Ray didn't go back to the academy. Instead, he slipped into the 'Lower Tunnels' of Sector 7—a labyrinth of rusty pipes, flickering neon signs, and people who had been discarded by Science City. These were the 'Zero-Links', those who couldn't afford neural implants and were treated as ghosts.
"Ray? You're alive?" a raspy voice whispered from the darkness.
An old man, his face half-covered by a cybernetic bandage, stepped forward. He was Old Ben, a former engineer who had once known Ray's father.
"They sent the Sentinels after me, Ben," Ray said, his eyes scanning the tunnel. "Why does the city fear a 'Zero-Link' so much?"
Old Ben's artificial eye whirred as it focused on Ray. "They don't fear you, boy. They fear what's inside you. They think you're just a failed experiment, but I know the truth. Your father didn't build machines; he was trying to find a way to merge the 'Lost Energy' with the city's grid."
"You mean Mana," Ray corrected.
Ben nodded solemnly. "The city's council—the 'Hexagon'—is running out of power. Science City is a parasite; it consumes more energy than it produces. They've been hunting for the 'Origin Source' for decades. And they believe your blood holds the key."
Suddenly, Ray's ears picked up a high-pitched whine. It was the sound of a 'Void-Seeker'—a small, spider-like drone used for underground assassinations.
"Get down!" Ray roared.
He didn't wait for the drone to strike. He reached out, not toward the drone, but toward the massive steam pipes running along the ceiling. With a flick of his wrist, he didn't just break the pipe; he infused the escaping steam with a 'Frost-Syllable'.
The boiling steam instantly turned into shards of razor-sharp ice, shredding the Void-Seeker before it could fire its laser.
Old Ben stared in disbelief. "That wasn't technology... that was... impossible."
"The impossible is the only thing that's going to keep us alive, Ben," Ray said, his voice hardening. "They want my blood? Let them come. But they should know—I'm not the one being hunted anymore. I'm the one who's going to dismantle this city, bolt by bolt."
As they moved deeper into the tunnels, Ray felt a strange resonance in his chest. Somewhere nearby, hidden beneath the city's foundation, something ancient was calling out to him.