42. ThePlan
ThePlan
Playlist: Industrial Cyberpunk – TAVAmusic
Lyra
The lab is tense, the servers humming like they already know what’s about to happen.
Kael stands at the head of the central console, dressed in his black joggers, stripped of his usual corporate armor.
His presence fills the space with determination, regardless of Jett’s icy cold stare.
The five of us gather around the large monitor displaying a vintage augmented reality called NeoChicago.
He brings the GameNet schematics up on the main screen. This month’s theme: A historic 1920s Prohibition cityscape mapped in neon lines. Speakeasies, back alleys, shops, and old-school gangsters fill the map. My generation loves the old stuff; Ash will be beside himself with glee.
“Here’s how this will work,” Kael begins. “We go in together, but before we go, Lyra will have already connected with Eli to communicate that he needs to go into GameNet with us to help him get away from Vikktor.” He turns to me. “We’ll need you to do that right after we’re done here.”
“Got it.” I break his stare because if I don’t, I’ll melt into it, drown in the dark gravity of him. My body is still split, begging me to lean into him instead of pull away. But I don’t. I can’t.
Kael continues. “Once inside, the rescue in-game will coincide with the real-world extraction. No void reaction. No citywide surge. To the system, it will read as nothing more than a player event. We want Vikktor to think Eli was just hacking into GameNet. An anomaly lost to lag, swallowed by the simulation.”
Kael’s focus on each of us individually is laser sharp.
“Lyra, you’ll hack the game, keep Eli focused and use what you’ve learned to influence any systems while inside.
Ash you’ll track Eli’s vibrations, tell us if he gets all ‘voidy,’ soothe him, keep him calm.
You two should be able to stabilize Eli’s environment long enough for us to reach him. ”
Ash gives him a nod of confirmation. “Jett,” he turns, eyes blank, “you’ll be the hand in both worlds. First with us inside the game, then drop, and slip through the CIC security upstairs. You’ll get to Eli’s body before the system even registers you’re there.”
Jett says nothing, merely acknowledging Kael’s authority. “The rescue in the game will mask the real extraction you’re doing upstairs, in the real world.”
Kael shakes his head while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “This works because it breaks every rule GameNet was built on.”
Jett speaks up first. “No magic inside the game. No channeling, no flares, no U21 signatures bleeding into the code. You’re right—we’re breaking every rule you’ve created, Kael.”
Ash nods in agreement. “GameNet was designed as a neutral ground, safe for citizens and U21s alike. Magic destabilizes the physics engine, fractures the immersion, lights up your monitoring systems like a beacon. Anyone caught bending the rules gets hard-locked, flagged, erased from the network entirely. This plan ignores all of that. I hope you have a work around.”
KaeI gives them both a disdainful stare.
His pitch-black eyes fully convey that he finds their comments worthless.
“I can lie to my own system and get away with it.” He lifts his gaze to the grid, jaw tightening.
“I enforce the rules. I wrote them. I monitor the violations. I decide what gets flagged and what gets buried.”
The room goes quiet. His arrogance smothers any thoughts we have of contradicting him.
“I’ve already remedied this. If anyone else were to try this, my protocol would eat them alive. But it won’t touch us because it answers to me. Tonight, out of necessity, the rules are negotiable.”
A pause. Kael Ryudon is not a rule breaker. He’s a rule maker. Could the change be the very vow he made to me? Am I wrong to still question my trust in him?
Ash shifts his weight, the humor draining from his face for once. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “That all sounds great, Kaze. But what if Dax is watching?” He exhales through his nose.
The name bears weight, heavier than it should. People treat him like someone to be worshiped, like a deity, just for creating an intricate source of escape for our generation.
I turn slowly, meeting Ash’s gaze. He’s not joking, no grin, no smart-ass deflection. He’s generally concerned about this guy.
“Dax Kross doesn’t babysit his creation.” Kael’s voice is calm. “GameNet runs on my automated governance protocols. He sold control to Vikktor years ago.”
Ash snorts softly. “Yeah, but...you know, he has that weird thing...” His eyebrows raise.
“I’m the one who enforces GameNet rules. Ember manages all GameNet play. We’ve got this, Ash.” Kael nudges Ember for reinforcement. That’s not what he gets.
Ember finally looks up. “Kael, if you inject magic into the game...”
“I know exactly what it does; it flags the system. It wakes up things that were never meant to be aware.”
Ash’s jaw tightens. “Including its creator.”
Why is everyone so afraid of Dax Kross, billionaire playboy?
Kael doesn’t deny it, just swipes his hand through the air, collapsing the rule set into a single glowing thread.
“I happen to know Dax built GameNet to observe human behavior under pressure. Choice. Risk. Time. Believe me, you don’t build something like that without wanting to watch it break, daring it to be tested. ”
“And if he is watching?” Ember asks quietly.
“Then he’ll see exactly what I want him to see. That the rules still hold. That the system is stable. That no magic is being used.” Kael’s response is emotionless.
Ash’s eyes squint. “But you are.”
“Yes...and no.” Kael further explains the plan. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Jett’s expression tightening into frustration.
“Let me worry about Dax Kross. You worry about making sure Eli doesn’t know he’s being retrieved. We need him to think he’s completing an objective. Nothing more.” Kael glances back at the screen, dismissing all of our questions.
This sounds as easy as walking on a tightrope.
A rush of emotion takes over, my mind instantly questioning him on his motives. This is my brother we’re talking about. “You really are planning to break every sacred rule you ever wrote. That’s not like you, Kael.” I don’t look away.
“I wrote them. I can unwrite them.” He stares directly into my eyes.
I fold my arms across my chest. “But let’s be clear. I know what you do to anomalies. You find them. You study them. And then they vanish. Dead, erased, whatever neat little code word VikkCorp uses to sleep at night.” My throat tightens.
“For all I know, you’ll do the same to Eli...and to me.”
There, I said it. He won’t be happy with me, but at least he’ll consider my trust issues with him.
His jaw flexes, eyes peering, and I see him lock onto Jett, as if words are being spoken I can’t hear. But he says nothing to me. No answer is worse than denial because his silence feels like confirmation.
“As I was saying, Ash, it’s paramount that you locate Eli through his vibrational signature. That way Jett knows exactly where he’s going, when he drops from the game.”
Shit, I laugh to myself. He’s ignoring me and for some reason that makes me even more furious and even more infatuated.
Traitorous body and mind.
I invade his space to ensure I have his full attention. “And if he panics? If Eli feels it’s a trap?”
“That’s where Jett comes in. Plan B. He won’t drop.
He’ll stay in with us and attempt extraction inside, pull the void from Eli before it destabilizes the system.
Ash and I have coded the framework for the harness already.
It looks like a normal DreamBand, but it will quell Eli’s magic.
It won’t stop it, just lessen the effect.
If it works, Eli won’t even realize it’s happening. ”
“And if it doesn’t?” Ash asks, leaning back in his chair, boots crossed on the console.
Kael doesn’t recoil. “Then we’re fucked, and we contain him. Fast.”
I don’t like the sound of that. “Contain. That’s corporate speak for kill,” I chime in.
He meets my eyes, like he’s daring me to say another word. “No. You’ll have to slap the harness on his wrist immediately. You’ll have to stay in with him, because you’re already inside.” He turns back to everyone else.
“Survival. If it goes sideways, we’ll have to ghost each other to get out before he voids the system. Then abort. The objective is to get him out without triggering the void.”
The tension hangs thick until Jett speaks up once again. “Once Eli’s under control, someone will need to ghost me so I can get up to the top floor.”
“I will,” Kael says immediately with a dangerous grin.
“Lyra”—Jett turns to me—“I will be taking him off-grid. Relocating him. I’ll teach him what his power means. He’ll be safe from VikkCorp, safe from Vikktor...and eventually reunited with you. Are you okay with that?”
“If he’s safe, then yes.” The words hurt to release them, but I have no other choice.
Kael interrupts, possessiveness surfacing before he buries it. “You’ll take him when I say you take him. Not a moment before.”
Ember finally speaks up from her corner. “My father is still in NeoTokyo, but what if CIC notifies him that Eli’s missing?”
Kael shuts down the screen with a flick of his hand. The game grid collapses into darkness. “Then he’ll believe Eli escaped. Unfortunate for him. Nothing more. That’s above my pay grade.”
Silence. The plan is dangerous and fragile, but it’s all we have. I have to keep Eli from voiding.
Ash breaks the tension with a wide smile. “So...1920s speakeasies, jazz, and tommy guns? Damn. Couldn’t have picked a better decade, Kaze. Zoot suits it is!”
I smile at him nervously.
“We’re threading a live anomaly into a live simulation. If he knows it’s a lure and he voids, I’m not sure we’ll be safe,” Ember continues.
“Eli won’t hurt anyone.” Saying it feels like half-command, half-faith. “He’s volatile, not stupid. In GameNet, he’ll think he’s found a pocket of reality he can escape to...or at least I hope he does.” I shrug.
“If the pull is coordinated, and the harness does its thing, the void won’t have a clean seam to grasp.
We simulate escape, we actually extract.
” Kael maps it out in the air with his finger, then turns away, I notice a flash of orange-gold in his eyes and ink.
“Get ready. Once we’re inside, there’s no margin for error. ”
Jett’s laugh sounds menacing. “Risky. Beautiful. Dangerous. Perfect.” He stares directly at me. “You’re sure you want to put her in there, Kael? What if he brings everything down, and Lyra is with him inside when he does?”
“She’s the key.” Kael walks over and takes my hand. Goosebumps crawl up my skin. “She understands the system almost as much as I do. She’ll find her way back to me. Or I’ll go in and destroy what’s left to find her.”
My heart skips not once but several times. He’s saying he’ll destroy his life’s work and destroy himself to save me.
With perfect timing, Ash slings the guitar strap over his head. His grin is that of a man about to leap out of a plane without a parachute. “I look damn good in a fedora!”
Ember glares and slaps him on the arm. “You always look damn good, now shut up!”
Ash just leans closer, lowering his voice, making her pale cheeks blush. “What if I just wear the hat and nothing else?”
Her jaw tightens, and she mutters, “I’d break the guitar over your head.”
I giggle at the much-needed distraction. Something’s changed between them. I must have a girl talk with Ember next time we’re alone.
Kael exhales loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can you two save the foreplay until we’re not planning a near-death scenario?”
Ash winks at Ember, unbothered. “See? Even Kael thinks it’s foreplay.” His brows raise and lower.
I let a full laugh escape, but it’s small in comparison to what I feel. “I appreciate all of you doing this for Eli...and for me.” I glance at Kael; his dark gaze is locked on me. For a moment I almost forget he’s the reason we’re here in the first place.
It’s all nervous smiles, then everyone disperses, and Kael leads me to his office. “You’re so brave.” He brushes a strand of hair from my face. “Please promise me you won’t do anything reckless.” His lips land on mine. Stars. He feels so good, but it doesn’t feel right.
I pull away from him, resisting every urge inside my body. “Recklessness is how I stay alive.”