Augment: 2370

Chapter 6

The ground beneath Axel’s feet vibrated, the hum of approaching vehicles echoing through the industrial wasteland. Nyx’s violet eyes darted to the entrance of the tunnel, her hand tightening around her pistol grip. There wasn’t much time.

“Tempest,” she repeated, voice low. “They’ll come in hard.”

Axel clenched his fists, feeling the familiar sensation of his techno tattoos pulsing just under the skin. They’d been chasing shadows for hours, trying to stay one step ahead, but the gangs of the Lower City were relentless. Axel could almost feel the weight of the Kilronomia inside him, dormant but stirring, as if it could sense the danger too.

But it wasn’t just Tempest.

From deeper in the tunnel, the faint, guttural roars of a different group reverberated through the metallic walls. Axel’s stomach twisted. He knew those sounds. The Firebrand gang—a group of barely-human thugs, doped up on *Zoom* and mutations, always strung out and ready for blood. They didn’t care who they had to kill to get what they wanted.

“Shit,” Nyx hissed. “Firebrand.”

Axel’s heart raced, his mind buzzing as he glanced at the dimly lit tunnel around them. No way out. Trapped between two of the most ruthless gangs in the Lower City, with nowhere to run and a target painted on their backs.

“We’re pinned,” he muttered.

“We fight,” Nyx said, her voice calm but sharp. “And we survive.”

Axel wanted to believe that. But the pounding in his chest, the rising panic—it wouldn’t go away. He could hear the Firebrand gang closing in, their shouts echoing off the walls. He knew what Zoom did to people. It made them reckless, unstoppable. And when they were high, they barely felt pain. Add in the mutates—twisted, deformed humans enhanced with unstable genetics—and it was a nightmare waiting to unfold.

Then, something else. A sound, but not from the outside.

It was inside his head. Faint. Like a whisper.

**“I can help.”**

Axel froze, his pulse quickening. The voice wasn’t like his own thoughts—it was something else. Alien. Yet familiar.

**“Let me in, Axel.”**

“What...?” Axel muttered, his hand brushing over the glowing tattoos on his forearm.

Nyx looked at him, confused. “What?”

Axel shook his head, trying to focus, but the voice whispered again, stronger this time.

**“Let me guide you. I can make you stronger.”**

It was the Kilronomia.

Axel blinked hard, unsure if he was losing his mind. The thing inside him—it wasn’t just a machine, it wasn’t just nanites. It was alive, or at least, something close to it. A presence. It wasn’t just upgrading him—it was communicating.

**“Listen,”** the voice urged. **“Trust me. Together, we can survive this.”**

“Axel!” Nyx snapped, bringing him back to the present. “Get ready. They’re here.”

Axel barely had time to respond as the Firebrand gang poured into the far end of the tunnel, their eyes wild, bodies twitching with energy from the drug. At their head was a massive figure, a mutant hulking over the others, with extra limbs sprouting from his back, pulsating with veins. His eyes glowed an unnatural red, fueled by a cocktail of Zoom and genetic tampering.

“Get the tech!” one of the Firebrand shouted. “Take them both!”

The gang charged.

Axel’s instincts kicked in, his body moving faster than it ever had before. The Kilronomia surged within him, feeding him energy, pushing his reflexes to the edge. He felt his muscles tighten, his senses sharpen. Time seemed to slow as he sidestepped the first attacker, his fist connecting with the thug’s face in a blur of motion. The techno tattoos on his arms flared white, humming with power.