LOGINJackson tried to stand, but the gravitational pressure in the room was crushing him. Alistair Sterling floated above them, his eyes glowing with that terrible violet light.
"Struggle all you want," Alistair sneered. "My consciousness is merged with the Core. I control the gravity. I control the air. I am this facility."
Margaret was on her knees, gasping. Serenity was holding onto a railing, shielding her eyes from the blinding light radiating from the black sphere.
"Jackson..." Serenity whispered. "Do something."
"I can't reach him," Jackson gritted his teeth. He tried to raise his gun, but it felt like it weighed a ton. "He is too strong."
Alistair raised a hand. A beam of energy lashed out, hitting Margaret. She screamed as she was thrown against the wall.
"Mother!" Jackson shouted.
"Enough games," Alistair’s voice boomed. "Give me the girl. I will drain her blood and reset this world."
He floated towards Serenity.
Suddenly, the massive black sphere—the Core—flickered.
BZZT.
Alistair paused. He frowned. "What?"
The violet light of the sphere turned... Blue.
Then Green.
Then it started flashing in a rhythmic disco pattern.
Beep-Boop-Beep-Boop.
A voice blasted through the ancient temple speakers. It wasn't the scary voice of a god. It was a synthesized, 8-bit chipmunk voice.
"ERROR. ERROR. SYSTEM HACKED. STOP HITTING YOURSELF."
Alistair looked around wildly. "Who dares interrupt me?"
"Hey, Grandpa. Nice dress."
A giant hologram projected itself right over the Core. It was a pixelated avatar of a cartoon boy wearing cool sunglasses.
Alex.
High above in the jet, miles away, Alex was typing so fast his keyboard was smoking.
"You might control the gravity," Alex's voice chirped through the system. "But you hooked your brain up to a digital network. Big mistake."
"I am a god!" Alistair screamed, trying to blast the hologram.
"You are just an Operating System now," Alex smirked. "And every OS has a delete button."
Alex pressed Enter.
[ UPLOADING VIRUS: THE_TROJAN_HORSE.EXE ]
The Core began to spin violently backwards.
"No! Stop!" Alistair grabbed his head. He screamed in agony as the digital virus attacked his consciousness directly. The connection between his mind and the machine was being shredded.
"Dad! Now!" Alex yelled. "His shield is down!"
The gravitational pressure vanished instantly.
Jackson surged up from the floor. He didn't use his gun. He lunged at the floating boy.
He tackled Alistair mid-air, slamming him onto the metal bridge.
"This is for my father," Jackson punched Alistair in the face. The glowing violet eyes flickered.
"This is for my mother," Jackson punched him again.
Alistair tried to crawl away, his power fading as Alex's virus ate the system. "Wait... Jackson... we can rule together... infinite power..."
Jackson stood up. He grabbed the glowing connection cable that attached Alistair’s spine to the Core.
"I don't want power," Jackson said cold-heartedly. "I want a retirement."
He ripped the cable out.
SNAP.
Alistair let out one final, digitized scream as his body convulsed and went lifeless.
The violet light in the cavern died instantly. The humming of the machine stopped. The Core turned into a dull, lifeless rock.
Silence returned to the Sanctum.
"Alex?" Jackson touched his earpiece, breathing heavily.
"Virus upload complete," Alex’s tired voice came through. "I... I think I fried my laptop, Dad."
"I'll buy you a factory of laptops," Jackson slumped against the railing, looking at Serenity. "Are you okay?"
Serenity ran to him, hugging him fiercely. Margaret limped over, joining the embrace.
The monster was gone. The machine was dead.
The shadow that hung over the Sterling family for three generations was finally lifted.
The Architect's Temporary Base. Unknown Location."Denied?" Zero stared at the screen. "What do you mean 'Access Denied'?""The bank accounts are frozen, Sir," his subordinate stammered. "Sterling bought the banks. He bought the holding companies. He even bought the electric grid supplying this building."PZZZT.The lights in Zero's office flickered and died. The emergency red lights turned on."He cut our power," Zero whispered, trembling with rage.In one hour, Jackson Sterling had dismantled an empire that took fifty years to build. No supply chain. No weapons. No money to pay the mercenaries."He thinks he can starve us out?" Zero smashed his desk lamp. "He thinks we are businessmen? We are gods!"He turned to his lieutenant."Assemble the Legion. Every remaining soldier. Every working Drone.""Sir? What is the target?""His heart," Zero pointed to a map of Long Island, New York. "The Sterling Manor. We go there tonight. We burn it to the ground. If we can't rule the world, we wil
The Architect's Temporary Base. Unknown Location."Denied?" Zero stared at the screen. "What do you mean 'Access Denied'?""The bank accounts are frozen, Sir," his subordinate stammered. "Sterling bought the banks. He bought the holding companies. He even bought the electric grid supplying this building."PZZZT.The lights in Zero's office flickered and died. The emergency red lights turned on."He cut our power," Zero whispered, trembling with rage.In one hour, Jackson Sterling had dismantled an empire that took fifty years to build. No supply chain. No weapons. No money to pay the mercenaries."He thinks he can starve us out?" Zero smashed his desk lamp. "He thinks we are businessmen? We are gods!"He turned to his lieutenant."Assemble the Legion. Every remaining soldier. Every working Drone.""Sir? What is the target?""His heart," Zero pointed to a map of Long Island, New York. "The Sterling Manor. We go there tonight. We burn it to the ground. If we can't rule the world, we wil
Sparks showered from the ceiling. The sound of tearing metal was deafening.The dining car groaned and tilted violently to the right. Tables, chairs, and expensive wine bottles slid down the slope, crashing into the wall.Jackson slammed one hand into a window frame, his other arm locked around Serenity’s waist. He stopped them from sliding into the pile of broken glass below."Don't let go!" Jackson shouted over the noise.Serenity looked down. Through the shattered window beneath them, she saw nothing but swirling snow and darkness. They were dangling over a canyon."The coupling is breaking!" Serenity yelled, pointing to the metal hook connecting their car to the rest of the train. It was stretching, groaning under the weight.CLANG.The door at the top of the tilted car (the one Zero left through) was kicked open.Two figures rappelled down into the car on zip lines.They wore sleek, matte-black armor. No faces. Just glowing red visors. They moved with robotic precision, magnetize
The Midnight Express tore through the darkness of the Swiss Alps at 300 kilometers per hour.In the exclusive private dining car, crystal glasses jingled softly with the vibration of the tracks. Outside the window, nothing existed but snow and night.Jackson adjusted his cufflinks. Under his tuxedo, he was wearing a ceramic knife taped to his ribs—the only weapon the metal detectors didn't pick up.Serenity sat opposite him, looking breathtaking in a black velvet gown. She held a clutch that contained a small vial of Margaret’s anti-serum."Nervous?" Jackson asked, pouring her water."I’m having dinner with the man who tried to kidnap our children," Serenity’s eyes were cold. "I’m not nervous. I’m restraining myself from stabbing him with a fork.""Patience," Jackson whispered.The door at the end of the car slid open.A man walked in.He looked nothing like a villain. He was handsome, in his forties, wearing a grey suit that cost more than the train itself. He had silver hair and a s
"Close your eyes," Liam commanded softly.The nursery was dimly lit. Aurora and Alex lay on the large rug, pillows under their heads. Liam sat between them in a lotus position. Jackson and Serenity watched from the couch, feeling useless but alert."Grandpa, this is unscientific," Alex muttered, keeping one eye open. "Telepathy isn't real.""Quantum entanglement is," Liam placed a finger on Alex's forehead and another on Aurora's. "Connect."A pulse of violet light rippled through the room.The Dreamscape.Alex gasped. He wasn't on the rug anymore.He was standing on an endless plane of pure white water. The sky was white. The horizon was white. It was a blank canvas."Whoa," Alex looked at his hands. They were glowing. "High definition rendering. Zero latency.""Where are the toys?" Aurora appeared next to him. In the dream, she wasn't wearing pajamas. She was wearing a sparkling fairy queen dress.Liam appeared in front of them. He looked younger here, powerful and majestic."This i
That night, the Palace was quiet. But the air was heavy.In the royal nursery, five-year-old Aurora was tossing and turning in her bed. She was sweating.“No… go away…” she whimpered in her sleep.Around her room, objects began to react to her distress. Her teddy bears floated into the air. The heavy curtains rustled as if caught in a storm, though the windows were closed. The water in her glass began to boil.In the Dream:Aurora was standing in a field of grey ash. The sky was purple.In the distance, a massive Black Tower stretched up into the clouds. It looked like a needle piercing the sky.Standing at the top of the tower was a man. He didn't have a face. Just a smooth, white mask with a single vertical line drawn on it."Come here, little star," the man’s voice echoed inside her head. "Your light belongs to me."Shadowy hands reached out from the ground, grabbing Aurora’s ankles."Daddy!" she screamed in the dream.In the Real World:CRACK!The mirror on Aurora's wall shattered







