"Welcome to the heart of the rebellion," Kira said with a wry smile. "I hope you’re ready for the fight, Cipher. It’s only just beginning."


    Roy stepped inside, his mind racing. This was no longer about survival. It was about something much bigger. Something that threatened everything he’d ever known. And the weight of his past lives was pushing him forward, one step at a time.


    In the dim glow of Kira’s hideout, Roy sat at a cluttered workstation, his mind racing. The room was filled with old tech salvaged from Neon Haven’s underbelly: monitors stacked precariously on desks, wires snaking across the floor, and walls plastered with schematics of Behemoth Systems’ facilities. The air smelled faintly of ozone and oil, the hum of machinery mixing with the occasional crackle of static from the nearby servers. The soft buzz of outdated technology was almost comforting—everything about this hideout screamed rebellion, an underdog fight against the massive corporate behemoths that controlled the city.


    Kira paced in front of him, her fingers brushing the edges of her crimson trench coat as she spoke. "Here’s the deal. The Neural Core is the heart of Behemoth’s operations. We breach it, and we can erase every debt, every surveillance file, every shred of data they hold on people like us."


    Roy’s stomach churned. The weight of the mission pressed on him like a physical thing. His mind flashed with images of Cipher’s previous attempts—mishaps, failures, and near-misses—each one a reminder of just how much was at stake. The Neural Core was a fortress. Getting in, let alone cracking it, was nearly impossible.


    He forced his eyes to focus as Kira’s plan unfolded before him. She outlined the mission with clinical precision, her sharp mind evident in every detail. There were no frills—just cold, calculated steps. Break into the facility, disable security, infiltrate the core, and then wipe Behemoth’s data. If they pulled it off, it would be a monumental blow to the corporation, but the risks were immeasurable.


    Roy found himself both intimidated and oddly comforted by her presence. There was something about the way Kira spoke, something that made him feel like maybe, just maybe, this was a fight worth fighting. It was a kind of quiet leadership—steadfast, resolute, and without the need for grandeur. It made him feel less like an outsider in this strange life, even if he was still trying to figure out who he was in this new body.


    Akhilesh, an old friend from Roy’s first life who had inexplicably appeared in this one as a tech-savvy mechanic, chimed in from across the room. His face was smeared with grease, and a spanner was tucked under one arm like it was part of his anatomy. "Don’t forget the backup power grid. If that thing kicks in, we’re toast."


    "I’m aware," Kira shot back, her gaze flickering to Akhilesh, but her focus remained unshakable. "That’s where Cipher comes in."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Roy’s breath hitched at the mention of his name. "Wait, me?" The words tasted foreign on his tongue. How could he be the one to handle such a critical part of the plan? He had no experience in hacking a system as intricate as Behemoth’s, no confidence in his ability to carry this mission on his shoulders. All he had were fragmented memories of another man’s life, and they didn’t exactly scream ‘hacker prodigy.’


    "You’re the best chance we have," Kira said, her voice firm and unyielding. "With your skills and… whatever’s going on in that head of yours, you’ll crack it. Cipher did it before. Cipher could do it again."


    Her words hit harder than he expected, her belief in him slicing through his doubt like a blade. Roy nodded slowly, though doubt still gnawed at him. Every failure from his past lives weighed on his shoulders, making his chest tighten with the familiar sting of inadequacy. He thought of his deaths, each one more brutal than the last, each one another reminder of how little control he seemed to have over his own fate. But this time, it was different. He couldn’t let it paralyze him now. Not when others were depending on him.


    "I’ll do it," he said finally, his voice hoarse but steady. He wasn’t sure if he believed the words himself, but he couldn’t back out now. Not after everything that had brought him here. "Just… walk me through it. I need to know everything."


    Kira’s eyes softened, just for a moment, before her expression hardened again. "Of course. But we move fast. Time’s not on our side."


    She handed Roy a small, sleek device—the type that looked more like a piece of high-end tech than anything he was used to dealing with. It had Cipher’s mark on it, a symbol he couldn’t ignore. He had a feeling this was the kind of tool that separated the amateurs from the professionals in this world.


    "First," Kira began, "we need to get into their system without triggering any alarms. There are three main security nodes along the perimeter. We’ll use this." She tapped the device in Roy’s hand. "You’ll need to tap into the backup sub-grid and send a pulse that’ll disable them temporarily. You have ten minutes before they come back online."


    Roy looked at the device in his hand, his stomach tightening again. Ten minutes. It didn’t feel like enough time to even get his bearings. But the reality of the situation settled in, and he knew there was no other choice. He had to pull this off.


    "I’ll need access to their server mainframe too," Roy said, a plan already forming in his mind. He knew the data wasn’t just in the Neural Core—it was everywhere. He’d need to tap into their central servers first, trace the pathways, and bypass every layer of encryption in place.


    "That’s the next step," Kira replied, a slight flicker of approval in her eyes. "Once you get the signal going, we’ll be able to breach the core. But remember—one wrong move, and we’re done."


    The weight of her words settled like lead in his stomach. One wrong move. But Roy had been wrong so many times in his past lives, hadn’t he? What was one more mistake?


    "Let’s do it," he said, his voice a little steadier now, though the uncertainty still lingered beneath the surface. He wasn’t sure how, but he would find a way. He had to.


    With a nod from Kira, they moved out, the mission ahead both daunting and necessary. Roy’s mind raced with plans and contingencies, his thoughts muddled by the memories of lives he had lived, and failed, before. This was his chance—his one shot to make something of this life, to do something more than just survive.


    He had to make it count.