Page 268 of Fatality

“Guess.”

“The device, as indicated, is not designed to hack a system and retrieve what you need. It detects a weakness, copies it, and spreads it throughout the network.” He pauses. “But if no weakness exists, there will be no forced reboot, and therefore no window to act.”

“No shit,” Neo says, his voice stripped of its usual cockiness.

“Come closer.”

I tilt my head in surprise. Did that thing just tell me to come closer?

Absolutely fucking not.

“For what reason?” Varek asks. I can feel his own mods beginning to flare.

It started to heat up on my side.

“To give you the device.”

I sigh and chuckle for a few seconds before stopping dead.

“You think we're stupid?” My voice drops to something lethal. “You'll come to us.”

We hear a series of clicks, like something locking into place.

I frown. What the fuck is that?

The lone neon light flickers overhead as the figure steps into its glow.

What I see makes my blood run cold. What in the world did Ren send us to?

The figure—the man—has almost his entire body replaced with mods, only his head remains human.

I feel Neo take a step back. Actually, take a step back.

Varek raises his hands—not in surrender, but in anticipation.

That thing has bionic arms threaded with glowing green fluid flowing beneath transparent conduits. His chest is completely transparent, exposing his organs.

His heart is still human, but fitted with robotic valves, probably to improve the circulation of blood—or that green fluid.

His legs are nothing but steel and synthetic muscle. His neck is made of two thick pipes where a throat should be, thin streams of that same green fluid pulsing through them.

“What the hell are you?” I ask, genuinely disgusted.

“Future.” The man takes one heavy step toward us.

The silence stretches for a full minute.

What the hell is wrong with that man?

“Don't you remember me, Evren?”

I feel my heart stop for a second in pure shock. How the hell am I supposed to remember that?

“Fuck no.” I take a step back—not out of fear, but to prepare for whatever he's about to do.

“When Ren sent me the request, I prepared the device.” He pauses. “But when I got your comm number, saw your name pop up, and realized it was you...”

He grins, letting the rest hang in the air.