The mainframe room hummed with dying echoes of energy as the last remnants of Zeus’ corrupted consciousness dissolved into nothingness. Aklion stood, breath ragged and shoulders heavy with exhaustion, feeling the adrenaline bleed away. The flicker of blue code vanished from the air, leaving only the eerie quiet and the vague impression that he had just outwitted a god.
System Notification:
Trojan Virus Successful
Zeus Mainframe: Compromised
ARES: Partially Accessible
Before the void of silence swallowed the room completely, ARES’ voice broke through, layered in static, a ghostly whisper from a god on the brink of erasure. “Look… the batch code… cross-reference… stolen data…”
Aklion frowned, his pulse quickening. “What the hell does that mean?” he murmured.
System Notification:
New Objective: Cross-Reference INPAXX Batch Code
Warning: ARES Network Exclusion Imminent
ARES’ voice began to disintegrate, breaking apart into scattered bytes of meaningless noise. “Waste… recycling… project…”
And then, silence.
Aklion’s hands trembled, the last of his clarity fighting through the fog of Deimos’ toxin. His vision wavered, yet he forced himself to focus. He could feel the shadows of Vectora’s laughter, the echo of the baby’s cry from earlier, still gnawing at his mind. But he couldn’t afford to collapse. Not yet.
He looked down at the vials of INPAXX strapped to his belt, specifically the pristine one given to him by the Fates. The batch code gleamed under the cold, sterile light of the mainframe room. It was a sequence he had memorized during long, restless nights of obsession: WR-1745-RC.
“What the hell is ‘Waste Recycling’?” Aklion whispered, dread blooming in his gut.
The sudden sound of a gun cocking made Aklion freeze. He turned slowly, heart sinking as he saw Ravik standing there, eyes bloodshot and face twisted with a rage that looked barely human. The other man’s hands trembled as he aimed a pistol directly at Aklion’s head.
“You bastard,” Ravik growled, voice thick with grief and desperation. “We’ve postponed for too long. I did not forget, I did not forgive. Event though I don’t know why, I feel, yes, yes, we’re ending this. Now.”
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System Notification:
Boss Encounter: Ravik
Status Effect: Fear of the Unknown (Lingering from Deimos’ Toxin)
Ravik’s eyes gleamed with madness. It was clear he too had been affected by the poison of Deimos, his vision clouded by hallucinations and unresolved fury. But Aklion could see the fractures in his demeanor, the weariness that underpinned every motion.
Aklion raised his hands, palms out. “Just… give me a minute,” he said, the words tasting like ashes. “There’s something important, something that might change everything—for both of us.”
Ravik’s grip didn’t falter. “Why the fuck should I care?” he snarled. “You killed Vectora. You destroyed everything. I should blow your brains out right now.”
Aklion swallowed hard. “Just… one minute. Let me finish what I started here, and then you can do whatever you want. Please.”
For a moment, time felt suspended. Ravik’s finger hovered over the trigger, his breathing coming in ragged bursts. Then, with a bitter snarl, he nodded. “One minute. And if you try anything, you’re fucking dead.”
System Notification:
New Objective: Access Mainframe Research Logs
Time Limit: 60 Seconds
Aklion’s fingers flew over the keys, desperation driving him faster than he thought possible. Lines of code blurred before his eyes, the toxin’s effects still slithering through his mind. Finally, he found it: a research project buried deep in the archives.
“Waste Recycling Program: Project Overview,” he read aloud, his voice cracking.
The data unfolded before him, grim and damning. The theoretical formula referenced in the logs was unlike anything he had ever seen. It had been designed to create a hyper-potent version of INPAXX, capable of permanently altering human DNA. But it required a unique ingredient, something that couldn’t be replicated in a lab: a pure source of stem cells from a child. Specifically, a child with both parents who had been heavily saturated with INPAXX.
Aklion’s stomach twisted, bile burning his throat. “No… no, it can’t be.”
His gaze fell to the last vial of INPAXX, the one he had been so careful to keep. His hands clenched around it, realization crashing into him like a sledgehammer. This batch—this perfect, untainted vial—had been created using the blood of his own child. The one he had never seen, the one the Conglomerate had taken from him.
His child had been the sacrifice.
System Notification:
Psychological Trauma Detected: Sanity Decreasing
Temporary Buff: Fury of a Father
Aklion’s vision swam, tears mixing with rage as the weight of the revelation crushed him. “They… they used my child. They fucking used him.”
Ravik’s gun wavered as he watched Aklion crumple under the truth. His own rage flickered, mingling with something else—something fragile and broken. The hardened mask of a rebel leader cracked, and he took a step back, eyes wide with horror.
“They… did what?” Ravik whispered.
Aklion turned to him, tears streaming down his face, fists clenched so tightly the vial bit into his palm. “The Conglomerate used my son,” he choked out. “This miracle batch… it’s his blood. They bled him for their fucking drug.”
Ravik’s gun lowered, his expression shattering into disbelief and grief. The hatred that had burned so fiercely between them wavered, replaced by an aching, shared loss. He dropped the gun, shoulders sagging as tears filled his own eyes.
“I… I didn’t know,” Ravik whispered, voice cracking. “Goddamn it, I didn’t know.”
The two men stood there, broken in the shadow of the machine that had destroyed them both. Ravik turned away, shoulders trembling. He walked to the edge of the room and collapsed onto his knees, grief tearing through him like a storm. Revenge no longer mattered. They had both lost too much.
Aklion watched him, the weight of their shared pain pressing into his chest like a boulder. The fight was not over, but for the first time, he felt the possibility of something more than rage and destruction. Vengeance. Morally oriented good old vendetta.
And somewhere in the flickering shadows, the final battle awaited.