Signal in the Smoke

Elias didn't sleep.

The node's new encryption cycle pinged a quiet rhythm in the background, but his mind was elsewhere—on the Static badge sitting on the table. Encrypted, high-level, and marked with a faint, cracked lightning sigil. The kind of thing Syndicate higher-ups didn't just hand out.

******

**[Item: Encrypted Static Badge]**

Tier: Unknown

Data Integrity: 61%

System Notice:

— Decryption Available (Cost: 2 Intel Threads)

Warning: Irreversible Use

******

He hovered on the decision.

Two Intel Threads were all he had. Spending them meant delaying a broader network map or further Syndicate infiltration. But the badge could offer something deeper—something personal.

He spent them.

******

**[Decryption in Progress… Complete]**

Badge Data Unlocked:

— Subject: Orion Vega

— Rank: Syndicate Sentinel-Class Operator

— Assignment: Urban Sweep & Asset Containment – Blackridge South

— Status: INACTIVE

Notes:

— Final Order (Encrypted): "Purge Trace Echoes – Priority Over Territory"

******

"Trace Echoes," Elias repeated.

The term rang familiar. Echo Nodes. System interfaces. Could they be connected?

Dizzy walked in mid-thought, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "That thing still beepin'? Or is it just you hummin' system tunes now?"

"Neither," Elias muttered. "We've got a name. And a mission trail."

Mara appeared from the hallway, already geared up. "You thinking retaliation?"

"I'm thinking investigation," Elias said. "That Sentinel wasn't guarding a drop. He was executing cleanup."

"Cleanup of what?"

He didn't answer.

Because somewhere deep in his gut, he already knew.

***

Vire Alley was quiet—too quiet.

The scent of ash and rust still lingered, but now, the corners felt abandoned. As if the Scavengers had gone dark on purpose. Not scattered—silent.

Elias scanned the border, spotting a pair of kids tagging a wall in neutral colors. He approached carefully. One bolted. The other stayed—barely a teen, defiant as hell.

"What happened to the Scavengers?"

"Who wants to know?"

Elias knelt, pulled the Static badge from his coat, and showed it. The kid flinched.

"They went quiet after the Syndicate came down," he said. "Guys in black. Chrome masks. They didn't take turf. They took people."

"Took?"

"Like... snatched. No blood. No bodies. Just... gone."

The kid bolted before Elias could ask more.

Back at the safehouse, he dumped the rest of the decrypted badge data into the system. A fragment pinged—a partial map overlay of old Syndicate movement.

Only one spot glowed blue.

An underground metro station two districts east: **Saltend Verge.**

***

Grayline blurred past in ghostlight. Elias moved fast, Mara and Dizzy in tow. The Verge was once a central transfer point, now buried in concrete and burned tags. The platform smelled like mold and iron.

The access panel flickered to life as Elias neared.

******

**[Node Detected – Dormant Echo Interface]**

Status: Corrupted

Sync Possible – Risk of Trace

Attempt Sync?

(Y/N)

******

"Yes."

The system burned his HUD with static.

A burst of feedback hit his skull like a migraine. Blood dripped from his nose. Dizzy shouted something—but it was distant. Muffled.

Then came the vision.

Fire. Screams. Echo Node pulses flashing across the city. Not one—but dozens. Connected in a neural grid. And a man—tall, in ragged Syndicate gear—driving a spike into a server core.

System corruption. Wipe protocols. He wasn't sabotaging Blackridge—he was erasing something.

Then the image snapped.

Elias staggered back, collapsing on the concrete. Mara steadied him.

"You good?"

"I saw... something," Elias whispered. "More nodes. Like this one. A network. Buried under everything."

The system pinged again.

******

**[Data Fragment Recovered: Corrupted Echo Log 07X]**

Analysis: Incomplete

Potential Leads: 3

Side Objective Unlocked: Trace the Core

Current Location: Saltend Verge Echo (Inactive)

Nearby Node: Gutterfront Access Shaft – 0.8 km

Reward Upon Discovery:

— +6 CP

— +1 System Skill

— + Echo History Archive (Partial)

******

They left Saltend Verge before anything else stirred. The platform felt watched.

Elias's vision swam on the way back. Not from exhaustion—but clarity.

This wasn't just about turf.

It was about whatever the city tried to bury.

***

Back in the alley node room, he stared at the map as the new icon appeared—**Echo Chain Fragment Detected**.

One thread pulled. A dozen more waiting to unravel.

"What's our move?" Dizzy asked, pacing.

"We find the next node," Elias said. "We trace the damage."

"And if we find what caused it?"

Elias finally smiled, dark and cold.

"Then we pull it into the light."

System pinged.

******

[Daily Passive CP Gained: +1]

New Total CP: 33

Skill Points: 2

Intel Threads: 0

Underling XP:

– Mara: +1 XP (Combat Support)

– Dizzy: +1 XP (Recon Assist)

******

And the city pulsed beneath their feet—quiet, rotten, and full of secrets.