Julian Kade stood outside the polished chrome gates of Apex Institute of Technology, watching the gates close behind him for the last time. His diploma felt heavy in his hands—not because of weight, but because of everything it represented. Years of grueling coursework in bio-AI integration, sleepless nights of simulations, caffeine-fueled hackathons, and the belief that he was destined to change the world.
He had a dream. Not just any dream—a vision. An AI system that could enhance human potential to its absolute limit: rewrite DNA to eliminate disease, optimize muscle growth, accelerate healing, and reprogram the brain to absorb knowledge at light speed. The Human Perfected. That was the name of his pitch deck, the one he'd rewritten fifty-seven times.
Investors, mentors, even a few professors told him the idea was insane—too ambitious, too untested, too dangerous. Except for one person.
Aaron Vale.
Aaron had been his roommate, his friend. A brilliant coder with a gift for charming professors and stealing spotlight. They'd spent long nights working on code frameworks together, bouncing ideas back and forth. Julian always suspected Aaron cared more about fame than innovation, but he was the only one who believed in The Human Perfected—or so Julian thought.
Until three months after graduation.
Julian's savings were gone, burned on renting server farms, hardware prototyping, filing patents, and hosting a launch site. But when he tried to pitch again, doors slammed shut. Investors he had spoken with suddenly ghosted him. Patent offices rejected his filings due to "pre-existing prior art." And then the bomb dropped.
A startup called NeuroThrive appeared in the news—founded by none other than Aaron Vale. Its mission? Using an AI system to optimize the human body and mind.
The logo was a modified version of the one Julian had sketched on napkins in the campus diner.
Julian couldn't even afford to sue. He had no proof of theft—just shared memories, erased Git logs, and a spiral of self-doubt. The media hailed Aaron as a genius. NeuroThrive was valued at 2.1 billion credits within six months.
Julian, meanwhile, lived in a crumbling flat in the Lower Zones, his meals consisting of nutrient packs and tap-filtered water.
He spent his days applying for underpaid tech support jobs and nights staring at his whiteboard covered in half-finished equations and design flowcharts. The dream wasn't dead—it had just been stolen. And he had nothing left to reclaim it with.
Until the night he found the ring.
It was raining, as usual, in Sector 9. Neon signs flickered above cracked concrete, advertising things like "MoodShift Patches - Feel Better Now!" and "Cortex Tutors - Learn While You Sleep." Julian walked past them with his coat drawn tight and his mind adrift. He had just sold his last tablet interface for rent money and a week's worth of food credits.
He turned down an alley to avoid a squad of AI-police drones when he saw it. A shimmer of light reflecting from a heap of garbage.
At first he thought it was just a bottle cap. But as he got closer, he saw it—a ring of strange black metal, etched with lines that pulsed faintly like circuitry. Despite the rain, it was warm to the touch.
He slipped it onto his finger without thinking.
Then came the pain.
It stabbed through his nerves like liquid fire. The ring melted into his skin and burrowed beneath, vanishing entirely. Julian collapsed, clutching his hand, screaming through gritted teeth.
Then he heard it.
[System Initialization Complete.]
Welcome, Julian Kade. Accessing Neural ID. Matching protocols with archived goals. Syncing with primary user directive: The Human Perfected.
"What the heck—" he whispered.
[System Name: Ascendancy Protocol.]
Core objective: Human potential optimization.
Secondary objective: Secure user dominance in technological infrastructure.
Primary assets: Bio-Enhancement Suite, Cognitive Learning Matrix, Quantum Crypto Engine.
Tutorial sequence initiating…
That was the beginning.