STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

thoughts still tangled in the memory of the man and his daughter. The rebellion was no longer an idea, no longer strategy and theory—it was real. Messy. Painfully human.

He turned down a side street, mind already racing through the next drop-off, when a voice rang through the quiet.

“Lucien?”

He froze. His pulse lurched.

Turning slowly, he locked onto Darius, standing at the end of the street.

He looked different. The usual warmth was gone, replaced by something edged—tight shoulders, wary eyes, exhaustion carved into his face.

Lucien swallowed hard. “Darius. What are you doing here?”

Darius stepped closer. “I could ask you the same thing.” He studied him, the shadows between them thick with unspoken accusations. “You’ve not been yourself. At first, I thought it was stress. But then the broadcast happened, and you disappeared. And now I find you sneaking through the lower districts?” His voice dropped. “What the hell is going on, Lucien?”

Lucien ’s drew the bag closer, the possession of the encrypted devices feeling like a homing beacon for the Stewards.

“I’m just—” He forced his voice to stay even. “I needed space. To think.”

Darius scoffed. “Don’t lie to me.” He shook his head, frustration creeping into his tone. “I know you, Lucien. You’re part of this, aren’t you? The rebellion. The messages. All of it.”

Do I lie? Do I tell him the truth? Either way, this changes everything.

His answer came before he could second-guess it. “What if I am?”

Darius inhaled sharply, disbelief in his eyes. “Then you’re out of your mind.” His voice hardened. “Do you even understand what you’ve done? The chaos you’ve caused? People are scared, Lucien. They don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Good.” Lucien’s jaw set. “They should be scared. They should question everything. Because everything we’ve been told—everything AstroSYS has built—is a lie.”

Darius’s face twisted, anger bleeding into his expression. “You sound like one of those lunatics spraying graffiti all over the city. ‘AstroSYS lies’? Really? It works, Lucien. It ’s kept us safe. It’s given us harmony.”

Lucien barked a hollow laugh. “Harmony? For who?” He stepped forward, voice lowering. “The people who disappear into recalibration camps? The ones whose charts are erased because they don’t fit the perfect little picture? Open your damn eyes, Darius. ”

159