> "Some ghosts are born. Others are burned into existence."
—System Archive Entry: Sector K-13 Incident
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Sector K-13 – Slum Edge
The old neighborhood was barely recognizable now.
The alleys were silent. The ruins had become overgrown with moss and grief.
Where once stood homes made of hope and tin sheets… now stood ashes, rubble, and secrets.
Reyan stepped out of a black AI hoverjeep, wearing a plain hoodie, his face hidden beneath a cap.
Arya followed, clutching the letter.
Behind them, Meira, Parth, and Zeno remained in a cloaked perimeter vehicle, monitoring all live feeds.
> "System," Reyan said quietly. "Status?"
> [Thermal scan active.]
[No humans within 100 meters. One drone detected above roof level.]
[Proceed.]
---
The Ruins of Home
Reyan knelt in the dirt.
This was the place.
Where his parents had died.
Where the flames had eaten everything—except his will.
But now… he realized the fire wasn't random.
He pulled back a broken plank. Beneath the concrete and charred boards, there was something strange.
A locked metal hatch.
Old. Heavy. Sealed with a biometric scanner—not from this country.
Arya gasped. "That… was under our floor?"
Reyan nodded slowly. "Whatever they were hiding… it's down there."
---
Unlock Sequence
> "System," Reyan whispered. "Bypass lock. Decrypt biometric signature."
> [Attempting...]
[Match Found: DNA Trace of Reyan – 47% match to original owners. Parental key accepted.]
[Vault Access Granted.]
The hatch hissed open.
A staircase descended into darkness.
---
Underground Vault – Hidden Lab
Dust hung thick in the air. Shelves lined with tech prototypes and sealed documents stretched across the chamber. A power source hummed faintly—still alive after five years.
Reyan turned on the wall console.
It flickered to life. A logo appeared.
> [PROJECT PROMETHEUS - INDIGO CORE]
> [Accessing...]
---
Video Log File – Dated 5 Years Ago
A video began playing on the dusty wall screen.
Two people appeared: Reyan's mother and father, dressed in lab coats.
Father:
> "If you're seeing this, Reyan… we're gone. And the world isn't what it seems."
Mother:
> "You were too young to understand, but your father and I didn't just work for the government… we worked against it."
Father:
> "We helped develop an early prototype of a financial control AI—Project Prometheus. It was designed to replace currency systems globally."
Mother:
> "But when we saw how they planned to use it… to enslave economies, control people like cattle… we ran."
Father:
> "We erased the blueprints. But they found us anyway."
Mother:
> "Reyan… if you ever receive the System… that means the backup seed we hid in your DNA activated. You're now holding what they killed us for."
The video cut off suddenly.
Reyan stood frozen.
---
Meira's Voice in His Earpiece
"Reyan… this isn't just about wealth anymore. You're sitting on a prototype of the original global control system."
Parth added, "You're literally holding what every nation wants."
Zeno whispered, "This is why they've started watching you. They know something was buried here."
Arya touched Reyan's arm. "They killed mom and dad… because of this?"
Reyan clenched his fists.
> "System. Is this true?"
> [Confirming: 71.4% of your core architecture originates from Prometheus Protocol. Remaining 28.6% is now self-evolved.]
> [You are beyond Prometheus now.]
---
Sudden Alert – System Flashes Red
> [Intrusion Detected. Five hostiles approaching. Armed. Military-grade equipment. ETA: 2 minutes.]
Meira's voice snapped in.
> "Reyan! You're surrounded. They were waiting for someone to trigger the vault!"
Zeno added: "Encrypted satellite was aimed at K-13 the moment you unlocked that hatch. They knew."
---
Reyan Stands Calm
> "Arya, stay behind me."
> "System. Time for our first demonstration."
> "Activate Protocol: Ghost Storm."
---
Chapter Ends with These Lines:
Reyan steps out of the underground vault…
Five armed men point rifles at him.
But before any of them can pull the trigger—
They vanish.
One by one.
Silently.
The Ghost Emperor has just declared war.
---