The storm had been raging for hours, drowning the city beneath an ocean of noise. From the rooftop of the safehouse, lightning flashed across the skyline like fractured glass, and rain battered the windows in relentless rhythm.
Inside, the glow of a dozen monitors lit the dim room where Ethan Vale sat motionless. His reflection stared back at him from the dark screen — the face of a man who'd seen too much, and trusted too little.
Lines of encrypted data streamed across the main monitor. His fingers danced over the keyboard in a blur, tracing a phantom signal that had been ghosting their network for weeks. Finally, the code cracked. A transmission bled through the noise.
> [TRANSMISSION: DIGITAL SAINTS – 00:01 HOURS]
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
He'd heard that name before — whispered through the black markets of information, the kind of name you didn't repeat twice. Digital Saints.
Behind him, Rhea Morgan leaned against the wall, her silver hair catching the glow from the monitors. She had her sniper rifle stripped open on the table beside her. "You've been staring at that code for three hours," she said. "What are you expecting to find? Salvation?"
Ethan didn't answer. His focus was locked on the screen as the final layer of encryption dissolved. A single line of text appeared, pulsing faintly:
> "Your father's name is written in our archives. Seek us before they erase it."
His hand froze.
That name — his father's name — had been buried for over a decade.
"Rhea," he murmured, voice low. "Get Taro. Now."
---
By the time the team assembled in the safehouse command room, the storm outside had turned violent, lightning flickering like strobe lights through the glass.
Taro Ishida, their young hacker, yawned as he scrolled through the message logs. "Digital Saints," he muttered. "They're supposed to be a myth. A splinter group of rogue agents who went digital after the fall of the Veil Syndicate."
Ethan crossed his arms. "My father's name was in their message."
Taro stopped typing. "Maximus Vale?"
Rhea frowned. "You think they know something about his death?"
Ethan's jaw clenched. "They know more than they should. And they're baiting me to come find them."
"Could be a trap," Rhea said.
"It's always a trap," Ethan replied. "But I'm going in."
---
They relocated to the bunker beneath the safehouse — a place of humming servers, flickering lights, and cold steel. Taro adjusted the neural interface cables around Ethan's head.
"You're sure about this?" Taro asked. "A full neural dive into a ghost network could fry your brain."
Ethan looked calm, almost serene. "I've survived worse."
Rhea exhaled sharply. "Yeah, but worse didn't come with a chance of your brain melting like ice cream."
Ethan gave a faint smile. "If they know anything about my father, I need to see it for myself."
Taro hesitated, then nodded. "All right. Initiating dive in 3… 2… 1…"
The lights flickered — and Ethan's consciousness slipped into the void.
---
He opened his eyes in a world that didn't exist.
The cyberspace stretched infinitely in all directions — a cathedral of light and data, pillars of code rising into a dark digital sky. Binary rain fell like holy scripture, glowing symbols cascading through the air.
Then, a voice spoke — layered, distant, and eerily calm.
> "Welcome to the Sanctum of the Digital Saints, Ethan Vale."
Figures materialized from the shadows — hooded avatars draped in robes of data, faces hidden behind masks that glowed like stained glass.
One of them stepped forward. His mask bore a single crack, revealing an eye that looked human — tired, yet sharp.
> "Your father once stood among us," the figure said.
Ethan's pulse spiked. "You're lying. My father was a field operative, not some hacker priest."
The Saint tilted his head. "Maximus Vale built the foundation of the Veil Syndicate's encryption network. When he realized what his creation would become, he tried to destroy it. We were his solution — and his mistake."
Ethan's voice hardened. "Where is he now?"
The Saint smiled beneath his mask. "Buried… but not gone. His legacy lives inside the Syndicate's code. And so does his sin."
Suddenly, the cathedral flickered — reality glitching as alarms echoed through the void.
Taro's voice crackled faintly in Ethan's ear:
> "Ethan, your vitals are spiking. They're trying to breach your neural link!"
The Saints raised their hands. Digital light twisted around them, forming spears of data.
> "You've seen too much, son of Vale."
Ethan drew his virtual sidearm — a sleek black construct of code — and fired. The first Saint dissolved into static. More emerged, their halos burning red.
He sprinted through collapsing code corridors, leaping over firewalls that erupted like walls of flame. He could feel the Saints chasing him — their digital chants echoing through the network.
Ahead, a crystal-shaped data vault shimmered. Ethan dove for it, seizing it in his hand. The instant he touched it, visions assaulted his mind — his father's voice, distorted and broken:
> "Ethan… if you hear this… don't trust the halos. The Syndicate was never destroyed — it was reborn."
The digital world shattered into white.
---
Ethan gasped awake, lungs screaming for air. The neural cables tore free as Taro ripped off the headset.
"Talk to me!" Rhea shouted, gripping his shoulder.
Ethan coughed, sweat pouring down his face. In his hand, he held a small glowing crystal — a memory core pulled from the virtual world.
"They were real," he whispered. "The Digital Saints. They said my father created the Veil's encryption. He wasn't just part of it… he built it."
Rhea's eyes widened. "Then that means—"
"It means he wasn't the hero I thought he was," Ethan said quietly. "But I'll find out why."
He looked down at the glowing shard, faint words scrolling across its surface.
> 'Phase II begins in Tokyo.'
---
Hours later, Ethan stood alone on the balcony. The storm had passed, leaving the city washed clean beneath the pale dawn light.
Taro joined him, coffee in hand. "So… what now?"
Ethan's eyes stayed fixed on the horizon. "The trail leads to Tokyo. That's where this all started — and maybe where it ends."
Rhea stepped out beside them, strapping her sniper case. "Then what are we waiting for?"
Ethan finally smiled — a thin, cold smile. "We hunt the Fallen Angel."
And as the sun broke through the clouds, the war between shadow and truth entered its next chapter.