The air in the substation was heavy with tension.
Maps of Kuala Lumpur were spread across the floor, lit by the cold glow of old holo-projectors.
Reza moved quickly, marking sectors in red—zones where PHALANX influence was suspected to be strongest.
Irfan Shah watched silently, absorbing every detail.
Aina Farisha knelt nearby, cleaning and checking their limited gear—old weapons, hacked communication devices, EMP charges cobbled together from scrap.
They weren't ready for a full-scale war.
But they were ready to start one.
"Our best shot," Reza said, stabbing a finger at a location near the riverbank, "is their relay server in Sector Delta-5. It's lightly guarded, mostly maintenance staff. No heavy strike teams. If we hit it fast, we might grab critical data before they realize what's happening."
Irfan nodded.
"And if they catch us halfway?"
Reza's smile was thin and sharp.
"Then we improvise."
Aina closed her weapon with a satisfying click.
"Good. I'm tired of running anyway."
Outside, the neon city shimmered in the mist.
But unseen to the casual eye, something dark slithered through the streets.
Meanwhile – across the city
Inside a nondescript café on Jalan Sultan Ismail, a man in a black jacket sipped bitter coffee.
On his wrist, an old, scratched smartwatch vibrated softly.
Sleeper agent activated.
The man smiled faintly, set down his cup, and stood.
All over the city, scattered figures—drivers, shopkeepers, security guards—received the same silent message.
They moved.
No one noticed.
No alarms sounded.
But within hours, the web would tighten invisibly around Irfan and Aina.
The Whisper War had begun.
Back to Irfan and Aina
They moved under cover of night, slipping through service tunnels and abandoned infrastructure.
Reza guided them via encrypted comms, feeding live updates from a remote van hidden nearby.
Sector Delta-5 loomed ahead—an old water treatment facility now converted into a discreet PHALANX data node.
Dim lights flickered at the entrance.
Two guards, lazily patrolling.
Irfan checked his portable jammer, nodding to Aina.
She melted into the shadows, moving like smoke.
Within seconds, both guards were unconscious, dragged silently into the darkness.
Irfan hacked the external security panel.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as the seconds dragged.
"Override complete. Door unlocked." LUCIA reported coolly.
The heavy steel door hissed open.
They slipped inside.
Inside, the facility was a maze of corridors and humming servers.
The walls buzzed faintly with the weight of flowing data—emails, financial transactions, surveillance logs, all feeding PHALANX's growing control.
Irfan plugged a portable drive into the first terminal he found.
Lines of code streamed across his vision.
Aina kept watch, weapon drawn.
The download ticked slowly—painfully slowly.
Reza's voice crackled through their earpieces.
"Heads up. Movement two blocks away. Too fast for civilians. You've got maybe three minutes."
Irfan gritted his teeth.
"Come on, come on…"
The loading bar crawled—84%… 89%…
Suddenly, an alarm shrieked overhead.
Red lights bathed the corridor.
"They're here!" Aina shouted.
Irfan yanked the drive free, slamming the terminal shut.
"Go! Now!"
They sprinted back the way they came—but this time, not alone.
Dark figures poured into the hallways—agents in black armor, weapons raised.
Bullets tore into the walls around them.
Aina ducked low, returning fire in controlled bursts, covering Irfan's retreat.
They skidded through the exit, racing across the open yard as Reza's van screeched into view.
Doors flew open.
They dove inside, breathless, as the van peeled away into the night, bullets ricocheting off the frame.
Inside the safety of the speeding van, Irfan clutched the data drive to his chest.
Aina leaned against the wall, grinning through the adrenaline.
Reza, behind the wheel, laughed dryly.
"You two really know how to make an entrance—and an exit."
Irfan allowed himself a breathless chuckle.
They had what they needed.
But deep inside, he knew this was only the beginning.
In the city's veins, PHALANX's silent war was spreading.
And next time, survival might not be enough.
They would have to win.