Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 104: - Core Conversation

Chapter 104: - Core Conversation

"Alright," Elias said, reappearing with a heavy case of dark glass bottles slung in one hand and a box of real ceramic cups in the other. "Enough alley theatrics. Let’s go ruin our brains properly."

He led them back inside the transit office, where the lighting was low and the makeshift furniture looked suddenly regal under the presence of something aged and expensive.

"No labels," he added, setting the bottles down with a soft clink. "Just trust and a mild disregard for liver function."

Cassi grinned. "You always were the charming one."

"That’s because I don’t talk as much as Lucas."

"Rude," Lucas muttered, already pouring himself a drink. "True, but rude."

A few drinks later, the warmth had settled into everyone’s limbs. The conversation drifted between sarcastic theories, half-remembered field missions, and who had the worst sync partner experience in history.

Lucas, comfortably sprawled into one of the deeper chairs, rolled his neck and shifted with a satisfied exhale. Then, without ceremony, he reached for Ava’s wrist and gently tugged her into his lap.

She gave him a slow look.

He just smiled, fingers lacing through hers like it had been the plan the entire night.

"Let’s start the real conversation."

His voice was quiet now, just for her and anyone close enough to lean in.

"You remember the one dead sync pair we talked about?" he asked. "The ones that collapsed during the Western push?"

Ava nodded, eyes narrowing. "They overdosed."

"Force-fed," Lucas corrected. "Three beast cores in under twenty-four hours. One system rejected. The other tried to compensate."

He paused, thumb running absentmindedly over her knuckles as his words sharpened.

"The theory is simple. To start a system—especially one that’s dormant—you need two things. Emotional ignition... and pain."

"And the cores?" Ava asked, quiet.

"The pain part," Lucas said. "Cores carry a massive energy spike, plus natural elements that the body can recognize and process—just not without screaming first."

She didn’t flinch.

His voice dropped further, enough that only she could catch the edge of it.

"The sync makes it survivable. Barely. But without a partner to stabilize the system reaction..."

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to.

Ava looked at him, gaze steady. "You’re saying people are going to start doing this on purpose."

Lucas’s smile was thin, but dangerous. "They already have."

Ava’s fingers tensed slightly in his, and Lucas didn’t let go.

"Unofficial sync trials started two weeks ago in the North Vault sector," he continued, his tone quiet but razor-sharp. "Black market cores. Volunteers—some desperate, some bought. They’re pushing forced sync through pain-based system ignition."

Cassi, seated across from them, stilled mid-drink.

"You’re serious."

"Have I ever sounded like I’m not?" Lucas replied without looking at her.

Elias leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees. "I heard whispers, but nothing confirmed. You’re saying they’re treating sync like a ritual?"

"No," Lucas said, "they’re treating it like a weapon manufacturing pipeline."

Ava’s voice was low.

"And the death rate?"

Lucas finally turned to her, golden eyes steady.

"Seventy percent don’t make it past the first core. The rest are unstable. But the ones that do?"

He gave a slow nod. "They’re something else. Fast-tracked systems, minimal control, but dangerous as hell."

"What kind of systems?" Keel asked, leaning in.

"Hybrid types," Lucas said. "Ones that shouldn’t exist. Echo mutations. Reflex chaining. A guy in Sector 5 manifested mirror-syncing—could replicate abilities of the person he was synced to, temporarily."

Cassi whistled.

"Sounds like hell dressed up as science."

Lucas’s jaw flexed, that easy charm beginning to peel at the edges. The kind of look he wore when he was done with pretending people were just curious.

"It is," he said flatly. "It’s torture wrapped in progress. And the worst part?" He leaned back, pulling Ava just a little closer into his lap. "They’re going to call it evolution."

The room quieted again.

"If only we could get—" he cut himself off, eyes darkening. His tone turned sharp, irritated. "No. I’m not doing the ’if only.’ Not anymore."

He set his glass down with a little more force than necessary, the sound snapping in the air.

"You know what it takes to stabilize sync development outside of pain?" Lucas continued, looking at no one and everyone. "Real data. Controlled systems. Core mapping. Emotional compatibility. But we don’t get funding for that." His voice dropped into something edged. "Because it’s not fast. It’s not bloody. It doesn’t sell."

Ava watched him, her expression unreadable but her hand still firmly in his.

"So instead, they shove cores down throats and call it destiny."

Keel cleared his throat, quietly. "If we could get access to the Tower’s early sync research, maybe—"

"They’ve buried it." Lucas snapped. "Six levels deep under fake IDs and contracts wrapped in NDAs, all tied to people who no longer exist on paper."

Elias said nothing, just watched with a thoughtful, almost guilty calm.

Lucas exhaled hard through his nose, then turned to Ava, voice quieter now but no less heated.

"If we had just one clean data stream from the original sync cases—just one—you and I could rebuild the whole model in weeks."

Ava met his eyes.

"So let’s steal it."

Lucas blinked.

Then he grinned—slow and dangerous.

"Now that’s why I picked you."

Lucas’s grin lingered, sharp and satisfied—but Ava wasn’t here for flattery.

She raised an eyebrow, calm and cutting.

"Then give me a plan, Bai. Quick and simple. Preferably without explosions this time."

Lucas leaned back in his seat, still cradling her hand in his, the grin fading just enough to reveal focus underneath.

"There’s a rumor," he began, voice dropping just enough to draw everyone in again, "of a splinter group—three scientists. They broke from the Tower before the first sync trials were buried. Took raw data and prototype logs with them."

Cassi straightened. "You mean Project Seraphim?"

"That name’s attached to a dozen ghost files," Keel muttered.

Lucas nodded. "And only two ever showed up again." He turned back to Ava. "I’ve located two of the three. Both are low-level now, hiding under civilian IDs. One’s folding biotech in an outer-sector clinic. The other’s selling counterfeit weapon mods in the Dust Market."

Ava’s eyes narrowed slightly. "And they have the data?"

"They have enough." Lucas’s fingers tapped against her palm absently. "One has fragments of early sync strain compatibility reports—exactly the kind of baselines we’d need. The other’s sitting on a backup drive that links to the core structure used in forced-sync tests."

"What about the third?" Elias asked.

"Vanished." Lucas’s tone sharpened. "But two gives us a map. Enough for her"—he motioned to Ava—"to rebuild the model from scratch. The right way."

Cassi squinted at Lucas, lifting her glass halfway.

"What do you mean by that, exactly?"

Lucas didn’t even hesitate.

"Her system lets her build things. Tech. Data. Structures." He waved a hand vaguely. "Even things most people think are gone."

Across the room, Elias tilted his head, eyes narrowing.

"That’s a very generic answer coming from you."

Lucas met his gaze without flinching.

"It’s all you’ll get."

The air shifted—no threat, just certainty.

Ava said nothing. She didn’t need to.

Lucas leaned back slightly, fingers still gently laced with hers.

"Let’s just say there’s a reason I don’t say the name of her system out loud. Not even here."

Cassi raised an eyebrow.

"That serious?"

"It’s not just serious." Lucas smiled thinly. "It’s valuable."

And that was the end of that conversation.

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