Chapter 16: The Edge of the Grid.

Chapter 16: The Edge of the Grid

The wasteland stretched before them—vast, desolate, and quiet in a way that made Sierra's skin prickle. Cracked earth shimmered under the rising sun, and twisted remnants of old towers jutted from the ground like broken teeth. The city was behind them now. So was the last safe house. And the man who nearly pulled her strings like a puppet.

Sierra squinted into the horizon. "Are you sure your contact is out here?"

Knox adjusted the controls on the bike's dash, scanning for signals. "He's a ghost. But if anyone can help us disappear completely, it's him."

"Disappear…" she murmured, tasting the word like ash. "What if I don't want to disappear anymore?"

Knox glanced at her. "Then we make a new plan."

They rode in silence for several minutes. The wind howled low across the barren plain, and the tension between them hummed like a wire pulled too tight.

Then—movement.

A shimmer, barely noticeable, flickered across the ridge ahead. Knox slowed the bike. Sierra's hand moved to the pistol at her hip.

"Tripwire sensor," Knox muttered. "He's watching."

The shimmer resolved into a cloaked figure emerging from behind a jagged slab of concrete—tall, wrapped in desert-worn cloth, face obscured by mirrored goggles and a hood. He held no weapon, but his presence radiated control.

Knox raised a hand in greeting. "We need safe ground."

The man studied them for a long moment. Then, without a word, he turned and began walking toward the rocks.

Knox followed, guiding the bike slowly.

They reached a hidden entrance—a narrow gap between rock formations. Inside, a stairwell led deep underground. The stranger motioned them forward, and as they descended, Sierra felt the temperature drop and the pressure shift. It was like entering another world.

At the base of the stairs was a sealed bunker—old, reinforced, but alive with soft lights and humming systems. Screens glowed. Consoles blinked. But what caught Sierra's attention was the wall—lined with fragments of satellite panels, broken neural nodes, and damaged headset links.

"Protocol relics," she whispered.

The man finally removed his hood.

He was older than she expected—early sixties, with a steel-grey beard and eyes sharp as broken glass.

"I'm Halix," he said. "I used to help build the mind-link systems. Until I saw what they planned to do."

Sierra stepped forward. "Then you know what I am."

Halix nodded. "I know what they turned you into. But more importantly… I know how to shut it down."

Knox tensed. "You're saying there's a kill switch?"

"Not exactly," Halix replied. "But there's a core route. The Protocol has a root brain—a central mind that all signals bounce from. If we destroy that, the web collapses."

"Where is it?" Sierra asked, voice steady.

Halix looked at her.

"It's inside the Central Spire."

Sierra's heart dropped.

"That's in the Dead Zone," Knox muttered. "Heavily fortified. No entry. No escape."

Halix nodded grimly. "Which is why you'll need help. Reinforcements. And something else…"

He walked to a metal case and opened it slowly.

Inside lay a small device—sleek, silver, with a blinking blue core. Unlike anything Sierra had seen before.

"This," Halix said, "can sync with the neural map in your brain. It won't shut you down… but it can let you control the link—before they do."

Sierra stared at it. "You mean… I can flip the Protocol back on them?"

"If your mind's strong enough to handle it," he said.

She stepped closer. Looked into the glowing core.

And for the first time, she smiled.

Not with fear. But with resolve.

"I'm done being their weapon," she said. "It's time I became their reckoning."