The city of Arclight was alive because it had electricity.
And electricity, like blood, was never meant to stop flowing.
That was why the silence felt wrong.
At 11:47 p.m., every light in the city died at once.
Not flickered.
Not dimmed.
Died.
Neon signs vanished mid-advertisement. Floating screens froze and shattered into static before disappearing. The humming undercurrent that every citizen subconsciously relied on—gone.
For a single breath, the city didn't move.
Then Arclight panicked.
People screamed as darkness swallowed the streets. Vehicles crashed blindly. Emergency sirens tried to activate and failed, choking on dead circuits. Rain poured harder, as if the sky itself was reacting to the sudden loss of power.
In the middle of it all stood Aren Vale.
Rain soaked his black hooded coat, water dripping from his chin as he stared upward. Lightning crawled unnaturally through the clouds, branching again and again in the same place.
Hovering.
Waiting.
Aren exhaled slowly.
"…So it's me tonight."
His wrist vibrated.
A red glow cut through the darkness.
⚠ CITYWIDE VOLTAGE SCAN INITIATED
⚠ GRID AUTHORITY RESPONSE INBOUND
Aren stepped backward into the shadow of a broken building, boots splashing softly through water and blood-stained pavement. He didn't run.
Running never helped.
Above the streets, drones descended like mechanical angels, blue scan-lights sweeping across the crowds. Every beam measured the invisible current flowing through human bodies.
Numbers bloomed in the air.
2.2V
3.9V
1.6V
Normal.
Pathetic.
Harmless.
Aren watched people relax as their readings passed. Some laughed nervously. Some cursed the blackout. None of them realized how close death had just passed them by.
The scan reached him.
The beam hesitated.
Aren felt it immediately.
Pressure crushed his chest, like a hand squeezing his heart.
…
…
The drone froze.
Its blue light warped violently, glitching into black static. The machine let out a distorted shriek—data screaming as its internal systems collapsed.
Aren whispered, "Don't."
Too late.
The drone exploded.
Metal shards rained down as lightning struck the street with apocalyptic force. The impact shattered windows for blocks, electricity racing across the ground like a living thing.
And every spark—
Answered him.
Pain tore through Aren's nerves. His body arched as electricity wrapped around his skin, crawling lovingly, reverently.
Not attacking.
Recognizing.
"Damn it," he hissed. "I told you not to wake up."
His heartbeat thundered.
Inside him, something shifted.
The voltage obeyed.
Blue light erupted around his body as his nervous system overloaded safely—barely. Muscles tightened. Bones reinforced. Time slowed until rain froze mid-fall.
Aren straightened.
And the city felt it.
Three figures slammed down in front of him, cracking the street open. Grid Authority enforcers—elite, armored, sanctioned executioners.
Weapons raised instantly.
"Target locked," one said coldly. "Voltage anomaly detected."
Another glanced at the broken drone. "…Classification Omega."
Aren met them calmly, blue lightning dancing across his fingers.
"You came fast," he said quietly.
They opened fire.
Aren disappeared.
The ground detonated where he had stood. In the next instant, he was behind them—too fast, too close. His hand struck the first enforcer's spine.
The man collapsed without a sound.
Aren pivoted, elbow smashing into the second enforcer's visor. Armor dented. Electricity surged. The body hit the ground like a dropped weapon.
The third reacted fast.
Too fast.
The gun fired.
The bullet tore through Aren's shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
Aren staggered, blue voltage flickering violently. Pain surged like a knife twisted deep into his body.
He smiled.
"…That was stupid."
The blue voltage shattered.
Darkness rushed in.
Black voltage exploded outward, swallowing the street.
Lights imploded. Shadows stretched impossibly long. The air grew heavy, thick with whispers that didn't belong to the living.
Let us carry you.
Let us eat the pain.
The last enforcer screamed as his nervous system shut down completely. He collapsed, twitching, eyes rolled back as black energy crawled across his armor like veins.
Aren dropped to one knee.
His head pounded.
Something was being torn away.
A memory.
A feeling.
Something warm.
He didn't know what it was—and that terrified him more than death.
Then—
Contact.
A hand wrapped around his.
Warm.
Steady.
The black voltage recoiled violently, shrieking as if burned.
Aren gasped.
The whispers died.
He looked up.
She stood before him, rain sliding off her white combat coat, golden eyes glowing softly in the darkness. Her presence alone forced the chaos back.
White Voltage.
Pure. Controlled. Dominant.
Perfectly synchronized with his.
"Breathe," she said quietly, thumb tightening around his hand. "I won't let it take you."
The pain vanished.
The black voltage retreated.
Aren stared at her, chest rising and falling as their energies intertwined effortlessly. His pulse steadied to match hers.
Dangerous.
Intimate.
He'd never felt anything like it.
"…Who are you?" he asked.
Her gaze softened for half a second.
Then she raised her weapon.
The barrel pressed directly against his heart.
"Aren Vale," she said, voice steady but low, "by order of the Grid Authority, you are a corrupted existence."
Lightning split the sky.
"You are to be erased."
Aren didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Blue and black voltage swirled quietly around him as he slowly stood, her gun never leaving his chest.
Rain poured harder.
People watched from the shadows.
The city held its breath.
Aren leaned forward slightly, eyes glowing like a storm held back by sheer will.
"If you pull that trigger," he said calmly, "this city loses power again."
Her finger tightened.
"And if you hesitate," he continued softly, "it's because you already feel it."
Their voltages resonated violently.
Sparks cracked between them.
For a single, terrifying moment—
Neither of them looked away.