Unprecedented

“She’s still not responding,” the Doc said.

Ignacio nodded, placing a hand over his mouth. The holo-projection of Celeste sat in her normal spot on their couch. She just stared ahead as she was the day before, the only signs of life when she blinked or breathed.

“I tube-fed her last night, I’m going to do it again in about thirty minutes,” the Doc said.

“Do you know if she slept?” Ignacio asked, his voice croaking.

“Yes, Petra helped her lie down last night, and she helped her up when she came in this morning,” the Doc said, pausing.

Celeste’s projection flickered, and then it was the Doc standing in front of the couch.

Ignacio glowered at him. “I don’t think I want to see you right now, Doc.”

“Ace, it’s been less than a day and you already look like death warmed up.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Ignacio said, rubbing his eye. “I was waiting for a call.”

“From who?”

“I told you, I have friends.”

The Doc pressed a fist against his forehead. “I thought you would’ve let that go by now.”

Ignacio folded his arms. “I’m not letting them take her from me, Doc.”

The Doc sighed as Ignacio’s visor lit up with a green border, a picture of him and Thiago popping up beside the Doc’s holo-projection.

“I gotta go, Doc. Take care of her, I’ll check in later,” Ignacio said. “Visor, answer the incoming call.”

The holo-projection of the Doc blinked away, and a projection of Thiago appeared on the couch. He sat with his elbows on his knees, chin rested on clasped hands.

Ignacio bit his lip. “And?”

“I got one,” Thiago said. “A Psyonic crew called Genesys. You still interested?”

Ignacio’s heart sprang. “You serious? Hell yes I’m interested.”

Thiago stood up. “Good. Their Crew Leader’s name is Ezequiel, his Captain’s called Koharu. I’m on my way to pick you up.”

Ignacio frowned, the excitement churning into fear. “Where are we going?”

“To their headquarters. I managed to convince them that your sister is the First Nexus… but there’s one small issue.”

“What?”

“They, uh. They want more proof.”

“That doesn’t sound like you convinced them, stupid,” Ignacio snapped.

“Oi, be grateful I got this far. They were the eleventh crew I contacted.”

Ignacio sighed, guilt tugging at him. “Yeah, sorry. Thank you.”

Thiago’s projection began walking in place. “Get whatever kind of evidence you can, because you’re gonna need it.”

The projection cut off, and Ignacio’s visors cleared. He sighed, placing his hands on his hips.

Evidence?

What could he do to prove to a Psyonic crew that his little sister was the First Nexus? He still didn’t believe it himself.

The Doc.

Ignacio’s eyes widened. “Visor, call the Doc.”

He’d mentioned sending a recording of Celeste’s episode to Cypher Corp. Maybe that would be enough?

Maybe they sent a report back to him, too…

A projection of the Doc flickered into the room when he answered, his blue form crossing his arms.

“Change your mind?” the Doc asked.

“Not even close,” Ignacio said. “Doc, I need you to send me the recording you took of Celeste, and any information that Cypher Corp sent you about her… just, anything that could convince someone that she’s the First Nexus.”

The Doc raised his eyebrows, shaking his head. “You’re really doing this, eh, Ace?”

“Can you do it, or not?”

The Doc paused, glancing to the side. “I can do you better than that, boy. I can send you a letter of thanks I received from Cypher Corp, and a recording of the check up from yesterday.”

Ignacio blinked. “What? How?”

The Doc smiled, tapping his robotic eye with a soft clink. “Caution takes precedent, boy.”

Octavius ran down the hallway, the white lights in the four corners flashing on in his wake. Past doors, glass walls peering into board meetings being run by men and women in high-suits, past holo-screen displays of the Cypher Corp logo. His shoes clapped and echoed against the white floor, his black hair and lab-jacket lifting behind him.

He glanced down at the holo-screen projecting from his wrist device.

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. Not this quick. Had they been right? Had the theories all been true? He doubled tapped the holo-screen with two fingers as he took a left, the screen refreshing and flashing the same red text.

Anomaly Detected.

He swallowed hard, lifting a hand to a biometry pad and waiting for the door to hiss open. The Cypher Corp flags lining either side of the hallway-like room swayed, and he stepped inside.

A pair of charge-rifles were immediately pointed at his head, the weapons buzzing as they powered on, a blue bar of light on their sides flashing.

A tall man with a flat collar that wrapped around his chest stood behind the desk standing on the opposite side of the long room. He raised a hand, his sleeve thick and layered with five buttons. Eryco, The Manager of Sector Five.

The guards lowered their charge rifles, their tinted visors changing from red to light blue.

Octavius sighed, his shoulders sagging. He hated weapons, especially those pointed at his head.

The Manager’s skin was pale with lines etched from his lips to the other side of his face, as if they were crawling out of his mouth.

“Octavius,” the Manager said, his voice low. “You spotted the anomaly.”

“Yes, sir,” Octavius said, lifting his wrist-projector higher. “I shared it on the neuronet, but I thought it would be faster if I showed you in-person as well.”

The man nodded, running a slender hand over his head. “Good. The Director will be pleased. You may return.”

Octavius gave a curt nod and turned around before pausing. “Is this… could this be the First-”

The Manager placed a finger to his thin lips. “No more, Octavius. You may leave.”

Octavius wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, finding a streak of sweat. “Yes, sir.”

He turned, walking out the double doors he had came through.

“And, Octavius,” the Manager called.

Octavius turned around. “Yes sir?”

The Manager’s jaws tensed. “I’m sorry.”

Octavius frowned. “Thank you, sir.”

He walked out, wiping the sweat from his nose with a shaking hand.

Out of all the Sectors in the Ether Monitoring Department, he thought, breathing out slow. It had to be mine.

He glanced down at his holo-screen and froze. The anomaly warning was gone. He frowned, double tapping the screen to refresh it. But it reloaded with the same, standard screen. A map of the Ethergeist, zoomed in to his section for monitoring.

“What in the world,” he muttered.

His blood turned cold as the lights in the hallway went dark. One by one. Leading up to him the way he came.

He stood, mouth ajar, frozen in the dark. An electronic pulse sounded behind him. He spun around, fear closing like vices around his body as he slowly looked up at the Reaper towering above. Even in the dark, he could see its frame, not just those glowing red eyes.

It’s NextGen, he thought, taking a step back.

A third eye opened. A human eye embedded in its forehead. The dark pupil glared at him, widening as the white around it pulsed with a soft glow.

You weren’t the first, the Reaper said, in his head.

He clamped his hands over his ears, dropping to his knee with a yelp of pain as his heart and chest seized up, the crushing pain that bloomed reminding him of all the symptoms of heart attacks he’d read and heard of before.

A metal hand clamped down on his shoulder, the weight slanting his body sideways. He cried, urine soaking his pants.

“Kindly look into the eye,” the Reaper said.

Octavius blubbed something, his lips quivering.

I didn’t mean to, he thought, trying to say it. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I was just doing my job!

He gurgled, spit running down his lip as he frantically tried to form words.

“Kindly look into the eye,” the Reaper said again.

He lifted his chin, and gazed straight into the Reaper’s third eye.