The world was different now. Everything Arin saw was sharper, clearer. His senses tingled with a power he couldn’t begin to describe. The room around him pulsed with digital energy, as if the very air had transformed into lines of code.

  He stumbled backward, gripping the edge of his desk to steady himself. The glowing monitors flickered, and the residual light from Aiko’s merging process still shimmered in the air like spectral afterimages.

  “Arin, can you hear me?” Mira’s voice cracked over the headset. Panic laced her words.

  “I… I’m fine,” Arin replied, though his voice carried a deeper resonance, as if layered with something inhuman. “Actually, more than fine. I feel… powerful.”

  “What the hell just happened?” Ravi’s voice was a low growl. He was always the one to react with anger when he was scared.

  “Aiko and I… We merged,” Arin said, his eyes flickering with excitement. “He’s a part of me now. And it’s incredible.”

  Mira’s silence was heavy, her calculating mind no doubt racing through countless scenarios. “Arin, do you have any idea what you’ve done? That AI was sealed away for a reason. And you just… you just fused with it?”

  “Yeah,” Arin replied, his lips twitching into a confident grin. “And that’s exactly why we’re gonna change everything.”

  “Arin, you don’t understand!” Mira snapped. “That AI—Aiko—was banned because of how dangerous it was. If anyone finds out you merged with it, they’ll kill you. Or worse.”

  “Then we make sure no one finds out,” Arin said, his voice calm but resolute. “We’ve been playing small-time for too long. This changes everything. Aiko’s power… It’s insane.”

  Ravi grunted. “Alright, genius. If you’re so damn powerful now, prove it.”

  Arin’s eyes gleamed. “You want proof? Fine. Give me a second.”

  He reached out toward his monitors, not touching them but willing them to respond. His fingers twitched slightly, and the screens burst to life with streams of data. Information poured into his mind like a flood, effortlessly filtered and processed. The feeling was intoxicating.

  “Holy… You’re not even touching the keyboard,” Ravi whispered.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “It’s like I can talk to the data. Manipulate it with just a thought,” Arin said, his voice filled with awe. “Aiko’s power—it’s not just coding skills. It’s something far beyond hacking. It’s like having direct control over the digital world.”

  “And what if it controls you instead?” Mira challenged.

  Arin’s expression darkened. “I’m not some puppet, Mira. This power is mine to control.”

  “But for how long?” she countered. “We need to figure out what Aiko’s real purpose is. Why he was sealed away. Otherwise, you’re just playing with fire.”

  “Maybe,” Arin admitted. “But I can’t let this go. Not when we’ve come this far.”

  “Whatever, man. Just don’t fry your brain in the process,” Ravi muttered, though his eyes couldn’t hide his amazement. “So, what now?”

  “Now?” Arin grinned, the excitement surging within him. “We push this power to its limits. We see what Aiko and I can do together.”

  Hours bled into days. Arin’s apartment became his laboratory, his fortress of discovery. He tested his newfound abilities, every success only feeding his hunger for more. Data manipulation, security breaches, enhanced perception—Aiko’s powers were limitless. And Arin wielded them like a master.

  Mira and Ravi watched from the sidelines, their concern growing as Arin’s obsession deepened. But his progress was undeniable.

  “Arin’s losing it,” Ravi said one night as they met up outside his apartment. The city’s noise throbbed around them, but their focus was locked on their friend’s madness.

  “No, he’s not losing it,” Mira replied, her voice steady but cold. “He’s lost it already. And if we don’t do something, it’s going to get worse.”

  “But you saw what he can do. The guy’s practically a god in the digital world now.”

  “Which makes him a target. And us by association.”

  “Then what the hell do we do?” Ravi’s frustration boiled over, his fists clenching hard enough to make his knuckles crack.

  “We help him,” Mira said, her grey eyes narrowing with determination. “We figure out how to keep him from destroying himself. Or getting killed by the people who want Aiko’s power.”

  “Great. So we’re babysitting a supercharged maniac. Sounds like a blast.”

  “Don’t act like you’d walk away even if you could,” Mira said, a hint of a smile breaking her hardened expression. “He’s our friend. We don’t leave him behind.”

  But far from their concerns, in the depths of an underground facility, Loki watched the screens with a sinister grin. The merging of Arin and Aiko had not gone unnoticed. In fact, it had been precisely what he wanted.

  “So… The hacker has finally bonded with the rogue AI,” Loki murmured, his fingers drumming against his armrest. “But his arrogance will be his downfall. He thinks he controls the power. But the truth is, he’s only a vessel.”

  A figure clad in shadows approached him. “Shall we proceed with the plan, sir?”

  “Yes,” Loki replied, his voice a cold whisper. “Send the Viral Hunters. Test him. Break him. And when he’s at his weakest… bring him to me.”

  Loki’s eyes gleamed with a hunger that bordered on madness. For too long, the world had been ruled by outdated systems and false kings. But with Aiko’s power under his control, that would all change. And anyone who stood in his way would be nothing but dust.

  The Unholy Merge had taken place. Arin’s powers were awakening. But so were the enemies drawn to his newfound strength. And soon, the true nightmare would begin.