MISBEHAVE

The underground tunnels stretched ahead, damp and unwelcoming. The Clan moved in formation, their footsteps muffled against the ground, each member locked in their own thoughts.

Razor led at the front, his expression set like stone, while Cipher checked his wrist display for any incoming data spikes. Shade moved just behind them, and Blaze gripped his weapon tighter than necessary. Echo had gone eerily silent.

Flux kept pace, but something gnawed at him—something he couldn't shake. His breathing was steady, his focus sharp, but there was a strange pull in his mind. A hum beneath his thoughts. The closer they got to the facility, the stronger it became.

Then, it hit him.

A sharp pulse crackled through his consciousness, as if a wire had suddenly been reconnected. His entire body tensed. His AI flared in response, a foreign sensation coursing through his veins, aligning with something beyond his control.

No. Not something.

Someone.

Myst.

His breath caught, the realization slamming into him like a physical blow. His head snapped up, and his hands clenched into fists. The world seemed to tilt for a moment, colors too sharp, sounds suddenly distant.

He could feel her. Not just in theory, not just some vague idea of presence—he could sense her in a way that shouldn't have been possible.

Because she wasn't just waking up. She was already awake.

Flux stumbled to a stop. His eyes and veins turning electric violet.

Cipher noticed immediately. "What?"

Flux's fingers twitched, his mind adjusting to the sensation, the link between him and Myst. A thread of data, electric and undeniable. He didn't even have to say it. They could see it in his eyes.

"She's awake," he said, voice taut.

A beat of silence. Then Razor turned, his expression sharpening. "What do you mean?"

Flux inhaled, steadying himself. "I don't mean she's in the process of waking up. I mean she's already there. She's fully online."

Echo finally broke his silence. "That's—" He cut himself off, as if not sure whether to curse or run faster.

Blaze shifted uneasily. "You sure?"

Flux's eyes darkened. "I can feel her. XENIS-IS just changed too."

Cipher swore under his breath, checking his wrist display again. "That's why we've been getting random interference. The feeds are shifting. It's not the facility's security systems—she's tapping into them."

Shade's voice was measured, but his usual calm was stretched thin. "If she's fully awakened, we have no idea what state she's in."

Razor's jaw tightened. "Then we move faster."

No one argued. The team surged forward, urgency burning in their steps, the weight of what awaited them settling deep in their bones.

Myst was no longer just a prisoner.

She was something else entirely.

The Clan burst into the underground facility, weapons drawn, their breath heavy from the sprint through the tunnels. The air stained with electricity; the scent of scorched metal thick in the space. And in the center of it all—Myst.

Or what remained of her.

The Ascended leader, a towering figure clad in sleek reinforced armor, lunged at her, but Myst was faster. She moved with a speed that blurred the air around her, ducking beneath his attack before striking in a sharp, calculated motion. Sparks erupted as her fingers met metal, ripping through his defenses like they were nothing.

The Clan hesitated, caught between awe and horror. Echo took a step forward but stopped short, his breath hitching. "That's... not the Myst we knew. Right?"

Flux's hands clenched at his sides. "She's not just using XENIS-IS." His voice was low, almost reverent. "She is XENIS-IS now."

Cipher's display flickered wildly. "She's tapped into every system here, rewriting it in real time. The security grid, the facility defenses—it's all under her control."

Myst dodged another strike, her eyes momentarily flicking toward the Clan as if sensing them. But there was no recognition in her gaze. No relief. Only a cold, cautious awareness.

Razor's voice was grim. "We need to stop this before we lose her completely."

But before anyone could act, Myst turned back to the Ascended leader. And with a single devastating move, she launched him across the chamber, slamming him into the steel wall with enough force to dent it.

Then, slowly, she turned to face them.