Chapter 4 The Hackers in the Shadows

The room they entered was dim, lit only by flickering green screens and the occasional spark from a rogue wire. It smelled like solder, synthetic coffee, and paranoia-a familiar combination for Celia. She hadn't been here in almost a year, but nothing had changed. Well, almost nothing. "You're hoarding more junk than ever, Marek," she said, brushing aside a hanging cable. From behind a tall stack of repurposed drone parts emerged a wiry man in his forties with sharp eyes, tech-implants lining his temples, and fingers that twitched constantly like they were typing even when idle.

He wore a patched-up jacket and a permanent five o'clock shadow. Marek grinned. "And you're still dragging trouble behind you like it's fashion." Lawrence stepped forward, extending a hand. "Lawrence Everen." Marek didn't shake it. He just raised an eyebrow. "Everen? As in 'Highlord of the Helix Ring,' Everen?" "The same," Lawrence replied, a little breathless. "And I'm guessing you already know why I'm here." "Oh, I know exactly why you're here." Marek turned to Celia. "You're either a genius or completely insane." Celia shrugged. "Why not both?" Marek motioned for them to sit. They settled onto an old bench while he pulled up a holodisplay. Lines of code scrolled across it like a digital waterfall. "You're lucky I haven't torched my bridges with the resistance yet," Marek said. "Because smuggling a stolen core through Lower Nine isn't just dangerous-it's practically a declaration of war." Lawrence leaned forward. "I didn't steal it to sell. I stole it to stop my father." Marek looked skeptical. "Noble. But naive." "I've seen what he plans to do," Lawrence continued. "That core could power the entire lower grid for generations. But he's auctioning it to offworlders who'll pay to weaponize it." "Classic Everen," Marek muttered. Celia broke in. "That's why I brought him here. We don't just need to hide-we need a plan. If the core's that powerful, we can't let it vanish into space. We need to hit back." Marek smirked. "You're talking sabotage." "No," Celia corrected. "I'm talking revolution." Lawrence hesitated, then pulled the fake drone core from his coat and set it on the table. "This one's a decoy," he said. "But the real core is hidden. Only I know where." Marek's fingers stopped twitching. His eyes narrowed. "Where?" Lawrence looked at Celia. "I'll tell you. But only after I know you're in this for more than credits." Celia raised an eyebrow. "You think I dragged you through a plasma gunfight for money?" "No," he admitted. "But I've seen how desperate people get. And I've seen how easy it is to give up when survival's all you've got." Celia looked him straight in the eye. "We don't give up down here. We get angry." Marek leaned back. "Well, angry is useful." He spun his chair to a separate console and tapped in a few commands. A schematic lit up-of the Helix Ring, the floating stronghold where the Everen family resided. He rotated it, zooming in on an area marked "Sector V." "The main auction chamber is here," Marek said. "It's locked down by triple-tier biometric gates, twelve guards, and a personal drone escort. But I've got a backdoor into the security system-if someone can plant an override chip inside the building." Celia's eyes gleamed. "Let me guess: you have one of those chips lying around?" "I've got five," Marek said proudly. "But only one that still functions." Lawrence ran a hand through his hair. "So, what-you want us to break into my father's fortress, plant a chip, and hope we don't get vaporized?" "Essentially," Marek said. Celia smiled. "Sounds like a Thursday." Marek handed her a small metal chip the size of a fingernail. "Get that inside the core room. I'll do the rest." Lawrence stared at it, then at Celia. "We really doing this?" Celia gave him a smirk that didn't quite hide the flicker of fear in her eyes. "We're not just doing it," she said. "We're going to win."