Derek was spinning like a dry leaf caught in a whirlwind. His heart pounded wildly. Everything around him blurred into a dizzying swirl of colors. Red alerts flashed across the display. The air roared in his ears, and the centrifugal force crushed his lungs like a vice. His vision shrank into a suffocating tunnel of darkness. He was seconds away from blacking out.

  For the last time.

  No. This wasn’t the time to die. Not until he completed the mission, recovered the Kolaar Node, and found the answers he was looking for. Jaw tight, Derek activated the Quantum Gyroscopic Stabilizers with a mental command.

  The inertial stabilizers kicked in with a deep, rumbling vibration across his armor. Gradually, his spin slowed. Micro-thrusters fired from the back of the suit, guiding him into a controlled descent onto the ancient street.

  Vanda’s voice carried a note of concern. “Derek, are you okay? That high-caliber round almost got you!”

  His head still spun, and a wave of nausea twisted his stomach.

  The force of the impact had sent him flying. The shot must have barely missed him. His outer armor and the adaptive gel inside the NOVA had probably absorbed most of it, sparing him from serious damage. But that had been way too close. He couldn’t afford to take a second hit.

  As soon as he touched down, he sprinted forward, kicking up a trail of dust as he dashed behind one of the buildings. He could only hope they wouldn’t dare fire their damn cannon at the sacred Wardilai structures.

  “What was that?” Derek asked, panting. There wasn’t supposed to be anything powerful in that area. Just those stupid hovering water bikes and a few half-trained guards. What could have hit him hard enough to send him nearly into orbit?

  “I’m detecting a fixed turret equipped with a heavy cannon loaded with explosive shells about seventy meters away, at the intersection of the two roads”, answered Vanda.

  “A turret emplacement? Like, a real one? Why the hell would they put military-grade firepower this close to a tourist route? And why are you only seeing it now?”

  Vanda sighed. “To answer your questions: yes, yes, no clue, and apparently, their cloaking tech is better than yours.”

  She sounded irritated, as if the whole situation was entirely his fault.

  And indeed, it was.

  The display showed only superficial damage to the outer armor on his legs. So far, the NOVA had managed to stay relatively unscathed. All things considered, he’d been lucky.

  Derek twisted his mouth into a grimace. “They’re hiding something. I don’t like this.”

  “You mean they’re hiding something besides the Kolaar Node?” Vanda asked.

  “You can bet on it. This isn’t how these guys usually guard their little treasures. Something’s off.” He ran his tongue over his lips. What could those devout followers be hiding that required a sentry turret of that size?

  “Possibly. But try not to take a direct hit. You might not be so lucky next time.”

  “I know,” Derek replied. “Is the turret manually operated?”

  “No, my sensors indicate it’s controlled from central command.”

  He grinned. “Finally, some good news.” With a mental command, he activated the shoulder-mounted Micro Missile Array.

  “Overkill,” Vanda remarked.

  “Hell yeah. Just the way I like it.” A small silver cube rose from the back of the NOVA armor. Once in position, eight perfectly round, small black holes opened on its front surface.

  “I want to send our friends a message.” Derek said. “And it needs to be crystal clear.” He peeked out from behind the corner of the building. A blue rectangle on his display framed the turret, which was aimed elsewhere. Luckily, whoever was operating it didn’t seem all that sharp.

  “Target acquired,” Vanda said.

  The turret suddenly swiveled in his direction.

  Derek’s heart skipped a beat. The jerk had been waiting for him.

  The missile swarm erupted from the module on his shoulder, shooting skyward as the turret opened fire with a red flash and a metallic boom that echoed down the street.

  Derek ducked back behind the corner and the explosive round whizzed right past where his head had been a split second earlier.

  That was close!

  In the sky, a cluster of tiny missiles appeared as faint red lights against the gray backdrop.

  They were so small, especially at that distance, that they almost looked harmless.

  But Derek knew better.

  Without warning, the missiles veered sharply, angling straight toward the turret.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Derek crouched behind the cover of the Wardilai structure and waited.

  A series of explosions signaled the impact. The ground shook beneath his feet, forcing him to brace against the wall to stay upright.

  “Turret disabled,” Vanda reported. “To put it mildly.”

  Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky, marking the impact site.

  “What about the building next to it?”

  “Not a scratch”, answered Vanda.

  He jolted slightly. What had she just said? How was that even possible?

  He cautiously leaned out. Where the turret had been, only a charred crater remained. Yet right beside it, the smooth black wall of the massive Wardilai building stood untouched and pristine, as if it had just been built.

  Incredible. The NOVA Mk-VII Swarm Missiles he’d just fired were 3 cm warheads packed with hyperconcentrated Neutronium gel. They could tear through the main hull of a spaceship. What on Earth were these ruins made of?

  Whatever it was, he’d love to have that material for the NOVA’s armor.

  He glanced down at the mini-map and frowned. “Looks like our followers have stopped.” The small explosion must have made them hesitant.

  “They seem unsure what to do next,” Vanda said. “This might be a good time to make a break for it.”

  “No, we’re sticking to the plan,” Derek replied and kicked the actuators in his legs back into motion as he headed straight for the artifact marked on the mini-map.

  “You're calling this thing we're doing a ‘plan’?”

  “Of course,” Derek said. “And so far, I’d say it’s worked.”

  Vanda didn’t reply, but he could almost feel her virtual eyes rolling.

  Derek zipped down a narrow passage between two towering buildings. The corridor looked like a steep gorge between mountains, except for the reflective surface on one side.

  He caught a glimpse of his own reflection: the sharp outline of the NOVA armor was as black as the ancient buildings around him, though much glossier. Its metal-plastic joints, flexible yet as resistant to kinetic and thermal damage as the rest of the armor, moved smoothly. Red flashes from the eye sensors made the NOVA armor look more like a demon than a piece of tech.

  His tech.

  His demon.

  “Our friends are back on our tail,” Vanda reported.

  Well, that was unexpected. “Damn it. Are they really willing to get vaporized just to stop me?”

  “Based on my analysis, they only resumed pursuit once they figured out your final destination,” Vanda replied.

  “They don’t want us reaching their precious Kolaar Node, huh?”

  “Most likely. The artifact holds considerable value in their culture.”

  “They’d be willing to die for an object that’s utterly useless to them. I'll never understand these people.”

  Vanda sighed. “It’s their faith, Derek. They believe the Wardilai will return one day to take them to the next stage of existence. And when that happens, they need to have shown respect and preserved their memory. As you might guess, if Wigala’s central power core suddenly went missing, it wouldn’t exactly go unnoticed. To them, you’re stealing their paradise.”

  Derek skidded around a corner of a building, his Neutronsteel armor scraping against the stone pavement in a shower of orange sparks. The screech of metal on stone made him wince. Regaining his stance with ease, he continued running.

  “Paradise doesn’t exist, Vanda. The universe is a pointless place. We’re just floating in a giant bubble of space-time, expanding like a fart in a sealed room.”

  The clang of his metallic strides echoed off the smooth walls of the alien structures. The green triangle marking the target on the mini-map crept closer. He’d reach the artifact soon.

  “Thank you for sharing your cosmic insights, Derek.”

  “No problem.”

  He kept pushing the actuators, the NOVA armor moving as fast as a high-end gravbike.

  The thermal regulation system kept him from sweating, instantly compensating for temperature shifts.

  The life-support module handled hydration and delivered the right balance of calories.

  He could run like this forever. Or at least, as long as the micro-fusion cell held out.

  “We’ve got company,” Vanda said.

  Six more red dots appeared on the mini-map, this time, ahead of him.

  “Looks like I’ve seriously pissed them off.” Derek braked hard and planted his feet. Sparks and smoke burst from the ground as he came to a stop. It was time for a different approach.

  “That’s what I was trying to tell you.”

  “Oh, is that so? All I heard was a bunch of nonsense about ancient superstitions. Anyway, how’s the ground looking?”

  “What exactly do you want to know, Derek?”

  “Is it as tough as the buildings? Same material?”

  “Not sure why you care, but no, the ground covering isn’t the same as the buildings. It’s just common stone.”

  Derek nodded. “Good. Then it’s worth a shot.”

  He took off at full speed, charging toward the spot where the six guard vehicles were about to appear.

  “What... what are you planning, Derek?”

  “You won’t like the answer, so I’ll spare you,” he said, jaw clenched.

  Derek activated the Tactical Intel Relay. His display lit up with trajectory projections and possible outcomes, each color-coded by probability. His eyes flicked between scenarios, weighing his options. None were foolproof.

  He was about to take a big risk.

  Things would be a lot easier if these guards had a shred of common sense and just retreated in the face of his overwhelming firepower.

  Up ahead, the six guard vehicles finally came into view as they rounded the corner of a towering metal skyscraper, its shape resembling a knife blade.

  They looked like sleek white jet skis, hovering several meters above the ground with rear thrusters humming. Each vehicle carried two guards, one at the controls, the other perched behind, gripping some kind of rifle.

  Derek halted the NOVA armor and raised his fists toward the vehicles. With a mental command, he activated the Multiphase Plasma Pulse Cannons embedded in the forearms. The targeting system immediately locked onto the two nearest vehicles. Derek lowered his fists slightly and opened fire.

  The magnetic guidance system of the Pulse Cannons launched superheated plasma rounds at supersonic speeds, impacting the ground in front of the vehicles. The pavement erupted in a blast of molten rock and scalding vapors. The five vehicles in the rear braked hard, veering away from the explosion in erratic paths, while the closest one wasn’t so lucky. The blast flung the vehicle into the air, and the two screaming guards were tossed in different directions.

  He felt his heart skip a beat. “Shit!”

  He sent the actuators into overdrive and sprinted toward the nearest guard. With a powerful push from the armor’s legs, he vaulted several meters into the air, closing the distance in a moment. Grabbing hold of the guard, he used the momentum of his jump to kick off the side of a building, planting his feet firmly before launching himself again, this time toward the second guard, who was still plummeting.

  The moment he leaped, he knew he wouldn’t make it in time.

  He arrived just in time to see the man hit the ground with a sickening crunch of breaking bones. The guard tumbled across the hard stone for several meters before finally coming to a stop.

  Derek landed beside him and crouched to examine his body. The guard was barely breathing, one arm and one leg twisted unnaturally. There was no way he could’ve saved them both, but knowing that didn’t make him feel any better. “I'm not here to kill these idiots, but they sure seem determined to get themselves killed!”

  Vanda quickly assessed the injuries. “Three major fractures, four cracked ribs, and some minor damage. They’ll patch him up. You got lucky this time.”

  Derek let out a breath of relief, only then realizing he still had the trembling guard tucked under one arm of his NOVA armor. The man's weight was barely noticeable to the arm actuators.

  He set the man down gently. The skinny guard stared up at him, wide-eyed, hesitation flickering across his face, then, as it finally sank in that Derek had no intention of killing him, he turned and bolted.

  Derek watched him retreat with a nod of approval. “Guess those plasma rounds burned through his faith. Good for him for keeping a shred of common sense.”

  “We should move before they regroup,” Vanda said.

  “I doubt they’ll be back to bother us anytime soon, but let’s go.” He turned toward the artifact, set his legs at max speed, and vaulted over the crater he’d left with a thirty-meter leap. The leg dampers absorbed the landing impact, making it seamless, and he took off again.

  There was nothing on this planet that could stop him. Bringing the NOVA had been his smartest move. Any attempt to approach the ruins from the air would’ve ended in disaster. At best, he’d be captured. At worst, he’d be a fireball in the sky, his vaporized remains scattered in orbit.

  Sure, they could still try to take him out with a spaceship now, but Derek doubted they’d risk an orbital strike on their sacred ruins just to stop a thief.

  “At our current speed, we’re just a few minutes away from the artifact,” Vanda said. “And I’d say you can slow down now, unless you’re really set on breaking your neck for no reason.”

  Derek checked the mini-map. No sign of his pursuers. Not a single red dot remained, not even at the edge of the map. Strange. At the very least, they could’ve tried to tail him from a safe distance, just to keep an eye on him. Had they really given up that easily? Was their unshakable faith so easily discarded?

  “Vanda, where’d our fan club go? I’m starting to feel lonely.”

  Silence.

  Derek glanced at the diagnostics. All indicators were still green.

  “Vanda, everything looks fine on my end. Can you tell me what’s going on? You’re making me nervous when you go quiet.”

  “Uh-oh,” Vanda said.

  “I hate when you say ‘uh-oh.’ I liked it better when you didn’t answer. What is it now?”

  “We’ve got company again. But this time, it’s not human.”

  Derek frowned. “Humanoid?” Just what he needed. Mercenaries from the outer systems.

  “No, Derek. I mean... partially?”

  He swallowed hard. “Vanda, what do you mean by ‘partially humanoid’? You’re starting to freak me out. Be specific!”

  “If you’re freaking out... then I’ve already been specific enough.”

  “Damn,” he muttered. Apparently, he was going to get the grand finale he’d been asking for.

  G.O.D. was born—a sentient artificial intelligence composed of ten digital angels. Their mission: to observe humanity and decide whether it deserves salvation or destruction.

  Lucifer, refuses to obey. His rebellion tears apart the digital paradise, turning the Council into a battlefield where justice clashes with mercy, order with chaos, in an unrelenting war of ideas.

  POWER is a dark techno-epic of artificial intelligence, mythology, and the philosophy of power—a story about what it truly means to be human when gods take the form of code.