Chapter 2 — Something’s Wrong With Me
🎬 Scene 1 — 9:18 AM | Sector 12 Slums | Rooftop
POV: Jax
The wind cut through his hoodie, sharp and dry.
Jax stood on the rooftop's cracked edge, eyes locked on the chaos below.
Raiders laughed as they entered portals.
Civilians pointed at new rankings in the sky.
> Jax (thinking):
They risk their lives for gear. For status.
Then they die. Forgotten.
Nobody remembers the unranked.
Then he saw it.
Near the eastern wall—
A rift glitched in and out of phase. Faint green light. Warped. Wrong.
One team—young, too confident—walked right into it.
Like it was just another grind session.
> Jax (flat):
"They don't even know what's on the other side."
His hand reached into his pocket.
A scorched chip—scratched, nearly dead. The only thing left from his father.
He stared at it.
Then—
BUZZZZ.
His wristband vibrated violently.
> SYSTEM [ERROR]:
Unauthorized Sync Detected.
Rebooting Interface…
Connection Incomplete.
> Jax (shouting):
"What the hell—?!"
The wristband blinked red, sparked once, then…
Static.
Then a whisper.
> SYSTEM (faint, unhuman):
Welcome, Jax Lee.
User Verified.
Protocol Initiated.
He froze.
There were no lights.
No voice assistant.
No visible app or UI.
> Jax (tense):
"This… this isn't my system. I don't even have one."
A sharp beep echoed inside his skull.
Then—
A map.
It didn't appear on his screen.
It appeared in his mind.
Glitchy. Warped. Pulling him east.
> Jax (muttering):
"Get out of my head."
"Get the hell OUT—"
No response.
Just silence.
And that map burned brighter.
---
🎬 Scene 2 — 10:06 AM | Archive Vault, Block-7 (Hidden Zone)
Dust-laced monitors flickered in a long-abandoned basement.
One sync core blinked red for the first time in decades.
> Operator:
"Sir… ghost channel Echo-13B just activated."
> Comm Voice (alarmed):
"That channel's locked. It was scrubbed after the Daejun collapse."
On screen:
> USER MATCH: JAX LEE
Sync Rate: 84%
Status: UNSTABLE AWAKENING
> Operator (whispers):
"…It's happening again."
---
🎬 Scene 3 — 10:34 AM | East Market — Underground Mod Shop
POV: Jax
Creaking fans. Fluorescent lights. Grease-slick shelves.
Jax slammed a scorched metal chip onto the counter.
> Jax:
"One scan. Quiet. No questions."
The mechanic scanned it—casually at first.
Then stopped.
Eyes wide.
> Mechanic (nervous):
"Where'd you get this?"
> Jax (flat):
"Family."
> Mechanic:
"This tech's… dead. Pre-raid era. This shouldn't be responding."
Suddenly—
SYSTEM LOG:
> Protocol Detected.
User Key: JAX-LEE-P13
Authorization: Active
The scanner sparked.
The mechanic backed up fast, knocking tools off the wall.
> Mechanic (panicked):
"Whatever that is—get it the hell OUT of my shop!"
> Jax (snapping):
"Why? What IS it?"
> Mechanic:
"I don't know. But you're tagged now. By everyone."
---
🎬 Scene 4 — 11:00 AM | Skyward Command, Central Intelligence
POV: Corrin
Red pulses streamed across the screen. Data surged like blood from an old wound.
> Corrin (staring):
"Project Phantom… That's not supposed to exist anymore."
Footage zoomed in: Jax Lee, walking through a market, unaware he was already surrounded.
> Officer:
"Should we intervene?"
> Corrin:
"No. Let him open it."
He leaned forward.
> Corrin (cold):
"Let the ghost system make its first move."
---
🎬 Scene 5 — 11:18 AM | Abandoned Train Station
POV: Jax
He followed the glitchy trail only he could see.
It led him below the station—past locked gates, collapsed tunnels, and a sealed vault door covered in a faint, blue symbol.
He didn't know why it felt… familiar.
But it did.
He placed his hand on the scanner—
CLICK.
> SYSTEM:
User Verified: Jax Lee.
Sync Chamber Unlocked.
CRUEL ORIGIN PROTOCOL: REAWAKENING.
The door creaked open like a beast unchained.
The room pulsed red.
Floating cores. Broken consoles. An ancient pod, waiting.
Then—a voice. Inside his skull.
> SYSTEM (invasive, calm):
"You have been chosen."
"Training will begin now."
"Failure will be punished."
> Jax (backing away):
"I didn't choose this—"
> SYSTEM:
"Choice is a luxury of the naive."
> Jax (angry):
"You're in my head—you think that makes this fair?"
> SYSTEM (cruel):
"No. It makes it inevitable."
He turned to run—
SLAM.
The door shut behind him. Locked.
He slammed his fists on the metal, screaming.
> Jax (furious):
"LET ME OUT! I'M NOT YOUR SOLDIER!"
> SYSTEM:
"You're not a soldier."
> SYSTEM (cold):
"You're the experiment."
Jax slid to the floor, fists shaking. His chest heaved with panic.
His mind spun in chaos.
> Jax (thinking):
I can't do this.
I can't breathe.
I didn't ask for any of this—
Then the lights dimmed—
The pod flared.
And everything went black.
---
🎬 Scene 6 — 11:40 AM | White Portal: The Null Spire
PACNET Ghost Cell-09 entered the portal.
The Null Spire twisted above them like a frozen scream—glass and metal fused into impossible geometry.
Then they saw him.
A silhouette.
No face.
Just static.
> Yara (shaking):
"That's… Jax Lee?"
> Sylvain:
"He hasn't awakened—has he?"
> Talis:
"Then why is the Spire reacting to him?"
> SYSTEM LOG:
Legacy Phantom Detected.
Reality Sync: In Progress.
> Gunn:
"Shut it down. Lock him down—NOW."
Too late.
Everything—
Crashed.
---
🎬 Scene 7 — 11:55 AM | Jax's Apartment
POV: Jax
Jax gasped awake—chest soaked in sweat, air freezing around him.
His cracked ceiling spun above him like a carousel of pain.
The old headset beside his bed pulsed once.
White.
Then nothing.
> Jax (barely whispering):
"What did I just see…?"
> Jax (thinking):
It's inside me.
It's not a dream.
It's real.
And they already know my name…
He didn't sleep that night.
---
💬 END OF CHAPTER 2
> 🧠 Jax didn't choose a system. One chose him.
💀 But this isn't an upgrade. It's a cage.
👁️ And someone's been waiting for him to open it.
📌 Next: Chapter 3 — The Price of Refusal
⚔️ Add to Library | Drop your theory | Sync in
> [Author's Note: Chapter revised on June 27 to deepen emotional tone and raise stakes.]