding that perfect resonance despite everything around us.

But the Vector in my system turned him into just another variable. It dulled the part of me that still felt, that still believed in beauty and trust. It made me the perfect machine—and everything else was just static. My Flux rose, hungry to see just how far we could go.