Gregor Gobechov awoke to a bright light. He was in a white room, lying on a white bed, dressed in white clothes.
“Where the hell am I?” he said to no one in particular.
He recalled the events that transpired an eon ago. It had been so long that he only remembered fragments. Bits of consciousness came through. A teenaged cyborg tried... killing him. Then chanting.
“Who’s Lord Aldoor?”
When he tried focusing on that name, flashes of consciousness entered his mind. A lady of some high standing stood half naked before him. Her face evaded him because she was wearing a metal mask with complex symbols engraved on its surface. He remembered kissing her, but not much else. It was like a movie he’d watched too many times. He felt worn out and lost.
As Gregor tried to sit up, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw bandages wrapped around his torso. Memories of the attack flooded back to him. The cyborg had stabbed him with a metal rod that shot out from her hands. He wondered how he had survived it.
A door on the far side of the room creaked open, and a figure entered. It was a woman wearing a lab coat with a clipboard in her hand. She smiled at him.
“Ah, Mr. Gobechov, you’re awake! I’m Dr. Gruber. You’ve been in an induced coma for a while. How are you feeling?”
Gregor tried to speak, but his throat was dry. Dr. Gruber handed him a glass of water, which he gulped. A stream of water wet his shirt.
“I feel like a freight train hit me,” he croaked.
Dr. Gruber nodded. “You took quite a beating, but you’re a tough one. You’re lucky to be alive.”
Gregor nodded, still trying to piece together the fragments of his memories. He looked around the room for any clues as to where he was.
“Where am I?”
“You’re in a private facility that specializes in cybernetic rehabilitation. We’re one of the best in the world.”
Gregor raised an eyebrow. “Cybernetic rehabilitation? What does that entail?”
Dr. Gruber smiled again. “We help people like you recover from injuries sustained from cybernetic attacks. We integrate advanced technology with traditional medical procedures to help our patients heal faster.”
Gregor frowned. “I don’t remember signing up for this.”
Dr. Gruber’s smile faltered. “You were brought here by…let’s say a concerned party.”
A woman with long black hair, dressed in leather, entered his mind. Gregor shook his head, trying to clear the image. “Who brought me? And why did they bring me here?”
Dr. Gruber hesitated for a moment before answering. “I’m not at liberty to say, Mr. Gobechov. We protect our clients’ privacy.”
Gregor narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t sound very reassuring.”
Dr. Gruber smiled again, trying to ease Gregor’s concerns. “Trust me, Mr. Gobechov, you are in excellent hands. We have the best doctors and technology available to help you recover.”
Gregor sighed. He knew he had little choice in the matter. It seemed like someone had trapped him in this facility until he was deemed fit enough to leave.
“Fine,” he said. “What do I have to do to get out of here?”
Dr. Gruber’s smile returned. “Just follow our rehabilitation program, Mr. Gobechov. We’ll have you out of here in no time.”
Gregor grunted in response, feeling a knot settle in the pit of his stomach.
“Am I a prisoner here?”
Dr. Gruber chuckled. “No, my boy, you’re in rehabilitation. Relax and enjoy it.” She left the room, and Gregor heard a latching sound. After a moment, he stood up. He sucked in a breath as a tightening and soreness radiated across his chest. He scanned the room; other than a metal tray and his bed, the room was empty. A reflection of something caught his eye: a small drone hovering near the ceiling. It was bee-shaped, and had a camera attached to it.
So, that’s how they are keeping tabs on me. How predictable.
He snatched the metal tray and swung it like a baseball bat, knocking the drone out of the air.
“Where the fuck am I?”
“You’re in excellent hands,” a female voice said.
I recognize that voice—it’s Dahlia!
Dahlia Frost was a cunning and ruthless adversary. He knew her for operating a notorious hacking group called Black Iris. She also trained female assassins from a young age. Gregor’s mind raced as he tried to figure out why Dahlia would have brought him to this facility. He knew she was a formidable hacker, but until now he had always stayed one step ahead of her.
Let’s go!
He attempted to unlock the door, but it was secured. Gregor spotted a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. He dragged his bed to the wall and flipped it over, using the slats as a ladder. He shook the grating; it came off after a few thrusts. He tossed the cover aside and peered into the shaft.
It’s narrow, but I have to try.
He pulled himself into the shaft. It was dark and cramped. A rat scurried past him. He followed the rat through the vent until he came to a junction. He peeked out of an air duct and noticed he was above a hallway. The grate was stuck, so after a few well-placed kicks, he dropped out of the vent. A white-hot burning pain reignited in his chest. He walked toward what he hoped was the exit and froze as he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw a woman in a lab coat standing at the end of the hallway.
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“Mr. Gobechov, what are you doing out of your room?” She asked, her voice calm but authoritative.
Gregor didn’t answer; instead, he turned and ran in the opposite direction. He heard her calling for security as he sprinted down the hallway, his heart pounding in his chest. He saw a door up ahead and made a run for it. He opened the door and ran outside, feeling the warm sun on his face.
An icy breeze sucked the breath out of his lungs. He was atop a ridge overlooking a snowy forest. He started running through the trees, trying to put as much distance between himself and the facility as possible. As he ran, he thought about who had brought him to this place and why. He knew he had enemies, but he couldn’t figure out who would go to such lengths to capture him.
I’m… going to freeze!
He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, leaning against a tree. He heard a rustling in the bushes and quickly turned around, ready to fight for his life. But instead of an attacker, he saw a figure in a black coat emerge from the bushes. Her outfit provided a sharp juxtaposition to the snow-covered landscape.
It was Dahlia.
“Not bad, Gregor,” she said. “I didn’t think you had it in you to escape my winter home.”
Gregor narrowed his eyes. “What do you want from me?”
Dahlia shrugged. “Nothing much. Just wanted to see how you’re doing. You took quite a beating back there.”
Gregor didn’t believe her for a second. He knew that Dahlia had a hidden agenda, and he wasn’t about to let his guard down.
“What’s the real reason you brought me here?” he asked.
Dahlia’s smirk turned into a frown. “I need your help,” she said, her eyes scanning the area for any signs of danger. “There’s a new player in town, and they’re making moves that could jeopardize everything. I need someone with your skills to help me take them down.”
Gregor didn’t know what to make of Dahlia’s request. He had always been wary of her motives, but he couldn’t deny that he was curious about this new player she was talking about. He needed more information before he could make a decision.
“Who are they?” He asked.
Dahlia studied him for a long moment.
“The Cabal,” she finally replied. “They’re a group of powerful criminals and hackers who are trying to take over the city’s networks. They’re backed by some of the biggest corporations in the world, and they won’t stop until they have complete control.”
Gregor knew he had been out of commission for a while, but what had happened to the world if Dahlia was offering him a job? He knew that he couldn’t trust her completely. The fact that she had brought him to her winter home and kept him captive for who knew how long was enough to make him suspicious.
“Why should I trust you?” he asked.
“Because we have a common enemy,” she said. “Nigel Watson is working with the Cabal. He’s responsible for bringing down the internet as we know it, and the world’s financial system along with it. If we don’t stop them, they’ll have control over every aspect of our lives.”
Gregor felt a surge of anger at the mention of Nigel’s name. He had been his sworn enemy for years, ever since Nigel had hacked into his systems and set him up.
“I’m listening,” he said.
Dahlia smiled. “Good,” she said. “I need you to help me hack into the Cabal’s systems and find out what they’re planning. They have a junior hacker protecting their systems. He’s no match for you. Even so, we need to keep a low profile and take care not to set off any alarms.”
Gregor considered Dahlia’s proposal. He knew that he couldn’t trust her completely, but he also knew that he couldn’t take on the Cabal alone. He needed allies, and Dahlia was the only one offering him any kind of help.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll help you, but on one condition: I’m in charge. I call the shots.”
Dahlia raised an eyebrow, but then nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “As long as we take down the Cabal, I don’t care who’s in charge.”
“And there’s the matter of my fee?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“A million US dollars should do.”
“Agreed.”
That was too easy.
Gregor knew that he was taking a huge risk by working with Dahlia, but he had to do something to protect himself and the city from the Cabal’s control.
“Okay,” he said, “let’s do this.”
Dahlia led Gregor through the snowy forest toward her underground lair. As they walked, Gregor kept his guard up, always on the lookout for any danger. He followed Dahlia through a labyrinth of tunnels, each one darker and more winding than the last. He was cautious to not let his feet make a sound on the damp stone floor, for fear of alerting any unseen threats. Just when he began to feel disoriented, they reached an iron door at the end of a hallway. She pressed on an odd-looking piece of stone embedded in the wall. A whirring noise emanated through the passage. Moments later, a glowing screen with the outline of a hand appeared. Dahlia placed a hand on the glowing pad, and the wall opened.
“A hidden passage, just like the Collective,” Gregor said.
“What?”
“Nothing. I was just reminiscing,” he said.
A wave of blinking lights and whirring machinery greeted them. The sophistication and power in the room was not lost on Gregor. He smiled at the memory of helping Leviathan take over so many quantum computers across the world. As soon as she stepped inside, Dahlia went straight to work, typing furiously on her keyboard. Gregor watched her work, impressed by her skills. He had always known that Dahlia was a master hacker, but he had never seen her in action before. She moved with a grace and precision that he had never seen before.
She turned to Gregor with a smile on her face. “I found them,” she said. “They’re planning to launch a full-scale attack on New York and its power grid. If they succeed, they’ll control the entire city. They are undoubtedly creating a distraction for Doc Chop.”
Gregor nodded.
“It’s clear that this Doc Chop is important to the Cabal,” he said.
“Yes, and we will use that to our advantage.”
“How so?”
“New York has been divided into warring factions. Local neighborhood ambassadors have been assigned, but it’s difficult to keep the peace or control them.”
“So, the Cabal plans to shut down all power as a control measure?” Gregor asked.
“Exactly. With the hack, they will effectively control all power in and out of the city. It’s a brilliant plan, but it has flaws.”
“Like what?” Gregor asked.
“Well, for one, they have a junior hacker protecting their systems,” said Dahlia. “He’s good, but he’s no match for us. Also, their plan is too obvious. They’re trying to create chaos to distract from something else. We just need to figure out what that is.”
Gregor nodded. “And how do we do that?”
Dahlia smiled. “We need to pay the Cabal a visit and find that hacker,” she said. “He’s the key to all of this. We need to find out what he knows and use it against the Cabal.”
Gregor hesitated. “How do we know we can trust him?”
“We don’t,” said Dahlia. “But we have to take that risk if we want to stop the Cabal. Are you in?”
Gregor thought for a moment, weighing his options. He knew that he was taking a huge risk by working with Dahlia, but he also knew that he couldn’t let the Cabal succeed. He nodded. “Let’s take them down.”
Dahlia grinned. “Good,” she said. “But first, let’s get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us.”
Gregor nodded, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He had been through a lot recently, and he knew that he needed some rest if he was going to be at his best for the mission ahead.
As he lay down on the makeshift bed, he couldn’t help but wonder what he was getting himself into.
“Good night, Gregor,” Dahlia said as she lay in the bunk next to his.
As he closed his eyes, he couldn’t help but think about how much things had changed since the days of Leviathan and Delta. The world had become even more dangerous, and he was now in the middle of it all. But he was determined to chart a new path for himself. If that meant working for Dahlia, so be it. He was ready for whatever lay ahead.
“I can’t sleep—I have too many questions,” Gregor said. “Why are you going after Nigel? I thought you were working together.”
“He was useful for a time, but he’s taken something that does not belong to him. Three of them, in fact.”
“What does that mean?”
“I need a real hacker, not some amateur, and you are the master.”
“Yes, I suppose I am,” Gregor chuckled.
As he fell into a deep sleep, he reassured himself that he had the skills, the determination, and the willpower to see it through. And with Dahlia bankrolling him, he knew that he could accomplish anything.