The air was thick with the metallic tang of blood and the hum of flickering lights. Sarah Daniger stumbled back, eyes locked on the Sword of Shadows—black, jagged, and alive. It pulsed like a heartbeat, like it had been waiting for this moment.
Robert Grieger grinned, the dim lab light casting shadows across his sharp features. His dark suit was torn at the sleeve, but the blood smeared across his hands wasn’t his. Sarah clutched the data drive in her palm—a last, desperate link to the man she loved.
Then Grieger moved. Fast. Too fast. The sword came down in an arc of death. Sarah’s breath hitched, but before she could react—A blur of motion crashed into her, knocking her out of harm’s way.
Sarah hit the ground hard, her head smacking against the cold floor. The world spun. She blinked away the pain, her vision clearing just in time to see— Steve McCall standing in front of her. His trench coat billowed from the impact, his hazel eyes locked onto hers—but they weren’t filled with fear. They were filled with determination.
“Mack!” she gasped.
Then, the blade plunged through him. Sarah’s world fractured. But something was wrong. There was no blood. No dying gasp. Steve’s body glitched—his skin pixelating, breaking apart into thousands of tiny fragments of light.
“Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.” Mackiaveli says, then the scene gradually slows down to a pause with Grieger’s sword entering Mackiaveli as it stabs him through his chest.
Steve McCall stood frozen, Grieger’s sword buried deep in his chest. The blade pulsed—cold, unnatural, alive. His breath caught, but there was no pain. No blood. Just a strange, static hum, as if his body were… breaking apart.
Sarah’s horrified scream echoed through the burning wreckage of the lab, her face twisted in agony as she reached for him. But she couldn’t.
Because his fingers—his entire body—was glitching, dissolving into pixels, drifting away like embers in the wind.
“Well, to get here, we’ve gotta rewind a little bit.” Then the scene quickly rewinds until the world fades to black.
ONE YEAR EARLIER
The night air settled heavy over the remote ranch, a sprawling estate in the middle of nowhere. The compound had been built for secrecy, its underground lab reinforced with state-of-the-art security, but that didn’t matter now.
“It all started a year ago after the Auracron Prime competition. I landed the job I wanted for years and was married to the girl of my dreams. But of course there was trouble in paradise.”
Inside, in a dimly lit control room, Sarah and Steve were arguing.
“Just admit it, Mack!” Sarah’s hands balled into fists, her golden-brown eyes flashing with fury. “I saw the messages! Who the hell is ‘Maya’?!”
Steve exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “Sarah, it’s not what you think!”
Her glare didn’t soften.
“Right. Because secret messages and late-night ‘work meetings’ always mean nothing!”
Steve threw his hands up. “Jesus, Sarah, listen to me! It’s not about that! I got a message from Leonard. You remember Leonard, right? My brother-in-law? He was at our wedding. He sent me something urgent—he and Leo are on the run. And my sister—Jennifer—is missing.”
Sarah’s expression flickered.
“Wait. What?”
Steve nodded, his voice dropping lower. “It’s the Commission. They got her two weeks ago. We’ve been trying to find her.”
The words hung heavy between them. Sarah’s anger melted into something far worse—fear. The Commission. The same shadow organization that controlled the deep layers of Another Life VR, the ones who decided who got to play God. If they had Jennifer Casari…
Sarah took a breath. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you involved.”
“Too late for that.”
Then—A loud BEEP! The screen next to them flashed red—an intrusion alert. Steve and Sarah whipped around, staring at the display. A dozen black SUVs were rolling up the dirt road, their headlights slicing through the darkness.
Sarah’s face drained of color. “Oh my god. I forgot.”
Steve narrowed his eyes. “Forgot what?”
She swallowed hard. “I… I called the office. To quit.”
Steve’s jaw tightened. “You did what?”
Before she could answer—BOOM! The reinforced doors exploded inward, sending metal shrapnel flying across the lab. The force knocked Sarah off her feet, slamming her against the console. Smoke filled the air, alarms blaring, red emergency lights casting everything in a hellish glow. Steve shielded his eyes as figures in tactical gear stormed inside.
And then—Grieger walked in. Dressed in black tactical gear, Robert Grieger moved like a predator, his piercing gaze sweeping the room with casual arrogance. Beside him, Dirk Welsby III—grinning like a man ready to watch a public execution.
Grieger smirked. “Lieutenant. It’s time for your revenge.”
Dirk cracked his knuckles. “Been waiting for this, boss. These two ruined my career. Let’s kill them, now.”
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Grieger pulled out his sword from it’s sheath. A dark unnatural resonant tone HUMMED! through the air. The vibrations caused everyone except Grieger to wince. Welsby even took an extra step back from Grieger due to the sheen amount of power emanating from the Sword.
“The Sword of Shadow and Pain is calling out to you Sarah, or is it you Steve McCall? Maybe it wants both of you? His eyes flashed crimson red.
Sarah’s hands clenched into fists and she turned to look away from the strange man with a sword to yell at Welsby. “You ruined your own damn career, you misogynistic prick!”
Dirk’s grin twisted. “Still got that smart mouth, huh? That’s okay. You won’t have it much longer.”
Steve stepped forward, standing between Sarah and Grieger’s squad. Grieger sighed dramatically, slowly twirling the Sword of Shadows with his wrist to prepare to stabbing motion. The room dimmed, as if the air itself recoiled from the weapon’s presence.
“Enough games,” Grieger said. “This little lady will be no more. Just like Jennifer Casari.”
Sarah froze. Her pulse pounded in her ears. She barely heard Steve’s snarl of rage before he lunged in front of her— And the sword plunged into his chest. His fingers twitched as he tried to reach for her, but his hand phased through the air, flickering in and out like a corrupted data file. Grieger staggered back, his grip tightening on the sword, staring in disbelief.
“What the hell? RUN!!!” he muttered.
Steve’s eyes met Sarah’s one last time. A faint, broken smile. Then—He was gone. His body dissolved into the air, leaving only empty space where he had stood. Sarah choked on a sob.
“No. No, no, no.”
This wasn’t—this couldn’t be real. She scrambled forward, hands grasping at nothing. Steve McCall was gone. Not dead. Deleted. A hollow scream ripped from her throat. But instinct took over.
She ran. Robert Grieger stood still, his gaze locked on the Sword of Shadows. The blade hummed, its once dull steel now glowing with a sinister energy.
“I see you’ve found what you came to eat,” he murmured.
The sword shuddered, almost as if responding. Grieger rolled his shoulders, the tension melting away as a satisfied smirk crept across his face. His men shifted behind him, uneasy.
One of them—helmeted, combat gear still fresh from the skirmish—swallowed hard. “What about the girl?”
Grieger barely spared him a glance.
“Seems she wasn’t the real target,” he said simply. “The Sword wanted him.”
Lieutenant Welsby hesitated. “But she knows—and you promised we would kill…”
“Silence. Stop whining Lieutenant. We’ll find her. She won't be able to hide for long.”
A sinister look appeared on both of their faces.
“We got what we came for. Let’s move.”
“Yes, Sir!” Welsby replied with a salute.
That was all. No discussion. No second thoughts. Just absolute certainty. The squad fell in line, leaving behind the empty air where Steve McCall had once stood.
Sarah’s hands shook as she shoved the key into the ignition. The engine roared. She slammed her foot onto the gas. The tires screeched, and the car lurched forward, speeding away from the facility. Tears blurred her vision, her breath coming in short, ragged sobs. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. Steve was gone.
And there was nothing left of him. Nothingness. No sound. No sight. Just void. Then—A sound. At first, it was distant. A whisper, an echo that barely touched his senses. Then it grew. A howl, shrill and hollow, like wind screaming through shattered glass.
Then another. Then dozens. The void shifted, shadows twisting like living things, and suddenly—He wasn’t alone. Shapes rose from the darkness, thin and jagged, their forms barely visible, ghostly white against the abyss. Wraiths.
Not just shadows. Hungry things. They moved like broken code, their figures stuttering, bending in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Their hollow faces turned toward him, but there were no eyes—only black voids where faces should be.
Then they screamed. A high-pitched, unnatural shriek that tore through his bones, rattling his skull. His instincts kicked in before his mind did. His hands twitched, and suddenly—Weight. At his sides, he could feel them. Two short swords, hilts warm against his palms.
They hadn’t been there before. They had appeared, summoned into existence like part of the system itself. No time to question it. The first wraith lunged, clawed fingers stretching toward his throat—He moved.
The golden glow around him intensified, outlining his form like a beacon in the dark. The swords came free, and his body responded on instinct, muscle memory guiding him as he slashed through the creature’s chest.
The wraith let out a horrific, glitched scream as its form shattered into static, evaporating into the nothingness. Another came Then another. He turned, slicing through them, his blades leaving trails of golden energy as they cut.
The wraiths kept coming, their numbers endless, surrounding him in the shifting blackness. He moved faster. Duck. Slash. Pivot. Strike. His breath came sharp and ragged, but his body refused to slow. The more he fought, the brighter he glowed, until—
Darkness swallowed everything. The wraiths were gone. The void returned to silence. Only his glow remained, pulsing softly against the abyss. And then—A single line of code blinked into existence.
SYSTEMBOOTING…SYSTEM BOOTING…SYSTEMBOOTING…
LOADING ENTITY:USERID−"MACKIAVELI" LOADING ENTITY: USER ID - "MACKIAVELI" LOADING ENTITY:USERID−"MACKIAVELI"
A burst of golden light erupted in the darkness. Then—Gravity. Steve fell. Hard.
His body slammed onto solid ground, knocking the air from his lungs. His eyes snapped open. Above him, the sky stretched endlessly—a deep twilight of purples and electric blues, the clouds pixelated, glitching at the edges.
A strange wind ruffled his trench coat, though there was no source for it. His fingers dug into the dirt—except it wasn’t dirt. It was something… else. A texture. A simulation. Then—A translucent HUD interface blinked into view in the corner of his vision.
LOADING COMPLETE LOADING COMPLETE LOADING COMPLETE
WELCOME TO ANOTHER LIFE VR
His vision glitches like a computer error, and then—
WELCOME TO AFTERLIFE. . . ANOTHER LIFE VR
WELCOME TO ANOTHER LIFE VR
Steve froze. His breath hitched. His heart pounded.
No. No, no—
He shot to his feet, his body moving too smoothly—like his reflexes had been perfectly tuned. His hands flew to his face, his chest—he was whole. But something was wrong. Steve took a shaky breath, then spoke the command out loud.
Log out.
Nothing. His stomach twisted.
Log out!
He yelled in his mind.
ERROR:USER CAN NOT EXIT SESSION ERROR: USER CAN NOT EXIT SESSION ERROR:USER CANNOT EXIT SESSION
RESTRICTION CODE:00X−MAKO−PRIME RESTRICTION CODE: 00X-MAKO-PRIME RESTRICTION CODE:00X−MAKO−PRIME…
Steve’s vision blurred. His thoughts fractured, spiraling into panic.
No. No, this isn't right.
I should be dead.
I felt it. I saw myself—Sarah saw—
But I'm here.
I feel... I feel... real?
He swallowed hard.
Switch to Zeus
Nothing. His hands shook.
Switch to Zeus!
He shouted in his mind again.
Nothing. No override. No admin panel. No escape. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer. Steve McCall was gone. Only Mackiaveli remained. And this? This was his After Life.