The Dust Circuit base was exactly what Zeke expected from a bunch of anti-corporate hackers.
Dimly lit. Smelled like ozone and instant noodles. Wires everywhere. A suspicious number of cats.
Tess Vex walked ahead of him, boots clanking against the metal floor. "This is the Core. Home to the smartest, angriest, most under-showered people in the city."
Zeke stepped around a rat carrying a USB stick. "You weren't kidding."
A guy in the corner yelled, "Hey! It's Zeke Warden! The Neon Ghost himself!"
Everyone turned.
Zeke panicked. "Nope. Not him. I'm uh... Z3K3. Totally different guy. Cooler. More mysterious."
Tess didn't miss a step. "Play along," she whispered. "The myth works better than the man."
Another voice chimed in. "Didn't you crash the SkyGrid while watching anime?"
"It was Laser Nuns IV," Zeke muttered, "and I didn't mean to."
They cheered anyway.
A girl with half-shaved hair offered him a stale protein bar like it was an offering to a tech god. Zeke took it, nodded awkwardly, and whispered, "Nyx… what is happening?"
"They believe you are a genius."
"I uploaded a virus by accident."
"That is still more effective than most of them on purpose."
...
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the base…
Tess watched Zeke from a distance, arms folded. The guy was awkward. Clumsy. Occasionally mumbled to himself like he was negotiating with a sock puppet. And yet…
In 48 hours, he'd done what her crew had tried for five years: shook Hyperion.
She didn't trust him.
But she needed him.
"Do you think he's legit?" her second-in-command asked. The tall one with a mech arm and too many piercings.
"No," Tess said flatly. "But that doesn't matter."
She stared across the room at Zeke, who had just tripped over a server cable and high-fived a wall to play it off.
"If the city believes in him… then we weaponize the myth."
...
Back at Hyperion HQ…
Agent Harrow watched surveillance footage of Zeke petting a cat and getting scratched.
He didn't blink. He didn't laugh. He simply turned to his assistant.
"Upload the blacksite protocols. Prep the echo-clones."
The assistant swallowed. "Sir… if we engage the Dust Circuit directly, we could trigger a citywide uprising."
Harrow smiled.
"I'm counting on it."
...
Back in the base…
Zeke was led to a room lined with ancient tech—screens, wires, half-dismantled bots. Tess dropped a heavy datapad on the table in front of him.
"We need your help."
Zeke flinched. "Oh no. That phrase always leads to dying."
She smirked. "You're the only one who can access Nyx without triggering the kill protocols."
"…Kill what now?"
She slid the pad forward.
It showed Project Omega—a corporate plan to roll out citywide mind-control implants under the guise of "mental wellness enhancements."
Zeke blinked. "That's… not even subtle. They literally named it Omega."
"Corporations don't do subtle," Tess said. "They do domination. And marketing."
Zeke leaned back, rubbing his face. "Okay. Fine. What's the plan?"
She grinned.
"You fake your way into Hyperion Tower. Pretend you're the myth they fear. And when they open the gates…"
She dropped a small detonator into his hand.
"…we blow the whole lie wide open."
Zeke stared at the detonator.
Then at her.
Then back at the detonator.
"Nyx?" he whispered.
"Yes, Operator?"
"On a scale from one to catastrophic, how bad is this idea?"
"It ranks 'hilariously suicidal.'"
Zeke sighed. "Perfect. Let's do it."