Chapter 10: Web of Lies

The workshop was eerily quiet, save for the occasional drip of water leaking from the ceiling. Henry sat at the workbench, staring at the amplifier as if it held answers to questions he hadn’t yet dared to ask. His head throbbed with a dull ache, a constant reminder of the cost of his abilities. The hum in his chip was quieter now, but it felt no less present—like a shadow lurking just out of sight.

Across the room, Mia paced restlessly, her arms crossed. She hadn’t spoken much since their escape the night before. Every so often, she shot Henry a glance, her expression a mix of frustration and worry.

Finally, she stopped. “How much longer are you going to do this?” she asked, her voice sharp.

Henry didn’t look up. “Do what?”

“Pretend you’re in control,” Mia said. “Pretend this… thing isn’t killing you.”

“I’m not pretending,” Henry muttered. “I’m figuring it out.”

Mia’s voice rose. “You’re destroying yourself! And for what? To fight people who are stronger than you, better equipped than you? You’re not a hero, Henry. You’re just—”

She stopped herself, her breath hitching. Henry finally turned to face her, his eyes tired but resolute. “Just what?”

“Just my brother,” she said, her voice breaking. “And I don’t want to lose you.”

Henry’s shoulders sagged. He wanted to tell her she wouldn’t lose him, that everything would be fine. But the words felt hollow. He couldn’t promise her that. Not anymore.

Rafe arrived later that afternoon, his presence as unwelcome as it was necessary. He leaned against the doorframe, his expression unreadable. “You’re going to want to hear this,” he said.

Henry frowned. “Hear what?”

Rafe held up a small tablet, its cracked screen glowing faintly. “Intel,” he said. “Picked it up from some friends. Turns out your little stunt at the hub caught more than just the attention of the drones.”

Henry stood, his legs shaky. “What are you talking about?”

“They know what you’re doing,” Rafe said. “Not just the how—they’re starting to figure out the why.”

Henry’s stomach turned. “The why?”

Rafe nodded, his smirk humorless. “You’re not just some random kid with a glitchy chip, Henry. Whatever’s going on in that head of yours, it’s big. Bigger than any of us thought.”

He tapped the tablet, and a grainy image filled the screen. It showed Henry at the server hub, his hand on the terminal, his face contorted in concentration. Around him, faint lines of light seemed to connect him to the machinery, like threads of an invisible web.

“What is this?” Henry asked, his voice shaking.

“Surveillance footage,” Rafe said. “But it’s more than that. Look at the patterns. The light. That’s not normal interference—that’s you. Or something inside you.”

Mia stepped closer, her face pale. “What does it mean?”

“It means,” Rafe said, “that someone’s been watching him for a long time. And they’ve been waiting for this.”

The three of them sat in tense silence as Henry processed the revelation. The footage was undeniable. He had always known there was something different about the amplifier, about the way it connected him to the city’s systems. But this—this was something else entirely.

“They’re calling it an anomaly,” Rafe said, breaking the silence. “Upper city’s tech division is all over it. They think it’s some kind of… latent potential in your chip. Something they didn’t expect when they built the system.”

Henry’s fists clenched. “Built the system? What does that mean?”

“It means this whole city is a machine,” Rafe said. “The chips, the infrastructure, the surveillance—it’s all connected. And you’re the glitch they didn’t see coming.”

Henry’s mind raced. If the upper city had built the system, then his powers weren’t just random. They were a byproduct—an unintended consequence of their own technology. But why him? Why now?

“What do they want from me?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Rafe’s smirk returned, but it was bitter. “What do you think? They want to control you. Or, if they can’t… erase you.”

That night, Henry couldn’t sleep. He lay on the cot, staring at the ceiling as the hum in his chip grew louder. The footage replayed in his mind, the glowing threads that tied him to the server hub. He had felt them—had felt the city reaching back, its systems alive in a way he couldn’t explain.

Mia’s voice broke through his thoughts. “You’re not alone, you know.”

Henry turned to see her sitting at the edge of the cot, her expression soft but determined. “I’m scared for you,” she admitted. “But I’m here. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out. Together.”

Her words brought a lump to his throat. He reached for her hand, gripping it tightly. “I’m scared too,” he said. “But I can’t stop. Not now.”

Mia nodded, her resolve mirroring his. “Then don’t do it alone.”

The next morning, Rafe returned with more grim news. “They’re sending someone,” he said. “Not drones this time. An enforcer. One of their best.”

Henry’s chest tightened. “An enforcer?”

“Think of them as a fixer,” Rafe said. “Their job is to deal with problems like you. Permanently.”

Henry swallowed hard, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. “What do we do?”

Rafe’s smirk was razor-sharp. “We don’t wait for them to come to us.”