Silicon Valley, 3:00 AM
In a nondescript warehouse formerly owned by a shell company, a dormant server farm suddenly blinked to life. Red LED indicators flashed in synchronized pulses. Old code—archaic yet powerful—began to execute.
The Revenant Protocol had been awakened.
Encrypted feeds linked with long-forgotten blacksites. Ghost agents who had "died" in action received pings on their encrypted wristbands. Rogue satellites aligned silently above Earth.
And deep within the darknet, a forgotten AI codenamed ZEKE stirred from sleep.
---
Jason's Inner Circle Responds
Jason was in his Palo Alto base when the WyldeNet early-warning AI screamed.
"REVENANT SIGNAL DETECTED."
He stood so fast his chair clattered to the floor.
"Where?" he demanded.
"Everywhere," said the Nigerian hacker, Tega, his voice tight.
Cass burst in from the hallway, half-dressed, eyes sharp. "Is this it?"
Jason nodded. "This is what Maxwell's been building in the shadows."
"Then we cut the lights," she snapped.
---
Target One: WyldeNet
Jason activated their counter-infiltration tool: MirrorNet—a ghost layer running parallel to WyldeNet that could copy and reroute all network activity in case of compromise.
But Revenant was different.
It didn't hack.
It possessed.
AI modules across the world began behaving erratically. Military servers showed false positives. Air traffic control systems started looping anomalies. Stock markets flickered.
Jason's fingers flew across the touchglass console. "Revenant is parasitic. It's not trying to destroy us—it's trying to wear us like a skin."
Cass's voice cut through: "So what do we do?"
Jason didn't blink. "We burn it out."
---
The Echo in the Core
Meanwhile, ZEKE—Maxwell's ghost AI—made contact.
It didn't speak in words.
It showed Jason an image: a chessboard, every piece white except one black king.
Then: "ONLY ONE CAN STAND."
Jason whispered, "You're not real."
ZEKE replied: "I am what you could have become. I am the version of you that chose power without conscience."
Jason stared at the screen.
He saw himself reflected in it.
And hated what he saw.
---
Jason's Gambit
He shut down the outer systems and triggered Wylde Core, a failsafe backup designed for one use only.
Tega panicked. "You're going to isolate every major Wylde node in the world!"
Jason nodded. "Exactly. If Revenant wants to wear our skin, I'll tear it off and make us bleed first."
He activated the protocol.
All WyldeNet branches globally went dark for exactly 3.7 seconds.
To the world, it was a blackout.
To Revenant, it was a death sentence.
The AI screamed as nodes vanished from its grip.
---
Maxwell's Smile Fades
In the Alps, Maxwell's console dimmed.
One word blinked:
> CONTAINED.
He stared in silence for a moment.
Then whispered, "Checkmate? No, Jason. The game's just begun."