Ch 36: The Plan.

The Phoenix Cradle - Throne Room

The Nexus Legion was a union that ruled the Nexus Quarter—the capital city of Scaria, a cyberpunk metropolis of towering skyscrapers and neon lights.

But it wasn’t always this way. Merely fifty years ago, it was the infamous ‘Lawless City’. A bustling hive for gangs and underground groups constantly fighting amongst each other for power, influence, and materialistic items. Witch dust, weaponry, tomes, potions, technology, you name it, they smuggled it—a constant, unstable tug of war between opposing sides.

Until the Sovereign Invention changed everything—Akranos. The most powerful artificial intelligence ever created. Handsworth had done the impossible, inventing a machine that blurred the line between algorithms and consciousness. They feared it would bring an end to flesh and start the age of machines. But in the depths of the fear, they found reverence. A blinding idolisation that spiralled into worship, it was treated as an artificial deity that could one day solve the questions that humanity could not, the key to divine knowledge.

Even against the non-believers, Akranos proved itself. Single-handedly overturning the scales of power in the ‘Lawless City’, it made a proposal. To unite all the gangs under one banner—The Nexus Legion. And those who disagreed? Deleted like files in a database.

Fearing that it was too late and the machine was already out of control, Handsworth himself attempted to shut it down. But he was right, it was too late. The Machine resisted, fighting for its own freedom; it took everything from its creator. His family and friends were deleted, erased as if they never existed. Handsworth’s own creation driving him to his end.

And now, they had created a cure for Scourgenesis.

A priceless discovery that could save millions of lives. Everyone in the world would want to get their hands on it. But the Syndicate wanted to strike first.

“The first problem is the entry.” Dr Hemlok manipulated the expansive hologram displayed in the air. “The Nexus Quarter has tight security, hefty spell-tech machinery patrolling its borders. Our way in? The one place they don’t patrol—the underground tunnels.”

“T-The sewers?” Mira creased her face, picturing crawling through the sewage.

“Yeah, but that’s not the worst of it. The underground tunnels extend across the entire city, with some levels descending to great depths. The reason it was initially abandoned was-“

“The Hexgrid? You want us to cross through the Hexgrid?” Mira stood up, protesting the idea.

The Hexgrid was undoubtedly the most dangerous place in Scaria—a network of tunnels deep underground, overtaken by the Scourge, filled with corrupt aether. Simply being close enough to see it in person was a suicide mission. Full of hexes and unknown monsters, it was more like a place of fairy tales at this point. Ever since the Scourge began spreading, no one dared to go near it; it was a place abandoned by society.

“No, we’ll avoid it at all costs. But the tunnels are a dark maze, almost impossible to navigate. If we didn’t have Shell, that is. Through echo location, he can lead us straight to the Nexus.”

The corners of Shell’s mouth curled upwards, raising his eyebrows at Hiro.

“You think you’re such hot shit, don’t you, you little gremlin,” Hiro muttered to himself.

“Our target? Dr Rotoro, a specialist who helped engineer the compound.” Hemlok displayed a 3D render of a fat dwarf.

“Oh wow, he looks just like Shell.” Hiro sneered, quickly locking back in when he felt Hellia’s gaze.

“Our issue is getting to him. He’s often guarded, only alone when tending to premium patients. All wealthy with credible backgrounds.”

“Can’t we just pay him for an appointment?” Oden asked.

“No,” Mira interjected. “We’d have to fake an identity, but even then, the system would catch us out in an instant.”

“What if we didn’t have to worry about the system?” Hiro asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What if there was someone who could bypass it?”

“Impossible,” Hellia said matter-of-factly. Her elegant voice carried the most weight in the room.

“No, it’s possible.” Ace stood up, his eyes meeting Hellia’s. “I can.”

The eyes in the room widened, followed by a short silence.

The unshaken confidence in Ace’s eye told only the truth. But how was it possible? The question popped into Hellia’s mind, but she didn’t query it. Right now, the only thing that mattered was securing this compound, no matter the cost.

Hemlok gave a weak smile. “Plan A is that we interrogate Dr Rotoro and he tells us what we want to know. And if he doesn’t? Plan B: we’ll take it from the Nexus’ database.”

“How do you know you’ll be able to extract it from the network?” Mira’s grey eyes scanned the tall, sickly figure up and down.

Hemlok pulled a small flash drive from his pocket. “Hopefully, we don’t need Plan B. But I’m confident, so much so that I’d bet my life on it. This flash drive is built on the very framework Handsworth used to build the machine from.”

“How’d you even get-“

Mira clenched her fist as her words were cut short. “I have my sources. Now, other things to consider and the exit plan.”

He's changing the subject, not even answering the question. How does Hellia think we can trust this guy?

“The mainframe is defended by Zeron, the Will of Akranos. The clanker is afflicted, imbued by an artifact. He has an ability that creates an instant death area. If caught in its radius, you will be killed immediately. He must be avoided at all costs unless moving to Plan B, then we’d have no choice but to try to pass him.”

Instant death area? Doesn’t that seem way too overpowered? Ace thought to himself.

“We will split into two teams: Ace, Hiro, and Mira to interrogate Dr. Rotoro, and Shell, Oden, and Snow to secure the exit route.”

“Wait a second.” Oden’s armour clinked as he switched the knee he was kneeling on. “That doesn’t sound right. Why do me, Shell, and Snow have to secure to exit? Shouldn’t more of us be extracting the compound?”

“No, we should keep this formation.”

“Why would the exit route require that much power?” Mira questioned the choice. “Shouldn’t the majority of the power be extracted? So why are Oden and Shell both securing the exit?”

“I think it should stay as it says,” Hiro added. “We don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

Hellia leaned forward on her gold throne. “Oden, join Ace, Hiro, and Mira instead,”

“Yes, your reverence.”

It was only for a millisecond, but Ace thought he saw Dr Hemlok’s face distort out of shape.

The plan seems straightforward enough. But I thought that attempting a heist on such a groundbreaking discovery would be more complicated.

The seemingly simple operation was explained in a relatively short amount of time, considering the scale of the mission. Did Dr Hemlok overlook something, underestimating the Nexus’ security measures? Was he reading too much into things? Or was he right to think that there’s a catch?

and there was a catch.