The elevator to the Voss Penthouse was a masterpiece of glass and brushed steel. Normally, it took forty-five seconds to reach the ninety-ninth floor. Tonight, it felt like an eternity.
Kaelen stood in the center of the car, his reflection staring back at him from the polished metal. He didn't look like a CEO anymore. His expensive suit was dusty, his knuckles were charred from the Mana-Core, and his eyes... his eyes looked like they had seen the end of the world and liked it.
Ping.
The doors slid open.
The penthouse was silent, bathed in the eerie, pulsating purple light bleeding through the skylights. Elena was sitting on the white leather sofa, a glass of wine in her hand. Marcus was pacing by the window, frantically shouting into a phone that was only emitting white noise.
"Kaelen!" Elena stood up, her face a mask of practiced concern. "Thank God. We've been watching the news. The markets—they say you've destroyed everything. Marcus says we're bankrupt."
Kaelen walked into the room, his boots thudding heavily on the marble floor. He didn't look at her. He walked straight to the bar and poured himself a glass of water.
"Bankrupt is a relative term, Elena," Kaelen said.
Marcus stopped pacing and stormed over. "Relative? Kaelen, I had thirty million in stock options! It's gone! The bank accounts are locked! And the sky—look at the damn sky! What did you do?"
Kaelen turned slowly. "I didn't do anything to the sky, Marcus. That's just the universe reclaiming its territory. As for your money... I warned you this afternoon. You were so eager to steal my chair that you didn't notice the floor was falling out from under you."
"You did this on purpose," Marcus whispered, his face twisting with a sudden, ugly realization. "You crashed the company to spite us."
"To spite you?" Kaelen laughed, a short, sharp sound that had no humor in it. "Marcus, you're not that important. I crashed the company to liquidate the only things that matter. While you were crying over your digital zeros, I bought enough Mana-Cores and military hardware to start a small country."
Elena stepped closer, trying to use her "soft" voice—the one she used in the past life right before she betrayed him. "Kaelen, honey, you're scared. We all are. But we're a team. Tell us where the supplies are. We can get out of the city together. Marcus has a contact in the Hamptons—"
"A team," Kaelen repeated, looking at her. He felt the Level 1 Technomancy pulsing in his veins, a low hum that allowed him to see the electronic heartbeat of the entire building.
He leaned in close to her, smelling her expensive perfume. "Does a 'team' usually wait until their CEO is dead to sell his blueprints to the Mafia? Or does that only happen in the version of the story where I'm a fool?"
The color drained from Elena's face. She stumbled back. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know about the offshore account, Elena. I know about the files you copied from my private server at 3:00 AM last Tuesday. And I know about the two of you."
Marcus reached into his jacket. He was fast, but Kaelen was faster.
Before Marcus could even wrap his fingers around the handle of his concealed pistol, Kaelen snapped his fingers.
CRACK.
The smart-home system in the penthouse surged. The motorized window shades slammed shut, locking into place with a heavy steel thud. The lights flickered from white to a deep, menacing red.
But the real shock came from Marcus's pocket. The lithium-ion battery in his smartphone suddenly expanded and hissed.
"AGH!" Marcus screamed, ripping the phone out and throwing it on the floor as it burst into a small, violent fire.
"You forget, Marcus," Kaelen said, his voice echoing through the hidden speakers of the room. "I built this 'Smart' Penthouse. Every wire, every sensor, every lock... it's an extension of me. In here, I am God."
Kaelen walked over to the wall and touched a hidden panel. A heavy, reinforced steel door slid across the only exit.
"What are you doing?" Elena shrieked, her composure finally shattering. "Unlock the door! Kaelen, let us out!"
"Why?" Kaelen asked, sitting down in his armchair and crossing his legs. "The world outside is full of things that want to eat you. In here, you're safe. You have water. You have six months of vacuum-sealed rations in the pantry. You have the finest view of the end of the world."
He looked at his watch. 08:00 PM.
"The first wave of 'Hollows'—monsters that look like humans but have no souls—will be hitting this street in ten minutes," Kaelen said calmly. "The glass in this penthouse is reinforced, but it's not indestructible. If you stay quiet, they might not notice you."
"You're leaving us here?" Marcus shouted, clutching his burnt hand. "You're locking us in a cage?"
"Not a cage, Marcus. A sanctuary. Just like you wanted." Kaelen stood up and walked toward the private helipad entrance. "I'm going to the Wastes to build my empire. You two stay here and enjoy the 'New Era' you were so excited about. Just remember... don't turn on the lights. They're attracted to the light."
"KAELEN! COME BACK!" Elena screamed, throwing her wine glass at the steel door. It shattered uselessly.
Kaelen didn't look back.
He stepped onto the roof, where his private, armored helicopter was waiting, piloted by a man who had no loyalty to anyone but Kaelen's untraceable gold coins.
As the blades began to whirl, Kaelen looked down at the city. The first screams were starting to echo up from the streets. The transformation had begun.
[SYSTEM ALERT: FIRST WAVE DETECTED.]
[Quest Initiated: The Path of the Villain.]
[Objective: Establish a Base of Operations. Reward: Level 2 Technomancy.]
Kaelen Voss looked at the purple horizon and smiled. In his past life, he died a hero. In this life, the world would learn to fear the man who owned the end.
Author's Note:
"The world as they knew it is gone. Kaelen is no longer just a CEO he's a predator in a world of monsters.
This is just the beginning of Zero-Day Rebirth. If you enjoyed this 5-chapter launch and want to see more of Kaelen's ruthless rise to power, please Add to Library and leave a Comment!
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