Monday Morning — Roosevelt High School
When Ethan Cruz walked through the front entrance, he wasn't just a kid anymore.
He was a headline.
📰 "HIGH SCHOOL COACHING PRODIGY STUNS NYC"
📰 "Mystery Assistant Coaches Underdog Team to Victory Over Tech-Enhanced Opponent"
📰 "The Clipboard Kid: Who Is Ethan Cruz?"
His inbox was on fire.
Emails from podcasts, prep schools, recruiters, journalists.
Even ESPN NextGen had reached out.
But it wasn't the attention that made him nervous.
It was the message from Sentinel waiting in his system queue.
[You made us bleed. Now it's our turn.]
[Tracking Initiated – NYC Board of Athletics Review Pending.]
[System Sanction Threat: Level 2 – Public Violation Under Review]
Ethan knew what that meant.
If Sentinel couldn't beat GhostPlay in secret—they'd try to bury him in the light.
Roosevelt Gym — Film Room
Coach Brown stared at the projector screen, watching the Cathedral Charter tape with narrowed eyes.
"You mind explaining how your benchwarmer Micah blocked a D1 shooter after a triple fake?"
"He read the play," Ethan said smoothly.
Coach turned.
"Kid, you're coaching beyond your years. The board's sniffing around now. They think we're violating game integrity laws. Someone reported us."
Ethan knew who.
Sentinel was trying to turn the system into the crime.
"Let them investigate," Ethan replied calmly. "We've got nothing to hide."
Micah and Devon exchanged looks.
Because that wasn't true.
Tuesday — Practice
Zaire cut through the lane and dunked hard off a split-curl set.
The team was sharp. Focused.
But Ethan's system blinked red as he reviewed opponent data for the Regional Finals.
Opponent: West Haven Institute
Coach: Marsha Kline
Record: 22–1
Status: SYSTEM NULL ZONE
Data Access: Blocked
Reason: Anti-System Protocol Active
Scouting Report: Obsolete
System Interference Level: 100%
WARNING: This opponent is system-proof.
"System… what?" Devon said.
Ethan stared at the screen.
They weren't just normal.
They were immune.
Wednesday — Rooftop Meeting
The GhostPlay crew met in the cold wind, away from microphones, Wi-Fi, and Sentinel ears.
Micah paced. "System-proof? How? That's not a thing."
Devon shook his head. "It is now. I found archived footage of Kline's team—last season. There was trace data. Now? Nothing. Like someone scrubbed their entire presence."
Ethan frowned.
"This is worse than facing another system. We've trained for systems. But a team with no patterns at all? No readable data? That's like fighting a ghost with your eyes closed."
[New Objective Unlocked:
Breach the Null Zone]
Method 1: In-Person Scouting
Method 2: Data Parasite Upload
Method 3: Find a Mole
Micah looked up.
"I know someone."
Wednesday Night — Coney Island Courts
Micah met Ethan near the boardwalk as the wind howled off the waves.
"His name's Dash Vega. Former Kline player. Transferred mid-season last year after she benched him for not 'thinking like a machine.' He's bitter. And smart."
They found Dash draining jumpers under the streetlight—tall, light-skinned, with a scar above his eye and a lazy, venomous smirk.
"Y'all want to beat Kline?" he said, ball under his arm. "Then I hope you're ready to break the rules she trained out of you."
They sat on a bench while Dash lit a cigarette.
"She doesn't run plays. She runs habits. Kills individuality. Makes players run patternless actions based on real-time emotion suppression training. Every player on that team? They've been reprogrammed not to read or show anything."
Micah blinked. "That's mental warfare."
Ethan leaned in. "How do we crack it?"
Dash grinned.
"You don't break the code. You break the people."
Thursday — Prep Mode Activated
Ethan returned to the lab.
He uploaded Dash's memories and run data from old footage.
GhostPlay pulsed.
**[New Module: Emotion Forensics]
Attempts to map suppressed emotional tics
Detects micro-movements in shoulders, eyes, fingers
Converts human flaws into tactical keys**
It wasn't about seeing the team.
It was about feeling where the team wanted to go—even if they didn't show it.
"GhostPlay v2.5," Devon muttered. "We're in uncharted territory now."
Ethan smiled grimly.
"Let's draw the map."
Friday — Media Day
ESPN NextGen showed up with cameras. Reporters swarmed Zaire.
"You guys have come out of nowhere. Who's really calling the shots?"
Zaire looked at Ethan. Then smiled.
"Us."
But the real storm brewed at the back of the gym.
Two Sentinel agents—blazers and badges—approached Coach Brown.
"We have an open inquiry into the use of unregistered AI in public school basketball programs."
Coach folded his arms. "You wanna see the clipboard?"
They ignored the joke.
"We need to speak with Ethan Cruz. Privately."
Brown scowled. "He's 16."
"He's also the center of several anomalies flagged by the East Coast Game Integrity Board."
Ethan stepped forward.
"I have nothing to hide."
Micah and Devon held their breath.
Ethan reached into his bag—and handed over an old tablet.
Not the GhostPlay one.
A dummy version, with pre-loaded tactics and basic footage.
The Sentinel agents scrolled.
"Basic playbook. Shot charts. Film notes."
They frowned.
"Where's the rest?"
"Everything else is in here," Ethan said, tapping his head. "And last time I checked… you don't own thoughts."
Saturday — Regional Final Day
Roosevelt vs. West Haven Institute
Packed arena. College scouts in the building. Cameras everywhere.
Coach Kline stood across the court—hair tight in a bun, eyes like a hawk.
Her players moved like clockwork—but with no rhythm.
No tells.
Ethan activated Emotion Forensics.
Scanning...
No reads detected
Emotion Layer Suppressed
Analyzing irregular blinks...
Trigger Found — Player #12 has 0.8s hip shift before left cut
Breaking habit chain...
He smiled.
"Found a crack."
The game tipped.
First Quarter
West Haven's defense was perfect.
They smothered Zaire. Anticipated Jalen's spin.
But Roosevelt stayed calm.
GhostPlay adapted mid-possession. Mapped hip angles and finger pressure. Adjusted screens before players moved.
Micah faked baseline, swung backdoor.
Layup.
Then another.
Then Devon sent a real-time shift. GhostPlay pinged Ethan:
Exploit Window Open — Player #7 suppressing right eye blink
Execute chaos motion near blind spot.
Ethan called a rogue set: "Pulse X Scatter."
It looked ugly—screens into nowhere, dribble handoffs with no cutter.
But #7's blindside failed.
Zaire dunked.
Roosevelt led 22–18.
Halftime — Locker Room
Devon uploaded the latest read.
"We're finally ahead of their suppression curve. Every time they mask emotion, we read another layer deeper."
"But she'll adjust," Micah warned. "She has to."
Zaire grinned. "So what? We'll just keep peeling skin."
Ethan stared into the projector light.
"No," he said. "We'll burn the whole body."
Second Half
Coach Kline flipped her system—full instinct control override.
West Haven players played like AI puppets.
No reaction.
No error.
Perfect spacing. Zero fouls. Mechanical beauty.
GhostPlay shook.
Tactical Prediction Error Rate: 64%
Crisis: Rising
Ethan took a timeout.
"You know what they hate?" he asked.
Jalen blinked. "Noise?"
"Chaos."
He turned to Zaire.
"Unleash everything. No plays. No rules. Make noise. Talk trash. Dance if you want."
Zaire grinned.
"Say less."
What followed wasn't basketball.
It was riot rhythm.
Jalen nutmegged a defender. Zaire screamed mid-fadeaway. Micah talked in rhyme.
West Haven glitched.
Player #9 shoved Micah.
Technical foul.
Then Player #12 looked at the crowd—an emotional break.
GhostPlay caught it.
Breach confirmed.
Emotion Firewall Down.
Launching "Playstorm" override.
Ethan triggered the final assault.
A set so fast, wild, and layered it looked like jazz in motion.
Devon's AI lit up.
Zaire launched a stepback three.
BUZZER.
SWISH.
Roosevelt 78 — West Haven 75
Postgame
The arena exploded.
Roosevelt was headed to State.
But Ethan barely heard the roar.
He looked up and saw Coach Kline walking straight to him.
She stopped inches away.
"You out-thought emotion suppression."
"No," Ethan said. "I listened to it."
She nodded once. "The war is coming faster now. They'll accelerate it. You should prepare."
She left.
Micah turned to Ethan.
"What did she mean?"
Devon's voice cracked over the system.
"We just got word. Sentinel has launched something new.
Codename: Ascension League."
Ethan's system blinked.
[Next Chapter Unlocked: "The Drafted War"]
He looked up at the crowd, the cameras, the chaos.
And smiled.
"Let them come."