Zerotwo Novels & Stories

My voice shook as anticipation and fear overtook me. “I’ve never been more certain in my entire life.” His eyes shimmered under the moon, mirroring nothing but my reflection. We made a vow to the Moon Goddess to stay loyal to one another and seal our bond. As the vow fell, we felt a gentle burn on the insides of our wrists. The faint silver moon marks symbolized our mate bond and eternal oath. At the time, Allen said lovingly, “It’s the best gift I can give you. I’ll never miss a birthday with you.

Under the dim, flickering glow of a single oil lamp, a thin figure sat hunched before a terminal composed of several salvaged monitors held together by duct tape and wire. This was a youth who looked barely in his twenties—Code Name: Zero. When he looked up, Sophia noticed his immediate abnormality: his hands shook with a high-frequency tremor as he typed, a visible sign of permanent neurological damage. Every few minutes, he winced, reaching into a silver briefcase beside him for a syringe filled with a glowing blue liquid. He expertly injected it into his thigh, hissing through clenched teeth as the drug suppressed the violent rejection spasms wracking his nervous system.

"Barely." ​"It’s 4:59, sir," I replied, stepping forward and placing the silver flash drive on the polished mahogany surface. "The edit is complete." ​Luke finally looked up. His eyes were sharp, scanning me with a clinical detachment that made me want to shrink. He reached for the drive, his fingers brushing against mine for a fleeting second. I felt a jolt—a phantom spark of the connection we once had—but his expression didn't change. He plugged the drive into his computer, the silence in the room stretching until it felt suffocating.

Warmth filled Lloyd’s heart and he held himself back from crying. “Why?” He muttered gently. He knew this was the work of Theophilus. Nancy noticed his expression and she took the folder from him. Her shock was even greater than Lloyd’s own. The folder contained a file which stated that the government had absorbed the debt of Lloyd’s company and another additional 200 billion dollar loan with zero percent interest was also given to them. “You did this Baba?” She asked, unable to hold back her tears. “Consider it our wedding gift to you,” Theo replied, sniffling back his own tears.

"Allevino Wiratama!" The call coming from the corridor made my steps stop. The distinctive feminine voice of the French-born girl, Camille Zoe. I was so surprised that I froze in place, then made sure the buttons on the shirt I was wearing impromptu didn't have the wrong holes. "I'm dead!" My lips clamped shut as the words came out. "Are you crazy, leaving me behind just for a guy?" Her foreign accent was still very noticeable.

“Now, what the hell am I lookin’ at?” “A ledger containing current club financials, business contacts, and laundering sources.” “Jesus, Minus. There a specific reason such a hot item is currently in my home?” “I had to get it as far away from home as possible and I couldn’t think of a better place than here in your safe. I’m gonna talk to Zaius about posting a couple of patches here until all of this blows over, and I’m going to need you to get some more of the younger guys around here up to speed. I’ll need all the allies on my side I can get both in Savannah and Portland.”

111

He closed his eyes, opened them, and stared at the screen again. His thumb hovered uselessly above the glass. Instinctively, his eyes darted to the top of the portal page to double-check the routing parameters. He checked the account identifier first. The name listed was Ethan Vale. He checked the deployment reference marker. Node 04 — Industrial Logistics Complex. Correct. He checked the settlement execution date. Today’s timestamp. Correct. Then his eyes traveled back down to the final payout line. His brow furrowed deeply. "No," he whispered, his voice flat with immediate disbelief. "That's... that's a system glitch. Someone dropped a zero. Or three."

UNKNOWN USER: ZERO Vanessa’s eyes widened. “The ghost.” Inside the garage Wolfe looked at his phone. The detonator signal had failed. For the first time— He frowned. Leo whispered quietly, “Zero just saved us.” Then another message appeared on the screen. Three words. NOT FOR YOU.

My company let employees clock paid hours while petting the office cats, take unlimited vacation, and skip the time clock altogether. For a while, people called us a dream company. Then one of my employees posted online and accused the whole thing of being a kindness trap. He filmed the office as if it were paradise, but the caption told a different story: [Don't envy us. All of this was bought with our low pay and our youth.] The post went viral, and overnight, I became the fake-nice boss who bled his employees dry behind a mask of small kindnesses. The entire internet told my employees to run. Fine. I let them. I rolled out a new policy. Effective immediately, every flexible benefit