The Shattered Cipher

screamed, its synthetic voice a jagged alarm: Hostile pursuit: five operatives, 40 meters. Weapons: suppressed 9mm, stun rounds. Objective: capture. Her boots splashed through puddles,

ypted a message that flipped her world: The Shattered Cipher wakes. 72 hours remain.

ives chasing her. It was built to decode threats, but it haunted her with fractured memories-Clara, her younger sister, screaming in a CIA lab, "You promised to protect me!" Guilt was a weight, heavier than the st

ture confirmed. Operatives: augmented reflexes, neural comms. The Syndicate-puppeteers of global chaos-had hunted her since she'd fled their Berlin

ault 17, Istanbul. Blood key: Voss lineage.' A vision hit, sharp and unwanted-Clara, strapped to a chair, blood dripping from her wrist onto a scanne

ipher hummed: Skill unlocked: Code Shift. Disrupt one system, 10-meter radius. Cost: 10 Cipher Points. Current points: 10. She fo

too deliberately. "Lena Voss," he called, voice rough,

n light-rugged, a Syndicate tattoo curling up his f

, eyes gray and steady. "Ex-Syndicat

rwise. Jace edged closer, ignoring her gun. "She's in Istanbul. The Sy

drone: 25 meters, stun net deployed. Ground team: 20 meters. Lena's mind raced. Jace knew too much-

ed down, scattering vendors. They ducked under a tarp, the market erupting in chaos. The C

bed Jace, slamming him against a crate, Glock at

just glitching-it's Syndicate code. They rew

nation. Her vision blurred, her Glock twitching toward her own temple. The implant wasn't decoding-it was accusing her, broadcasting h

toward a skylight, kicking it open. The Cipher's voice grew louder: Overr

ou failed me!" She clawed at the implant's control, her will fraying. Jace hauled her through the skylight,

us both." Lena gasped, her heart fracturing. Made? Were they engineered for this? The drone's n

na rasped, shoving him o

e hard. "I cut their leash

n throat. The market burned below, Syndicate closing in. Seventy-two hours.