Night in Sector 13 is unlike the rest of the world.
There are no stars.
No laughter.
Only shadows licking at broken buildings, neon signs flickering like dying memories, and silence—so thick it feels like the city itself is holding its breath. Somewhere far away, a siren wails, followed by a gunshot.
No one reacts.
They're used to dying here.
Su Chen walks through the slums with his hood pulled low. The blood has dried on his collar, but his eyes still blaze, sharp and lucid—like a wolf that has tasted too much blood to ever go back.
Every alley smells of rust and regret. Above him, drones buzz lazily, scanning for "terror threats." He keeps his head down, masking his energy. Not because he's afraid.
Because he's hunting something.
Someone.
[Target Located: Lin Qira – Rank A Informant. Location: East Sector Crypt.]
Qira is a ghost broker—a woman who sells secrets like knives, and knows where all the bodies are buried.
Including the one Su Chen is looking for.
As he steps into the crumbling corridor of the Crypt, his system pings again.
[Warning: High Concentration of Hostiles Detected. Engaging Passive Cloak Mode.]
He slides through the crowd—mercs, scavengers, bounty hunters with metal eyes and missing limbs. No one sees him. Or, rather, no one wants to.
Only one pair of eyes follow him.
Behind a glass booth surrounded by armed guards and sensor turrets, Lin Qira sits on a velvet chair like a queen of filth. Her left arm is mechanical, fingers always moving like she's playing a piano only she can hear.
When she sees him, she freezes.
Then smirks.
"Well. If it isn't the man they said was already dead."
Su Chen doesn't bother with pleasantries. "Yun Xi. Where is she?"
Qira chuckles. "Straight to it. I like that. But answers aren't free."
"I didn't come to negotiate."
Her guards tense.
Qira leans forward, unfazed. "And if I scream?"
"You won't."
Something in his voice changes the temperature of the room.
He's not threatening her.
He's promising something worse.
She narrows her eyes. "You think I scare easy?"
"No. I think you're smart enough to stay alive."
A long pause.
Then she waves off her guards. "Ten seconds. No lies. Then you disappear."
"Agreed."
Qira sips from a glass of something glowing blue. "She was extracted by High Lord Elion three months ago. Not dead. Not imprisoned. Just... repurposed."
Su Chen's jaw tightens. "Repurposed?"
"Brain re-synced. Memories blocked. Identity altered. They're turning her into a weapon."
He stares.
The world seems to slow.
Yun Xi. Reprogrammed. Used. Again.
By them.
By the High Lords.
By the people who watched him burn and called it justice.
Qira continues, "Project name's Astra. She's not your girl anymore. She's theirs now."
[New File Acquired: PROJECT ASTRA – Status: Active Weapon Development, Host: Yun Xi][Warning: Emotional Interference Detected. System Morality Filter Bypassed.]
Su Chen's fingers curl into fists. His breath is cold. Focus returns like a blade being drawn.
"They're trying to erase her."
"She volunteered, you know," Qira adds with a slight edge. "Maybe she wanted to forget you."
Su Chen doesn't flinch.
Because it doesn't matter what Yun Xi wanted.
They used her again. Manipulated her mind. Turned her into something unnatural.
He turns to leave.
Qira calls after him. "You'll die if you go after Elion. He's not just a Lord. He's a god in a golden cage."
Su Chen looks back over his shoulder, eyes dark as the abyss.
"Then I'll tear down heaven."
Elsewhere – Core Fortress, Sector 0
In a white chamber of mirrored glass, she opens her eyes.
Not Yun Xi.
Not yet.
Just the weapon.
They call her Astra now.
She stands silently as her system pulses with synthetic calm.
[Objective: Track anomaly Su Chen. Intercept. Eliminate. Status: Active.]
The name makes her heart skip, though she doesn't understand why.
Su Chen.
Her breath catches.
Somewhere, buried in her mind, a memory flickers.
A rooftop.
A kiss.
A betrayal.
But it disappears before she can hold onto it.
[Emotion Detected: Interference. Initiating Neural Cleanse...]
She screams silently as light floods her vision.
The past dies again.
End of Chapter 62