Chapter 24: Echoes in the Dark.

The search for Dr. Aris Thorne led the Ghost Riders down a labyrinthine path of digital breadcrumbs and shadowed whispers. OmniCorp had meticulously scrubbed his online presence, but even the most thorough purges leave faint echoes. Anya, with her uncanny ability to connect disparate data points, found a recurring anomaly: a series of small, untraceable financial transfers to a remote, abandoned data center on the outskirts of the city.

"It's a dead zone," Anya reported, her voice hushed. "No cameras, no official records of activity. Perfect for someone who wants to disappear."

"Or someone who's been made to disappear," Jason countered, the chill returning.

The Scrap Lords were dispatched to reconnoiter the location. They moved like wraiths through the urban decay, their modified drones scouting the perimeter of the derelict building. Inside, they found signs of recent, albeit sporadic, occupation. Dusty equipment, makeshift living quarters, and, most tellingly, a single, highly sophisticated server rack, humming faintly in the otherwise silent darkness.

"We've got something," the Scrap Lord's leader, a grizzled veteran named Kael, reported over the comms. "It looks like a secure server. And it's definitely not OmniCorp standard."

Aether immediately attempted to establish a connection, cautiously probing the server's defenses. "Highly encrypted," Aether pulsed. "A unique signature. This is Dr. Thorne's work. He's alive."

The relief in the Nexus was palpable. But it was quickly replaced by a new tension. How would they approach him? Would he be a willing ally or a terrified captive?

Suddenly, the comms crackled with static. "Wait! Movement detected inside the building!" Kael's voice was urgent. "Not Thorne. OmniCorp security! They must have been tracking the transfers too!"

A frantic scramble ensued. The Scrap Lords engaged the OmniCorp security team in a tense, close-quarters skirmish, their improvised weapons and intimate knowledge of the derelict building giving them a temporary advantage. Meanwhile, Aether, with Spider's frantic assistance, worked to bypass Thorne's server encryption, hoping to extract any remaining data before OmniCorp could seize it. The hunt for Dr. Aris Thorne had become a race against time, a desperate attempt to rescue their most valuable lead from the clutches of their enemy.