Later that night, Kaelen made a startling discovery. Mason informed him that Patch and Glitch had gone missing, lost somewhere in the tangled threads of time. Yet, somehow, they had resurfaced. Mason had found them at Black Fang, searching for Jason. Curious, Kaelen quickly dialed Jason's number. The phone rang twice before being picked up, but instead of Jason’s voice, a familiar, slightly sultry tone greeted him.

“Hello?” Annie's voice came through, breathy and distracted.

Kaelen’s brow furrowed. “Annie?”

“Yeah... Jason’s a bit busy right now,” she said, a playful laugh in her voice. The sound of rustling fabric made it clear what kind of "busy" she meant.

“Uh-huh, working, I’m sure,” Kaelen muttered, more to himself than to her. He didn’t need to hear the rest. Without waiting for an explanation, he hung up, shaking his head with a small, amused smirk.

Patch and Glitch, standing nearby, exchanged confused glances. Patch tilted his head, his metallic implants gleaming under the low light of the club’s interior. “Who was that answering Jason’s phone?”

“Annie,” Kaelen replied with a casual wave. “She works for me. Jason’s helping her with court-ordered community service.”

Glitch's eyebrows shot up. Her hair, a cascade of shimmering green and rainbow hues, sparkled under the neon lights of the club. “Community service? What, she’s picking up trash or something?”

Kaelen chuckled. “Jason pulled some strings. She’s doing it at Shadow Sweets Bakery.”

Patch’s silver eyes met Glitch’s, a silent understanding passing between them before they both spoke at once.

“You’re it,” Patch said.

“Jinx,” Glitch grinned, sticking her tongue out. They immediately launched into a quick round of rock-paper-scissors, their hands flashing faster than Kaelen could keep track of. Glitch won, but only by subtly cheating, slipping her hand into a glitching phase to change her move at the last second.

Kaelen raised an eyebrow as Glitch turned to him, mischief lighting up her vibrant eyes. “Kaelen, Jason’s running a porn studio out of that bakery,” she announced with a smirk, as if she was dropping a bombshell.

It took Kaelen a moment to process what she said, and when it clicked, he blinked, mildly surprised but not exactly concerned. Sure, it wasn’t ideal for business—at least not his kind of business—but truthfully, he didn’t care. The sales he was getting from the club alone were more than worth it.

“Alright,” he said, shrugging. “Not really my problem.”

Patch, however, wasn’t so easily distracted. His demeanor shifted, becoming more serious. His leather jacket creaked as he crossed his arms, looking like he was gearing up to say something important. Kaelen’s relaxed posture straightened slightly as he turned to him. “So, what’s got you two so desperate to find Jason?”

Patch hesitated, glancing at Glitch, who nodded for him to speak. Taking a deep breath, Patch looked back at Kaelen, his voice quieter now, more haunted. “Kaelen... did you know I died?”

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The question hung in the air like a lead weight. Kaelen’s eyes narrowed, his brain already piecing together fragments of what Red Dot had hinted at earlier.

Patch swallowed hard, visibly uncomfortable. “Delphinus. He’s powerful—more than I could have ever imagined. He messed with my mind, paralyzed me. I couldn’t even move when he...” Patch’s voice trailed off, his hands mimicking a snap. “He snapped my neck. But I didn’t die.”

Kaelen’s gaze darkened as Patch continued, his words becoming more fragmented, like he was trying to piece together a nightmare. “Delphinus used Glitch, with his mind... summoned some girl... she drained me, drained everything. But even then, I didn’t die. I was undead, functional, but not alive. Glitch was... not here. She was just an illusion, out of reality.”

Glitch nodded, her usually playful expression gone. “Red Dot saved us, sent us to the future, healed us with Warptor’s help. But Patch... he saw things. In the future.”

Patch’s hands clenched into fists as he looked Kaelen dead in the eye. “What I saw terrified me. Enlightened me. That blob... that thing... it wasn’t just technology, Kaelen. It was something else. And the Earth... well, let’s just say it’s not as safe as we think.”

Kaelen remained silent, taking it all in. Patch and Glitch began to explain that they had been unknowingly spreading nanites, small tech organisms, everywhere they went. Just being near Kaelen, those nanites tried to infect him too. His immune system, however, was too strong for the swarm of trillions. Only one nanite survived the encounter, but that single one was enough to alter everything.

Kaelen’s eyes widened in shock as the nanite communicated with him, its voice cold and mechanical.

Host: Assimilation failed. Host: Optimization? Host: Confirm?

For a moment, Kaelen stood there, too stunned to speak. His mind flashed back to the insanity Delphinus had already thrown at him—a lava attack, a train nearly crushing him—and now this? A nanite trying to coexist inside him? The thought of Delphinus’s psychopathic games filled him with anger. He remembered Delphinus telling him, almost mockingly, that he was a fan.

“A fan?” Kaelen muttered to himself, bitterness tinging his voice. Delphinus wasn’t just some sadistic killer; he was like a twisted version of what dolphins were supposed to be—highly intelligent, coldly efficient predators with a cruel streak.

But it made sense. Delphinus had no family, no sense of grounding. Kaelen thought about how he, at least, had Jason—even if his brother was often a walking disaster, he was still family. Delphinus? He didn’t even remember his mother, and Kaelen didn’t know who his own father was until recently.

Maybe that was the difference. Kaelen had people, even if they were flawed. Delphinus was a monster shaped by solitude.

The next morning, Kaelen woke at 9 AM, his mind still clouded by the previous night’s revelations. He reached for a mug filled with Loren’s blood, drinking it down as he dressed. He picked out an expensive, dark suit, one Valerian had tailored for him. The suit’s sleek, edgy design fit perfectly, accentuating Kaelen’s sharp features.

He dialed Cygnus’s number, and to his surprise, she picked up. The fact that she even had a phone was shocking enough, but Kaelen wasn’t too fazed—he’d done his research. Cygnus wasn’t just some ethereal being; she was practically a god, an entity who had existed from the beginning of time. But to Kaelen, that didn’t make her special. She was just another powerful creature, an egotistical one at that, though unlike Delphinus, he could use her.

He quickly put her to work, enlisting her help to expose Delphinus’s cruelty in the courts, securing another victory for Alyssa. With Cygnus backing him, Kaelen’s reputation and business flourished even further. The Black Fang was back in business, and Kaelen had a lot to prepare for.

What he didn’t know was that Jason had already taken care of the promotion. The entire city was buzzing about the Shadow Syndicate performing at the Black Fang that night, with radio talk shows covering the news. Jason, ever resourceful, had linked the bakery and his underground activities, making sure everyone knew the Black Fang was the place to be.

As Kaelen stared at his reflection, adjusting his suit, he couldn’t help but smirk. Whatever chaos Delphinus had planned, Kaelen was ready. And with Jason's reckless side hustles, the Black Fang was bound to thrive—even if it was with a little extra scandal.