chapter 12: First Drop
339 Words
*Chapter 12: First Drop*
At precisely 02:00 hours, the Resistance’s underground hub shifted from low-power standby to full mission mode. Screens lit up. Routes recalculated. Nodes pinged to life across a ghost network that hadn’t been touched by the city’s grid in nearly a decade.
Jayden stood at the center of it, suited up.
The black leather jacket they gave him had thin armor lining and a micro-mesh circuit web sewn into the fabric — *lightweight, fast, and untraceable*. He checked the time again. Every second mattered now.
Kira stood beside a holomap, pointing at a flashing red marker on the south side.
“This is Drop Point Alpha. Inside an old metro kiosk. You’ll insert the packet here”—she handed him a small silver cube no larger than a thumb drive—“and the data will route through an encrypted tunnel to three international media terminals.”
Jayden pocketed the cube. “How hot’s the route?”
“Hotter than a barrel fire in the Lower Quads,” said Rico, one of the Resistance runners. “Maestro’s got drones sweeping the loop, and the East Signal Wall just got new upgrades.”Kira nodded. “You’ll have a 4-minute window between signal resets. Get caught outside that gap, and they’ll lock on to you.”
Mary appeared from the side, already dressed in all black, a tight satchel slung over her shoulder. “He’s not going alone.”
Jayden looked at her, then Kira.
Kira didn’t argue. “Good. You’ll need someone to scramble tags if things go sideways.”
They rolled out ten minutes later.
***
The stolen bike had been rebuilt—*again*. This time, it was equipped with a temporary cloaking module and jammers to interfere with low-grade drone scans. Jayden roared out of the underground access tunnel with Mary clinging tightly behind him, eyes sharp, bag zipped, ready.
The city was quieter than usual.
But Jayden didn’t trust silence. Silence usually meant *ambush*.
They crossed Sector 11, dodging old patrol routes.
- Writer
