October 15, 2021: 04:00

The guard who stood before me gave off an uneasy feeling; his eyes an odd bluish orange color with white pupils; he showed no sign of hostility, but my causational instincts were firing off on all cylinders. Something told me that if I were to engage him, I'd surely lose. 

"Hey what's with the aggressive vibes?" He snickered, "I'm not here to fight you. Come with me, I have something to show you."

"Why- If you are Rache Bartmoss you should know I'm here to kill you." 

He sighed, cocking his head. "I do- I know quite a lot about you Danill Kochek..."

"What!? How do you-" 

"I've read up on your file, child soldier raised and trained by the Ex-KGB group "Suverenny"* (Sovreign)*. A Neo-communist terrorist faction created after the federations were instituted in Russia in the 1990's."

"I'm no terrorist." I growled. 

"Then, after their fall in 2008 you went into hiding only to work under Sovoil hoping they could "expunge" your past." 

"Exactly- The records were erased; how would you know any of that!" 

"My friend..." He sighed, "Data cannot be erased, only hidden. And you- cannot hide "anything" from me." He smiled. 

"Tch..." I scowled, "What do you want." 

"Come, I'll show you." He said, making his way past the guards. 

We walked down a long corridor; frozen men down every hallway; it was surreal, like a dream. 

We stopped at a wall; "Dead-end..." I thought. 

"Only to those who can't see the full picture." He smiled, raising his hand. 

With a flick of his whist the wall opened up, leading down a long staircase. "Come, we're almost there." 

"So, he can read my thoughts, huh?" I grumbled. "lubopitny ubludoc..."* (Nosy bastard...)* 

We soon found ourselves in a room covered in monitors and computer servers; a large server set in the middle of it all. Plugs and wires jutting out from all sides. 

"Ah, home sweet home..." Said Rache, "Sorry if I haven't cleaned up the place." 

"It's-" My foot seemed to hit something, "What- Luca!?"

He had collapsed on the ground, his neural processor melted out the back of his neck. 

"He was a bit of a nuisance, so I took care of him." He said, "Hope you don't mind."

"No..." I replied. 

He walked over to one of the monitors; "Tell me, what is it that all men seek to control...?" Something began to upload on the computer.

"Information." My friend, the life blood of the modern world. As the saying goes, knowledge is power." He spoke, "And those who control it, control everything." 

A list of all the largest corporations came online across the monitors. "What..." 

"Zetatech, Biotechnica, Kang Tao, Sovoil, Arasaka and even Militech..." He spoke, "You know the names, the largest corporations on the face of the planet." 

"Soon their political and financial power will rival that of entire continents. No one will be able to oppose them, the masses will be laid out like cattle before their masters!" 

"And? What are you trying to say-" I protested. 

He sneered, "I seek to "tear down" their control before it has even begun." He replied, "Have you heard of Mikoshi...?" 

"...only in ghost stories." I spoke, an uneasy in my voice. 

"A data fortress spanning millions of miles, the very heart of the network as we know it." He preached, "Virtually impenetrable it is the epicenter of all information that has ever and does exist. But- even the strongest shield cannot hold out forever; every second, the corporations grow closer to seizing control of Mikoshi. And thus, everything." 

"Then why are you working for Kang Tao?" I replied. "What have they-" 

"Working for?" He laughed, "I merely used them to further my work while feeding them scraps of information they wanted on other corporations." 

"So, you used Kang Tao, so you could take Mikoshi for yourself!?" 

He looked at me almost repulsed by the question, "NO. I will do what the corporations have failed to do for decades. Using viruses I created, I will finally rip Mikoshi open, spilling its informational intestines across the network. Such an overflow of data will crowd the net, virtually tearing it apart!" He laughed. 

"But then- what does that solve!?" I yelled. 

He smiled a crooked grin, "Everything. With the loss of their precious Mikoshi they will scramble and fight over what little of the network is left. It will set them back decades, centuries! And in the wake of its destruction the corporations will have no choice but to wage WAR with each other." 

"No... You- you're talking about the fourth corporate war! Millions will perish! The world will-"

"I know." He said solemnly, "But I am willing to let the world burn, before I let them have it." 

I tightened my fists; "I can't let you do this." I prepared to activate my sandevistan.

"I know-" He raised his hand, "But I can't let you stop me." 

"Czzt~!"

My body felt limp, frozen, I couldn't move. "Damn it!" 

He began typing on his computer, starting up the program. "The hard part was finding strong enough processors to push the brunt of my attack on Mikoshi..." 

A list of names came up on the monitor, among them "Danill Kochek". 

"My team..."

"Until you all came along." He smiled.

"What? You don't mean-"

"Who do you think told the CIA about Kang Tao's holding of myself? The corps have been looking for me for years, I "let" you find me." He pressed a button; the word "Syncing" came across the list. 

"With such an advanced new implant like Prometheus it was a must that it would be outfitted with the strongest neural processors. I almost feel like thanking Militech for bringing them to me." 

"You shall bear witness to the end of a world, and the dawn of a new one." 

"Sync Complete-" 

"Ah, and like that- The final moments begin." 

"No! I'll stop you! You can't do this!" I yelled, fighting with all my might. 

He sat down on the desk, the keyboard right next to him. "You can't stop me; I've already won my friend." 

He was about to press the launch sequence when- 

"Bang!" He was shot square in the face, his brain splattering across the back wall. 

"Tch- psychotic bastard." 

"Sarge!" I yelled. 

"Danill, I see you're still alive." He said, "We need to get out of here, the assault squad isn't far off."

"Hm-" finally able to move I walked over to the body, "...This was Rache Bartmoss?" 

"I guess so-" Replied Sarge, "No one knew what he truly looked like, but I suppose he decided to blend in with the guards." 

I pushed over the body to its front, but- something was off. "Wait..." 

I did a scan on the guards BID* (Bio-Identification)* "piànzi shēntǐ". 

"No... this wasn't him." A sinking feeling grew in my stomach. 

Sarge turned around, "What was th-" All of a sudden, he lurched over in pain, "Ah! Gaaaah!" 

"No!" In a moment I was pinned against the wall, his eyes the same bluish orange as the guard's. "Guess I'm back for a sequel, eh?" 

"Damn you!" I struggled against his arm, "Oh hush-" he activated his PLS; "BOOM!" I was blown into the foundation, an inch away from death my Bio processor racing to repair my injuries. 

I could barely move, barely speak, the only words coming from my mouth. "Stop..." 

He smiled softly, "When you wake up, the dream will end." He pressed the button.

"dos vidaniya!"* (Goodbye!)* 

"Click."