“You shouldn't be here. There are cameras everywhere.” Nyx said exasperated.

  “Trust me, this is pretty much my home turf. We're safe here.” Cal said, checking behind him to make sure they weren't being followed as he hurried down the backstreets. This wasn’t the first time he’d been chased by security, it was one hazard of the job when your commute often involves breaking and entering.

  Up until now. Cal had been following a map Nyx had put in his peripheral vision, a handy red line telling him exactly where to go. But he’d been ignoring it, along with Nyx’s protests, her directions updating each time he took a different turn.

  “Well, on this ‘safe’ route, I've had to disable five security cameras, two drones, and even someone's eye implants to keep you off the records. You're probably the most searched after man in the city right now you know.” Nyx said, irritation creeping into her voice.

  “For breaking and entering?” Cal asked.

  “For murdering a CEO.” she shot back.

  “You know that wasn't me.”

  “It won't be me you have to convince.”

  Cal exhaled sharply. “Where were you trying to take me, anyway?”

  “Downtown. The further down, the better. We need to get you off-grid fast.”

  “Alright, I get it. I'm just going to make one little call and then do whatever you say, happy now?”

  Nyx didn't respond immediately. If she had arms, she'd be folding them.

  “Whatever you think you’re doing, make it quick. Every second you waste, your probability of survival drops.” She said.

  Cal rounded the corner, stepping into a cul-de-sac dominated by a rundown building. A halogen neon sign flickered in the rain: Waterside Tech & Repairs. The quaint, old-fashioned lettering was ironic for a tech shop.

  After a quick glance over his shoulder, Cal opened the door and scanned the room before heading downstairs. The basement was a chaotic mess of implants and electronics. A bin of arms leaned precariously against a wall lined with glass tubes filled with who-knew-what. It looked like a cross between a hoarder’s workshop and a cybernetics black market.

  In the far corner, Ren was hunched over a delicate neural lace, their unruly mop of black hair obscuring their face.

  “Ren.” Cal called out.

  Ren jumped, knocking over a container of eye implants. “Shi—Cal! I didn’t hear you come in.” They scrambled to their feet, brushing off their overalls. “You got more memories to sell? Need repairs? Something interesting, I hope.”

  “I’ve got some rare knowledge plugins… but also something else I want someone to take a look at,” Cal said, keeping his tone casual.

  “Oh?” Ren’s curiosity piqued.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Some sort of assistant software. Not like anything I’ve seen before.” Cal pulled the cord from the base of his skull.

  “Well, let’s take a look.” Ren grabbed the outstretched neural cable and plugged it into the port at the back of their neck.

  “That's a lotta files” Ren murmured, pupils flickering as they scanned. “Yeah, I see those plugins, fancy stuff. Some suit payed a lot for this. Private tuition modules in there too…”

  “I’m picking up Synapse Dynamics drones in the area. You need to go. Now,” Nyx interrupted in Cal’s head.

  Cal ignored her. “Check the untitled file—the largest one.”

  Ren’s brows furrowed. “Yeah, I see it. Whoa…”

  “You recognise it?”

  “I dunno, man. It’s some kind of personal assistant, but nothing I’ve ever seen. This is hot. Way too hot for me.” Ren took a step back.

  “How's it different?” Cal asked.

  “I can’t even begin to tell you how it works. This is way above my pay grade. You gotta leave. Now.”

  A pop-up flickered in Cal’s peripheral vision.

  [Uploading Memories]

  Ren jolted. “The hell was that?! I felt something inside my skull!”

  They yanked the cable out and shoved Cal toward the door. “Oh god, that better not have been a trojan.”

  Outside, the door locked behind him, the neon sign going dark.

  “What did you do?” Cal demanded.

  “Took their data. But never mind that. Your little detour just cost us. They’re on to you.” Nyx’s voice was tight with urgency. “I can disable their drones, but people are another story. And they have dogs. Outrunning them won’t be easy.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Cal asked.

  “You need to run out of this cul-de-sack and back into the alleyway as fast as you can. Turn left and don’t look to your right, then take the next left.” Nyx commanded. A visual overlay appearing in front of Cal.

  Cal sprinted into the alleyway, neon reflections smearing across wet pavement. A voice shouted from behind—too close. He veered left, then left again, dodging an overflowing dumpster as the sound of barking dogs closed in. He followed the red line that stretched out in front of him, zigzagging through backstreets. he heard the sound of dogs barking behind him. They were close. Very close.

  “Jump. Now!” Nyx commanded.

  A red arrow flashed over a trash bin below a fire escape. Cal leaped, grabbing the railing just as a dog snapped at his heels. He scrambled up, then vaulted across a gap between buildings. Landing hard, he rolled and kept running, dodging pedestrians and traffic as he cut through the city’s arteries.

  The pounding of boots behind him faded as he ducked into another alley.

  “There’s a stairway up ahead. I’ve disabled the lock on the second floor.”

  “In there?”

  “No one’s home.”

  Cal pushed through the door into a cramped apartment. Sparse furniture. A space that belonged to someone who lived at the office.

  “Is it safe?”

  “No. But it’ll buy time. Ditch your jacket. Find a new one. A hat too.”

  Cal scowled. “You’re making me steal some random guy’s stuff?”

  “This is survival. They saw your silhouette, not your face.”

  His overlay updated, highlighting a coat rack.

  “Fine.” He yanked on a new coat, pulled up the hood, and stepped out the front door.

  As he moved deeper into the city, the crowd thickened. Rain poured down, bodies and umbrellas shielding him from prying eyes. Neon advertisements pulsed against the wet pavement. He kept his head low.

  “You need to keep moving,” Nyx urged. “Synapse Dynamics doesn’t let loose ends walk free.”

  Cal clenched his jaw. “Yeah, I got that. But I’m not just going to keep running forever. I need to know what’s going on.”

  “We don’t have time for—”

  “Make time.” Cal stepped into the shadow of a broken streetlight, letting the crowd flow past. “What did I just download? What did you do to Ren?”

  Nyx hesitated. For the first time since they’d met, she sounded almost… uncertain.

  “I didn’t do anything to them,” she said slowly. “Not intentionally. But I needed their data to patch holes in my own code. Something’s missing. Something important.”

  “And what the hell does that mean for me?”

  A pause. Then, the pop-up flickered in his vision again:

  [Memory Integration: 100%]

  [Memory Integration Completed]

  [10 XP Gained]

  “It means, you need my help. And I need yours.” Nyx replied.

  “I don’t know what you are, Nyx,” he muttered, slipping back into the moving crowd. “But if they want you this bad, I need to find out.”