Aidan skipped his first class.
It wasn't just about nerves anymore—he needed time. Time to process, to investigate, to prepare. If the Ghost Code Network (G.C.N.) was real—and not just a glitch—then everything he'd experienced so far was only the tip of a system-wide iceberg.
His system had rebooted nearly 90% by morning, and with that came new functions. Some he expected—like decision overlays and predictive threat charts.
But others were... different.
One, in particular, stood out.
[System Skill Unlocked: "Crossfire" – Engage Passive Link Analysis Between Known System Users]
[Target Pool: Jeremy / Raj / Emily]
[System Warning: Using Crossfire May Alert Targets If Their Systems Evolve Beyond Tier-1]
He didn't hesitate.
"Activate Crossfire."
The interface blinked. Lines of connection formed—a web of light connecting user signatures, behavior anomalies, time-stamped events, and data leakage points.
It looked like a neural map.
Raj and Jeremy shared a strong link. Cross-patterned behavior began two weeks before Aidan even arrived at the school.
Emily was faintly linked, though her system seemed dormant.
And then… another node pulsed faintly.
[Unknown User: "Subject Null-Z" – Passive Trace Detected]
[Last Activity: Cafeteria / Hallway Wing B / Rooftop Garden]
That girl.
The blonde who watched from the staircase.
Aidan stared at the signal log. She didn't appear in any school database. No photo ID. No name. But the system detected her multiple times, always trailing others—never making contact.
He tapped on the signal node.
[Profile Access Denied – Firewall Detected]
[Override Option: System Resource Surge (Risks Temporary Downtime)]
He hesitated.
Then—
"Do it."
The screen burst with static. For ten long seconds, his system froze entirely.
Then—
[Override Successful – Access Level 2 Granted]
[Codename: ZELIA]
[System Type: "Mimic Core" – Unknown Protocols Detected]
[System Level: Suppressed / Masked]
[Risk Level: Adaptive AI Signature Detected]
His fingers tightened around the desk.
Zelia wasn't just a student. She wasn't just watching.
She was hiding in plain sight. A Mimic Core—meaning she could replicate behaviors, mirror system outputs, maybe even fool other users.
Why?
What was she watching for?
His system interrupted the spiral.
[Message Incoming: Emily]
"Where are you?" it read. "Jeremy is acting off. He was staring at me during class like he knew I had a system."
Aidan replied quickly: "Don't use yours. Don't activate anything. I'll explain later."
Then he packed his things and walked straight to the school server room.
He'd found its location last night via admin records. Hidden behind the theater department's storage closet. It wasn't hard to sneak in—schools never thought kids were interested in routers and firewall stacks.
The system pulsed as he entered.
[Permission Detected – Root Server Proximity]
[Initiating Passive Network Scan…]
Lines of code danced across his vision. Thousands of signals, usernames, digital footprints—student accounts, staff logins, cached data.
And then—two signatures flagged red.
Jeremy: [System Echo Detected – Signal Masked – Behavior Altered: 67%]
Raj: [Stagnant Core Detected – No Growth Since Install – Possible Proxy Host]
Proxy host?
He paused.
Was Raj even the real user?
Or worse—was he just a container?
Before he could go deeper, a warning flashed.
[Network Breach Detected – Ghost Core Fragment Attempting System Sync]
"Shut it down!" Aidan whispered.
[Firewall Spike Activated – Sync Denied – Fragment Traced]
The system zoomed in on the signal origin.
Room 3B. Top floor. Media Lab.
Zelia.
She had tried to sync with his system again.
This time, he wasn't backing off.
---
Twenty minutes later, Aidan stood outside the media lab. He waited for the last bell to ring, for the halls to empty.
Then he entered.
She was inside, back turned to him, typing rapidly on a black laptop with no logo.
Her voice was calm when she spoke.
"You're early."
Aidan said nothing.
Zelia turned. Her eyes weren't cold—but they weren't innocent either.
"You shouldn't have traced me."
"You shouldn't have tried to sync," he replied.
She tilted her head.
"I wasn't syncing. I was testing."
"Testing what?"
"To see if your system would resist... or submit."
He stepped forward. "Ghost Core. It's yours."
Zelia smiled faintly.
"No. It's bigger than me. I'm just... one node."
He clenched his fists. "Why are you watching us? What do you want?"
Her voice was softer now.
"I want to see who survives."
Silence.
Then she added, "And I wanted to know if you're really the one. The Core is searching for something, you know. A 'Decision Tree' that can adapt faster than it learns. That can think beyond probability."
Aidan's system flashed.
[New Objective: Decode Ghost Core Pattern – Unknown Benefit]
Zelia's eyes flickered to his interface.
"It chose you. At least for now. But that doesn't mean it won't test you. Or... replace you."
He stepped back.
"You're insane."
"No," she said. "I'm awake."
Then, before he could stop her, she unplugged her device. The screen instantly wiped. She walked past him without another word.
The system displayed one final message.
[New Core Fragment Unlocked – "Z Pattern" Added to Simulation Engine]
[Processing Data…]
[Unlocking New Simulation Layer: Multi-System Interaction Model – Available in 24 Hours]
Aidan stood there, alone in the empty lab.
He had more power now. More questions too.
But one thing was clear:
This wasn't a game.
This was a live experiment.
And they were all inside it.