A Shift… For Now
As you can see, I’ve not posted anything since I introduced my newest book. It’s still a work in progress. The project expanded to a degree I believe worthy of it, but also further than I anticipated. It’s coming along well and should be done “soon.” But, for now… here’s a sample of a little something different from me–prose. Or, my first attempt at it in just over half a decade.
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Zero Hour — Chapter One: The Breach _ Part One
Lines of cyphertext — code encrypted both digitally and with intricate ciphers— cascaded across Elara’s vision. Her ocular implants buffered the speed of the scrolling data just enough for her mind to decode it in real time. She’d spent six years embedded in Valkra City — Sector 17 of what had once been a massive brutalist metropolis.
Recruited personally by City Leader Nakamura for her rare ability to naturally understand ancient technology, she had played the loyal Cypher — delivering a steady stream of breakthroughs that had helped cement his dominance in the region.
He had been as much of a father to her as their transactional relationship allowed, always viewing the world through the lens of who could serve his inevitable rise to power.
In another life, that might have earned her loyalty. But the closer she got to him, the more she understood she had reason to fear.
That was why she had stayed valuable — while quietly sequestering the most dangerous discoveries for herself. She had always known the moment would come when she would have to curb his ambitions. That moment was tonight. Tonight, she made her move.
A tingling sensation prickled at the base of her skull — the signal of external communication threading into her thoughts.
“Elara.” The familiar voice whispered. Not Nakamura. Not her handler. Her AI companion, the unseen ghost watching over her. “They know.”
Her stomach tightened. Time was up.
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“How long?” she murmured, fingers gliding through the air as she finalized the data transfer.
“Lockdown began four minutes ago. Twelve before all exits are sealed. Nakamura has been notified — he doesn’t yet know it’s you.”
The transfer was only ninety percent complete. It wasn’t everything, but it was enough. She severed the connection, wiped the original files, and ejected the cybernetic drive from the neural port at the base of her skull. A sharp click of release — then silence. The stolen data was hers now, encrypted within her mind, beyond Nakamura’s reach.
For now.
The facility’s cold, sterile air stung her lungs. Overhead lights flickered, casting jittering reflections across sleek metallic corridors. Valkra City’s guards would never catch her — but if Nakamura sent the Black Sigil, that may be different. They weren’t as easy to evade, their augmentations and relics giving them an edge over everyone else.
Her AI’s voice returned, now with an edge of urgency. “Elevator’s locked down. Emergency stairwell to your left.”
The automated security system droned, its voice flat and mechanical.
“Halt. You are suspected of unauthorized data acquisition. Compliance may ensure continued functionality.”
Elara scoffed. Of course, they would say that. In Valkra, prisoners inevitably became “volunteers” for the most volatile of discoveries. The kind that stripped thoughts from augmented minds, excruciatingly erasing identity like corrupted data. That was how the Black Sigil were made. A natural Cypher, her brain had never been augmented in the way the process required — but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try.
Footsteps. Close. Heavy boots striking steel. Too coordinated.
They were coming.
She spun toward the nearby stairwell, only to see the exit’s red security seal flicker online. Locked. Her EchoLink flickered to life, responding to her unspoken command. A pulse of nanotechnology coalesced into a single-use lock disruptor, its charge bleeding into the reinforced door controls. The panel flickered, hissed, and unlocked — leaving her EchoLink with five charges left for the day.
Ignoring the faint pulse within her wrist as the nanotech reserve shifted, a charge depleting, Elara escaped through the now open door — just as the first guards rounded into the corridor.
