The Endurance 4 rating felt like a cruel joke. Alex was running on fumes, his body aching from the sprint across the warehouse, his mind buzzing with the conflicting fear of Serena Blake and the cold instruction of the System.
He knew he shouldn't obey the System, not after reading Henry's journal. But the desperation was winning. He needed that Charisma upgrade to acquire the resources for Mission 005, and he needed the Endurance reward to survive the next 24 hours. The only path forward lay through his own fresh trauma.
He found Lila Morgan's apartment complex—a luxurious, guarded high-rise overlooking Central Park—just as the city's early morning quiet gave way to the distant wail of sirens.
"Mission: Charisma Leverage. Infiltrate Lila Morgan's residence. Obtain a physical memory object," the System prompted, its text stark against his tired vision.
He used his Intuition to identify the blind spots in the security cameras and the precise timing of the night-shift patrol rotation. He scaled the fire escape of the adjacent building, his low Endurance turning the simple climb into a painful, lung-burning ordeal. Every muscle screamed, but the promise of the Endurance +10 reward kept him moving.
He navigated the rooftop and dropped silently onto Lila and Ethan's expansive balcony. The glass door to the living room was locked, but the System's guidance was instantaneous: "Lock Type: Biometric Keypad. Vulnerability: Low-grade thermal residue on the '9', '2', and '1' keys."
Alex didn't need to hack the keypad; he simply needed to interpret the thermal data. With a steady hand, he used a thin piece of plastic to gently lift the residue from the correct sequence of keys, pressing them in order. The lock clicked open.
He steppd into the penthouse. It was vast, silent, and suffocating opulent. Lila and Ethan were asleep somewhere down the hall.
Alex moved like a thief, but felt like a ghost. This was the life Lila had chosen, trading passion for polished marble and cold security. Every expensive piece of art, every tailored curtain, was a monument to his failure and her ambition.
He didn't move toward the safe or the jewelry box. He moved toward the objects of their shared past, the places they had once built a life together, a life Lila had summarily discarded.
The System's instructions guided him, not by logic, but by emotional resonance. It directed him to a shelf in the living room where a photograph sat, a simple, framed picture of Alex and Lila laughing on a cheap holiday three years ago, before the betrayal.
He picked up the picture. The memory was sweet, painful, and dangerously raw. The System's interface flared, demanding action.
[CHARISMA LEVERAGE PROTOCOL: ACTIVATED]
Required Action: Inject Emotional Data Point into System Core.
Risk: High Emotional Stress.
Alex knew what he had to do. He used his thumb to gently, deliberately wipe Lila's face from the photograph, scraping the emulsion clear until her image was a blank smudge of white. He was consciously destroying the memory, ripping out the emotional anchor, and feeding the resulting void into the System.
As the physical act of destruction registered, the coin in his pocket pulsed violently. It wasn't just receiving data; it was consuming it.
A profound, wrenching pain shot through his head, the sensation of tearing a piece of his own history free. It was immediately followed by an overwhelming, artificial confidence.
He felt his voice deepen further, his mind flood with an understanding of human desire and manipulation. The pain was the price; the power was the reward. He now understood how to project sincerity when he felt none, how to wield conviction like a weapon.
A chime echoed in his mind.
[CHARISMA LEVERAGE SUB-MISSION]
STATUS: COMPLETED! Emotional Extraction Successful.
REWARD: SKILL ENHANCEMENT—Charisma +7.
**LEVEL UP! Charisma Level: 20.**
The System immediately updated the profile.
[MISSION 005: COUNTER-PROGRAM]
Objective: Acquire 100% of 'Aether-Bio Analytics'.
**Requirement: Charisma Level 20. [STATUS: MET!]**
REWARD: SKILL ENHANCEMENT—Endurance +10.
He had done it. He had sacrificed his last untainted memory for a temporary power boost. He was one step closer to the monster.
The System ran the acquisition plan in the background, Alex turned to leave. He was exhausted, but the promise of Endurance +10 spurred him on.
Suddenly, a door creaked open down the hall. A light clicked on.
Lila Morgan stood in the doorway, wearing a silk robe, her hair mussed from sleep. She wasn't just awake; she was staring straight at him.
Her eyes, still hazy with sleep, widened in disbelief. She saw the open balcony door, the photo frame in his hand, and the look in his eyes—no longer defeated, but terrifyingly decisive.
"Alex?" she whispered, the sound laced with a fresh wave of fear and guilt. "What are you doing here?"
Alex didn't rely on the System's dialogue. He relied on his newly enhanced Charisma to project absolute control. He held up the defaced picture.
"I came back for something you left behind, Lila," Alex said, his voice deep and magnetic. "My understanding of what a lie truly looks like."
Before she could scream, before she could call for Ethan, Alex noticed her gaze flicker past his shoulder, toward the balcony doors.
He felt the prickle of danger and instantly spun around, Intuition overriding his focus on Lila.
Standing on the balcony, framed by the cold morning light, was Damon Voss. He wasn't surprised; he was waiting. He had followed Alex.
"The ghost, caught red-handed," Voss drawled, his voice slick with vindication. He wasn't wearing his suit; he was dressed in tactical black, and his hand was resting on a dark, heavy object tucked into his belt.
"You're not supposed to be here," Alex snapped, frustration overriding control.
"I may be your employee now, Carter, but I'm still Ethan's eyes," Voss sneered, stepping into the penthouse. "And my eyes told me the only person who moves with that kind of impossible luck deserves a meeting with my new associate."
Voss stepped aside. Behind him, emerging from the shadows of the balcony, was a figure Alex didn't recognize a woman in a dark, impeccably tailored uniform, her face partially obscured by the shadows of a wide-brimmed cap. She was lean, physically powerful, and carried herself with the lethal precision of a highly trained operative.
She carried a case and was already running a small, handheld scanner over the railing, searching for Alex's prints.
Voss smiled—a chilling, triumphant, toothy grin. "Meet Serena's clean-up crew. They don't just delete data, Alex. They delete problems."
Lila screamed, finally breaking the frozen silence.
The woman operative snapped her head up. Her eyes, sharp and professional, focused on Alex.
[SYSTEM ALERT: IMMINENT PHYSICAL THREAT]
Threat Level: Extreme (Lethal Force Authorized).
Target: Unknown.
**WARNING: ESCAPE IMPOSSIBLE. ACQUIRE HOSTAGE. **
The machine was demanding a hostage. And the only viable target in the room was Lila.