The Deep Slums of Neo-Babylon were where the city's textures finally gave up. Here, the neon lights didn't glow; they bled, staining the waist-high fog in colors that didn't exist in nature. This was the "Low-Res" district, a place where the Architects stopped caring about rendering the details, leaving behind a graveyard of rusting steel and forgotten souls.
Felix moved through the fog like a silver-eyed wraith. Every puddle he stepped in sent a ripple of data through his mind. He wasn't just walking; he was scanning the frequency of the tragedy he had helped create.
His destination was a collapsed shipping container hub known as "The Hive." It was the last known ping for Courier #9527—Old Mo.
"Scanning for biological traces," Felix whispered, his Singularity Reactor humming a low, expectant tune.
[Warning: High-Entropy Zone ahead. Logic stability: 42%.]
The air suddenly turned frigid. The acid rain froze mid-air, suspended like jagged glass needles. From the depths of a rusted warehouse, a sound emerged—the wet, mechanical wheeze of a dying engine.
Then, he saw it.
A figure loomed in the mist, towering nearly seven feet tall. It was a grotesque fusion of necrotic flesh and high-voltage delivery equipment. The man's back was fused to a massive, sparking battery pack, and his arms were replaced by heavy hydraulic pistons. He wore a tattered yellow uniform—the same uniform Felix's algorithm had standardized three years ago.
"Delivery... must... be... signed..." The voice was a distorted roar of static. This was Leo, or what was left of him. He wasn't just a zombie; he was a [Calamity Glitch]. The sheer weight of the "Penalty Fees" and "Late Charges" he had accumulated in death had compressed into a physical aura of lightning.
[Target Identified: Leo (Old Mo).] [Current State: Rank C Lightning Revenant.] [Logic Core: Infinite Debt Cycle.]
"Leo," Felix said, his voice steady despite the arc of electricity leaping toward him. "Your shift ended three years ago. Let it go."
The Revenant roared, his hydraulic fist smashing into a nearby steel pillar, liquefying the metal instantly. "PENALTY! OVERTIME! THE WIFE... THE DOWRY... I NEED THE CREDITS!"
Leo lunged. His speed was a blur of blue sparks. He didn't just punch; he delivered the "Force of Accumulated Pressure." It was a blow backed by every minute of unpaid overtime he had ever worked.
Felix didn't retreat. He stepped into the strike, his Singularity Reactor spinning at its limit.
BOOM.
The impact shattered the concrete beneath Felix's feet, but the fist stopped an inch from his chest. A dark, swirling black hole manifested at the point of contact, greedily drinking the lightning and the kinetic force.
[Refining Lightning Entropy...] [Converting Debt into Power...]
"You're not a courier anymore, Leo," Felix muttered, his silver eyes glowing with a terrifying intensity. "You're a weapon. And I'm the one who's going to wield you."
Felix's hand clamped onto the Revenant's sparking battery pack. Instead of being electrocuted, he began to privatize the lightning. The blue sparks turned deep violet as they were pulled into the reactor.
Leo's mechanical body shuddered. The rage in his eyes flickered, replaced for a moment by a profound, soul-deep exhaustion.
[Refinement Successful: Rank C Lightning Core acquired.] [Synchronizing Ghost Script...]
As the lightning subsided, Leo collapsed to his knees, his massive frame shivering. He wasn't dead, but his "Debt Cycle" had been broken. He was now a tethered glitch, a tank bound to the man who had once been his executioner.
But before Felix could speak, his vision glitched violently. A high-pitched, feminine giggle echoed through the warehouse, a sound so pure it felt like a razor blade against the brain.
"Oh, Felix... You're collecting the broken toys you made? How sentimental."
Felix spun around. Floating in the rafters was a holographic projection of a girl with no face—only a smooth, porcelain mask where features should be. She wore a shimmering, virtual dress that glitched into blood-red roses.
Aria. The Siren.
"Who sent you?" Felix demanded, his reactor pulsing with a warning.
"The same people who signed my blacklist," she whispered, her voice multiplying into a thousand haunting harmonies. "The Pantheon is watching, little Auditor. And they've decided your next audit... is going to be your last."
Beneath her feet, the shadows of the warehouse began to rise, taking the shape of faceless corporate assassins.
Felix looked at the shivering Revenant at his feet, then at the faceless idol in the sky. A cold, dark joy rose in his chest. The squad was coming together—and he was going to burn the world down with them.