Aklion sat on the cold steel chair, its edges digging into his back as the digital interface of SYNTHIA blinked in the corner of his vision. He closed his eyes and sighed. After everything—after the overdose and the glitches that had driven him to the brink of madness—this was the calmest he’d felt in weeks. Maybe it was the lack of INPAXX pumping through his veins, or maybe it was the fact that he no longer had the unyielding voice of SYNTHIA guiding every step, every breath, every fucking move he made.
But here, in the dim light of the rebel hideout, without the drug and without the AI buzzing in his brain, Aklion felt something almost unfamiliar: control.
“You’ve been out of it for a while,” Vectora said, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed, studying him with her sharp, calculating eyes.
“Feels like a century,” Aklion muttered. His voice was low, gritty, as if every word was dragged from the depths of his soul. He flexed his fingers, still feeling the phantom weight of the blade he had dropped. The blade that almost ended the life of an innocent patient. A mere civilian. His body ached in a way it hadn’t before, like the pain had burrowed deeper than just flesh and bone—it was inside him, knotted up with his conscience.
“You’re not like the others, Aklion,” Vectora said, pushing off the wall and walking toward him. “Most conglomerate Paxxers would’ve killed us all the moment they got their bearings.”
“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe I’m just tired of all this. It’s been years of bloodshed. I keep imagining…a…a… farm… don’t you laugh.”
Vectora didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she tossed a small datapad onto the table in front of him. “I think you should see this.”
Aklion picked up the pad and thumbed through the footage. It was grainy at first, the kind of footage recorded from hidden cameras in places where they shouldn’t be. Explosions, buildings crumbling, civilians screaming. It was all typical war footage until he noticed something—Conglomerate uniforms. His people. Or what he thought were his people.
“Your Conglomerate’s been doing this,” Vectora said, her voice flat. “They’ve been blaming us for these attacks, but this footage shows who’s really behind it.”
Aklion leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at the screen. “This… this can’t be all of it. You rebels have your hands dirty too. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, please don’t lie to me”
She nodded. “Yeah. We’re not innocent. We’ve blown up a few outposts. Civilians died. There was the massacre in Eronov, the bombing at Cerios Junction…”
He felt a twinge of something in his chest. It wasn’t just rage—it was something deeper. Guilt, maybe. Or worse, clarity. He had spent his entire life as a soldier, as a Paxxer, enforcing the will of the Conglomerate without question. He’d killed, followed orders, and pushed every moral dilemma to the back of his mind. But now?
Now the lines between good and evil blurred into one ugly, gray mass. Thinking was hard. Feeling was even harder. He touched his arm where the needle used to poke him.
“Humanity’s lost, screwed,” Aklion whispered, almost to himself. “Paxxers, anti-Paxxers, Conglomerate, rebels… We’re all just the same monsters, fighting over scraps of what’s left of this world. Killing each other for… for what? Power? Control?”
Vectora stepped closer, her face softening for just a moment. “Not all of us are like that. Some of us still believe in something better.There are other places… they’ve been lying to us all, they hid many things.”
Aklion stared at her, then back at the datapad. A flash of guilt shot through him. Was this his breaking point? The moment when everything came crashing down and he had to choose sides?
“Screw it,” he muttered. “Screw all of it. I need a time out.”
Vectora’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
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He didn’t respond. Instead, he quietly reached into his pocket, feeling the cold touch of a small drive. While she had been showing him the footage, he had secretly downloaded as much data as he could from their network. Information was power, and in a world where everyone was a pawn in someone else’s game, he needed every advantage he could get.
But he wasn’t ready to use it. Not yet.
For now, he would play along.
The tension between them thickened, palpable as the air between them sizzled with unspoken words. It wasn’t just the shared trauma or the fucked-up world they were navigating—it was something more raw, more primal. And before he could overthink it, Aklion stood up, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her close.
Vectora didn’t resist. In fact, she leaned into him, her lips crashing against his, and for a brief moment, the war, the glitch, the blood on his hands—it all melted away.
Skill Activated: [Intense Physical Connection]
Stat Increase: Temporary boost to [Endurance] (+30), [Physical Intensity] (+20)
Skill Check: Initiating [Sensory Overload]… Passed
Aklion’s Focus: 200%
Stat Effect: Enhanced sensitivity to all stimuli. Emotional and physical tension heightened.
Aklion’s grip tightened as the HUD flashed before his eyes, adding a layer of surrealism to the already intense moment. He forgot about the good things in life.The numbers, the notifications, the mechanics of their intimacy all heightened the rawness of it. His hands roamed over Vectora’s body, each touch amplified, his senses sharp and electrified. He could feel her heartbeat, the warmth of her skin, the way her breath hitched when his lips trailed down her neck.
[Skill Check]: Intensity Check in progress… Success
Result: Sensory feedback at max capacity. Enhanced pleasure for both partners (attempt). Emotional connection triggered (attempt).
Bonus Effect: [Adrenaline Rush] activated for both characters. Temporary boost to [Energy] (+50).
“Fuck,” Vectora whispered, her voice a mix of need and disbelief, as if his elements invading their most intimate moment only made it more real, more visceral. The cold steel world of stats and skill checks interwoven with the heat of animal fucking and surprising passion.
Aklion’s heart raced, the notifications popping up faster than he could process, but all he cared about was the here and now. For once, it wasn’t about a mission, about killing, about surviving. This was a different kind of battle, and he was winning.
[Stat Effect]: Mutual connection. Unprecedented stat.
[Skill Activated]: [Tactical Precision]—Adjusting movements for optimal physical connection. Success.
Bonus Effect: [Temporary Clarity]—INPAXX withdrawal symptoms momentarily diminished.
Their movements were rhythmic, each surge of pleasure measured and accounted for in a strange mix of passion and tactical calculation. But none of that mattered—not the stats, not the boosts, not the system’s cold acknowledgment of their raw connection.
All that mattered was that, for once, Aklion felt human. Even without INPAXX, even without SYNTHIA whispering commands into his mind. He felt… alive.
[Skill Activated]: [Emotional Bond]—Temporary emotional connection forged. Duration: unknown, uncharted territory.
Effect: Increased trust between Aklion and Vectora. Emotional vulnerability enhanced.
A few hours later, the reality of their situation returned. They were sitting on the floor, clothes haphazardly tossed around the room, catching their breath. Aklion was the first to break the silence.
“So, what’s next?” he asked, staring at the ceiling, wondering how long he could keep going like this. Vectora sat up, pulling her hair back into a messy bun. “Next, you decide if you’re with us or not.”
He didn’t respond right away, his mind spinning. His stats had been reduced to nothing. SYNTHIA was still offline, and without INPAXX, he was running on pure adrenaline. But he knew that wouldn’t last long. His body was deteriorating, and his mental state was hanging by a thread.
He glanced at his internal HUD. A few skills had reset, but some remained:
Level: unknown, data corrupted
XP: 89,320/120,000
Health: 220/500
Energy: 150/300
Skills:
•[Tactical Awareness]: Level 5
•[Brutal Efficiency]: Level 4
•[Precision Strike]: Level 6
•[Interrogation]: Level 2 (Failed Attempts: 5)
•[Stealth]: Level 3
•[Perception]: Level 1 (Failed Attempts: 6)
Notification: You are experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms from INPAXX. Side effects include: emotional instability, decreased combat effectiveness, and fragmented memories. Proceed with caution.
Aklion clenched his fists. He needed to level up, regain his strength, but without the drug, everything felt… different. And not in a good way. Or was it a good way, he just didn’t know it?
“You’re anti-paxxing now,” Vectora said, breaking the silence. “No tech. No drug support. You sure you can handle it?”
He chuckled darkly. “Do I have a fucking choice?”
Vectora smirked. “Not really.”
Aklion leaned back against the wall. He knew this was just the beginning of a much larger game. The glitch, the war, the betrayals—everything was leading to something, something bigger than just him or Vectora or the rebels.
And in the middle of it all was the Conglomerate. The entity that had once controlled every aspect of his life, every decision he made. Now, it was clear that they weren’t just corrupt—they were the enemy. Or at least, one of the enemies. But, were they really in control? He couldn’t shake the feeling.
He felt the cold weight of the drive in his pocket. He hadn’t looked at the data yet, but he would. And when the time was right, he would use it. Maybe to save himself. Maybe to burn the whole damn system down.
Either way, things were about to get messy.
Just the way he used to like, just the way he didn’t want to anymore.