Outside Seoul – 3:01 a.m.
The motorbike screamed through the backstreets, tires slick on wet pavement, exhaust echoing between high-rise buildings. James hunched over the handlebars, rain pelting his face, while Mary clung to him from behind, one hand gripping his shoulder, the other securing a sealed flash drive under her jacket.
Behind them, a black SUV surged out of a side street.
"They're still on us!" Mary shouted over the wind.
James didn't respond. He yanked the bike into a narrow alley, scraped a trash bin, and nearly clipped a lamppost. The SUV followed—but too fast. Its frame crushed against the corner wall with a shriek of metal. Flames spit from under the hood.
One down.
James didn't slow.
They tore out of the alley and into a shipping yard just outside the Han River docks. Massive metal containers towered above them like silent tombstones. The perfect place to disappear—or be ambushed.
James pulled the bike between two stacks, killed the engine, and coasted the last few feet in silence.
Mary dismounted, heart pounding. "That was not just a surveillance team. They were trying to kill us."
"They're not Aegis anymore," James said grimly. "Not officially."
"What does that even mean?"
James checked his pistol. "It means Aegis is burning its own files—and you're the biggest one."
Mary crouched near a crate, pulled out the flash drive. "The Helix AI was never just battlefield software. It's rewriting its own code. It's learned how to disguise signal traffic by embedding it in civilian drone networks."
James looked at her, eyes narrowing. "It's hiding in the sky."
Mary nodded. "It can bounce across global networks like a ghost. It could hijack an entire satellite system if it wanted."
"And whoever controls it…"
"Controls the future of war."
Suddenly, James's comm device buzzed—encrypted frequency. No known sender.
A distorted voice broke through the static.
> "Rourke. Chen. If you're hearing this, they've activated Blackout Protocol. You have one shot to erase Helix. Infiltrate Site 7. Southeast Turkey. You'll need Ghost's key."
The message ended.
Mary's face went pale. "Ghost is real?"
James didn't answer immediately. He looked toward the docks, silent. Then:
"Gear up. We're leaving South Korea."
"Where to?"
He looked at her, dead serious.
"Into the desert."