Mirage stood in the aftermath, her silhouette slinking through the haze like a primal echo. Her feline form stretched as she sauntered forward, clawed fingers brushing the air with a dangerous grace.
"You know," she purred, circling Nyx as he coughed and steadied himself, "this little toss-and-catch game...it's oddly stimulating. Is this what you call fun?"
Nyx's eyes looked up into her own up. Reading her movements was no longer enough; he had to predict everything she did, as if he were psychic. "Depends who's doing the tossing." answered Nyx, going over her attack pattern in his head.
She gave a low, amused hum, head tilting to give off that curious expression. "You…have such fire Nyx, you could easily activate those nanites and have a better chance, yet you don't because…you don't want to be tracked? You're a predator, even now, surviving, adapting. And you're adapting faster than my systems can calculate. It's...exhilarating."
With no warning, she struck again, seeing Nyx having blocked her attack but unable to keep himself from spinning him into another pillar, the force causing the metal to break. The symbiote buffered the shock, healing him quickly while Nyx struggled to stand. Mirage followed like a whisper, crouching low, her gaze watching him as a tiger watches its prey. "You're unpredictable. I like that, keeps things interesting" Nyx questions if Mirages smile could get any wider, watching her eyes brighten in a kind of human feature. "It makes my systems...hum. Watching you still being able to correctly predict my attacks, regardless if you can't see thing anymore, your eyes of someone unwilling to give up."
Nyx's voice continued to remain cold as he replied, "careful, that sounds dangerously close to affection."
Mirage paused, thinking yet not denying, it was unfamiliar to her and she didn't remember experiencing it before, her systems defining the word and the reaction was a slight shake of her head. "Affection is inefficient during combat, but it does make me want to throw you again." expresses Mirage, disappearing from agility alone, grabbing him by his shirt before jumping up and throwing him to the ground, his body bouncing off from the metal before she repeats the action.
The floor beneath them was a mosaic of destruction, fractured metal and craters, with some of the areas having an imprint of Nyx's body pressed into the surface like a signature of defeat. Mirage crouched atop him like a predator savoring the final moment before the kill, her claw tracing the curve of his mask with unnerving delicacy.
"You're durable," she whispered, voice curling like smoke.
Nyx's breath was shallow, chest rising beneath her weight. His cloak was shredded, his gloves torn, and the symbiote was doing it's best just to keep his organs from collapsing. The regeneration was active, but slow compared to her speed and damage.
Mirage tilted her head; her feline form even mimicked the fur of an actual cat with residual energy. Her claw paused at the edge of his hood, teasing the fabric as it remained soft without nanites. She chose not to remove it, nor the mask as her finger gently grazed it. "Why do you not break?"
Nyx didn't answer, just looked at her as if he was still determined to fight. "What broke you?" Nyx countered continuing "What made you not want to be human anymore?" Mirage looked at him surprised as Nyx explained, "These signs, I highly doubt the chancellor would want to put emotions into his elite, and even if he did those expressions aren't from just a liquid metal, you were human once….so what broke you?"
Mirage's claw stopped at his cheek, her eyes seemed to be searching, another human like trait to Nyx. "I don't remember, the thing I do remember is waking up and being greeted by the chancellor. A perfectly made creation he called me…" her eyes narrowed like she spotted something as she continued "I remember blood…a woman's blood, it was mine. I remember the anger it carried inside it, bringing it to this form." Mirage then placed her hand over Nyx's heart, feeling it beating and the rise and fall of his chest, the warmth that came from it. "Warmth is nice…but easily taken away" Mirage suddenly kisses Nyx though his mask, stunning him to the point he didn't register a fast punch landing across his face, causing a daze before Mirage grabs him by the throat, raising her right hand with her claws out. "I don't care for this psychological game Nyx, I am what I am, and nothing is ever going to change that" she hissed, angrily ready to strike him for the final time. Believing that this would prove her loyalty to the chancellor, having gone too deep into this emotional mind game with Nyx, and fearing what he would do to her if he found her disloyal.
Nyx places his hand over hers, causing her to hesitate at how gentle his touch was even as he started death in the face. Nyx then raised a shaking hand up and pointed at her with his first two fingers and thumb, it wasn't threatening and he couldn't reach her either, she looked at it in puzzlement. "I'm already broken…" he answers, his fingers shifting, pointing off to the side. When Mirage looked in that direction, she slowly realized that the cameras had been disabled, another human feeling of relief overwhelming her. Nyx realizing it before he became talking to her, and the fear in her voice showed that she wasn't loyal by choice. Nyx wished he could find out more but the clock was ticking.
When she turned back Nyx was gone, and in his place laid the symbiote which had fully emerged, summoned by its host's will. A black anthro wolf, its form rippling with dense muscle like it was shadowed armor, blood-red eyes glowing like crimson embers. Its lips curled in a silent snarl; gaze locked on the feline who had toyed with its master.
Mirage couldn't move, in the blink of an eye, she was flat on her back, the floor cracked bigger and far wider beneath her than any time she had thrown him to the ground. Her systems failed to register the transition, no warning or motion trail, her body hadn't reacted because her mind, systems, instinct, or defensive protocols hadn't processed the event.
The wolf loomed over her, breath hot and steady, claws resting beside her head and throat. It sniffed her curiously, intellectual yet primal. A kiss, soft, authoritively dominate and deliberate. It had understood her pain as their own, both it and Nyx, and there was almost a comfort to it.
Then—shock.
Electricity surged through her body, enough to light a city block. Her suit spasmed, limbs twitching violently as she became liquid, but the charge was measured to be devastating, not lethal. A message of understanding from the symbiote before it retracting, folding back into Nyx's body.
Nyx's form returned, fully healed after letting out the symbiote and 10% of its power. The symbiote retrieved the six nanite containers, absorbing them into the symbiote's infinite inventory, a wonderful and unexpected feature when he and first learned about it and continued finding it wonderful to this day. Nyx looked at the liquid pool that was Mirage, silently agreeing with his symbiote's choice, before vanishing into the shadows.
Back at the Hideout:
Flair's body lay motionless, her consciousness deep in cyberspace. Her neural port flickered with faint light, colors from her templates and live videos dancing across her features.
Nyx approached quietly, pulling one container from the void of his symbiote, that he believed would be best used for her enhancement. Quickly opening it up he dumped the nanites over her form unceremoniously, looking more for speed than being gentle.
The nanites poured out like liquid mercury, crawling across her skin, sinking into her ports, fusing enhancements, and creating a cocoon around her body, the upgrade had begun. Not only with her but the room itself had also changed: lights dimmed to optimal neural sync levels, consoles reconfigured, and the air carried a faint hum of upgraded circuitry. The nanites weren't just enhanced her, but the whole electrical system around her.
Nyx watched for a moment, silent, knowing everything with her would be find now before looking at one of the video feeds again, seeing Rock and GM captured.
The nanite cocoon around Flair shimmered like woven silk, pulsing with quiet intelligence, a holographic of her head appeared hovering above it—calm, composed, and unmistakably in control.
Nyx paused at the doorway, before turning towards her, eyes narrowing slightly as he processed her words.
"GM and Rock are safe," Flair repeated, her tone reassuring but clipped. "I released them from the digital cuffs remotely. GM used his enhancement to convert the squad car into a hover truck. They're off-grid for now, but they'll be here in an hour."
Nyx nodded once. "Excellent."
Flair's hologram flickered, her expression sharpening. "Yes, but listen—this next part matters. I've accessed the encrypted council registry. I know all their names, their abilities, their designations. It's…disturbing."
"We've already met two, Mirage and Noema," Flair explained.
Nyx's brow furrowed. "Noema?"
Flair's voice dropped slightly, as if the name itself carried weight. "She's living code made flesh. A digital consciousness reverse-engineered into biological form. She's a logic tree with a heartbeat."
Nyx's eyes widened, a question forming on his lips—but Flair cut him off.
"We'll discuss more later," she said, "You need rest. And I need time to finish integrating the nanites. When I wake up, we plan our next move."
Nyx lingered for a moment, gaze drifting to the cocoon, there was still so much they needed to do.
Back in the ruins, the pool that was Mirage pulsed once.
A corrupted file surfaced.
Name: [REDACTED]
Status: Reinitializing…
Dead switch: disabled