System Notification — 3:24 A.M.
> [Unauthorized Intrusion Detected]
[System Defense Activated]
[Attempted Breach Origin: Internal ValeTech Server — USER: K.YUSEF]
Lior jolted awake, heart pounding, as his system lit up red in the darkness of his room.
> [Counterattack Protocol Running...]
[Sensitive files shielded. Personal neurological signature now cloaked.]
He sat up, sweat beading at his brow.
"Kieran…"
This wasn't just rivalry anymore.
It was war.
---
The Next Morning – ValeTech NeuroSim Lab
Lior kept his eyes down as he walked through the corridor. Every whisper felt louder. Every glance sharper.
> "Did you hear?"
"Kieran's been locked out of his private sim suite."
"Apparently someone hacked someone's neural interface."
"Renji's involved."
Lior's chest tightened.
Was the whole company watching this unfold?
---
Renji's Office – Moments Later
He barged in before the secretary could stop him.
Renji looked up from his tablet, eyes already clouded with tension.
"I know about the intrusion," Lior said. "And I know who it was."
Renji nodded slowly. "We confirmed it was Kieran. But the board doesn't want a scandal. They're asking me to resolve this quietly."
Lior's hands curled into fists. "You're not going to cover for him. Right?"
Renji's eyes locked on his. "I'm not. But the board still sees him as an asset. A very expensive one."
A beat of silence passed between them.
Then Renji added, softer, "You're more valuable than they realize."
"That's not what I asked," Lior said. "I don't want to be your secret weapon. I want to know I'm safe. That you're not… hesitating when it comes to me."
Renji rose from behind his desk.
He walked around it slowly—cautiously. Like the space between them was fragile.
Then he reached into the pocket of his coat and handed Lior a sleek black wristband.
> "Cortical shielding tech," he explained. "It runs a secondary system firewall based on your neurological rhythm. It's tuned specifically to you."
Lior stared at it.
"You made this for me?"
Renji's voice dropped to a near whisper. "I started working on it after our first sim together."
Lior swallowed hard. "Why?"
"I didn't know yet," Renji replied. "Now I do."
---
Elsewhere — Kieran's Quarantine Lab
Glass. Isolation. Silence.
Kieran sat on the edge of his desk, jaw clenched, a bloody bandage on his knuckles from punching the wall.
A screen flickered with images of Lior.
Brain scans. Eye pattern tracking. Heat maps during surgery.
> "You think he loves you back?" he whispered, voice bitter.
> "Let's see how much he loves you when I rip his system apart."
He clicked into a hidden file labeled:
> "Synthetic Sympathetic Collapse Protocol – Beta"
A neural virus.
Tailored for Lior.
Kieran smiled coldly.
> "Pretty things always break."
---
That Night – Lior's Apartment
The new shielding band pulsed softly on Lior's wrist. Warm. Calming.
His system updated again.
> [Firewall Synchronization Complete]
[Renji Vale – Trust: 36% | Curiosity: 44% | Emotional Instability: 9% | Affection: 11%]
He smiled faintly. Then whispered, "You're getting harder to read, Mr. Vale."
But something deep in him stirred—a fear he hadn't felt in a while.
Not because of Kieran.
Because he was starting to fall for a man who'd built his life around control…
and Lior was the one thing Renji couldn't control.