VENDETTA CIRCUIT – CHAPTER 8: "BLOODCODE"Word count: ~1100 | Genre: Action, Cyber-Revenge Thriller
Darkness.
Only the thrum of machines. Mark's pulse. The buzz of a broken cage.
Caden—the Ghost—lay twitching on the ground, eyes wide, as electricity faded from the floor. The crowd had been evacuated. The arena silenced. Lockdown had begun.
Mark crouched beside him.
"Caden… fight it. Whatever she's done—fight back."
But Caden just whispered, "You don't… get it, Mark. I'm already gone."
Then his body went limp.
10 Minutes Earlier – Control Chamber, Sector 7
Dr. Nyra Vale sipped from a glass shaped like a vial. Around her, servers pulsed with life—screens filled with data, veins of light running from Caden's body back to the network.
Project BLOODCODE.
Caden had been the first subject. A mind split between human memory and programmable obedience. She had taken everything from him—free will, guilt, fear—and rewritten it.
But he still had one weakness: Mark.
Nyra clenched her fist as she stared at the blinking monitor.
"Bring the next one online."
Her assistant hesitated. "But… he's not ready."
She didn't blink. "Neither was Mark."
Back in the Cage
Mark dragged Caden's body through a maintenance corridor behind the arena, away from the cameras. His chest burned. His head spun with guilt.
This wasn't a fight. This was war.
He kicked open a door labeled "Medical Tech – Restricted" and threw Caden on the table.
Inside, someone was waiting.
A girl—barely older than 19, with silver-blue braids and a heavy backpack. She spun in her chair and pointed a scalpel.
"Whoa. Chill."
Mark raised his hands. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Nyx. I break implants, not bones." She nodded at Caden. "And he's infected with something bad. That neural burn? Classic Bloodcode."
Mark's heart sank. "You can save him?"
"I can try. But you've got less than an hour before that code eats his identity. Then he's not just a fighter—he's a killer. Yours."
Meanwhile – The Pit Level
The lights blinked green across the underground chambers. Fighters in cryo-sleep began to stir.
Nyra stood above them, arms raised.
"My soldiers… awaken."
Rows of enhanced warriors—former champions, cyborgs, ex-military rejects—stood. Wires connected their spines. Scarred eyes flickered to life.
"Mark thought the Vendetta Circuit was a stage," Nyra hissed. "He was wrong. It was a trap."
Back in the Medical Lab
Sparks flew as Nyx worked on Caden's neural core, fingers dancing across a hacked datapad. Sweat poured from her forehead.
Mark paced.
"I left him once. Thought he betrayed me. But Nyra… she's the real enemy. She took Rika. She twisted this whole thing."
Nyx didn't look up. "You don't understand. Bloodcode doesn't just control minds. It copies them. If Nyra finishes uploading Caden's template—she'll create a thousand Ghosts. And the original will be wiped."
Caden suddenly jerked up—grabbing Nyx by the neck.
Mark lunged.
CRACK! His fist smashed into Caden's jaw, knocking him back.
"Caden! FIGHT!"
For a second—just one—Caden blinked. And in his eyes… tears.
"Mark… run…"
Control Room – Alarms Blare
"System breach detected!" an operator shouted.
Nyra's eyes narrowed. "He's resisting."
She pulled a pistol from her coat. "Then we purge the prototype."
Neo-Lux Rooftops – Nightfall
Mark carried Caden across the rooftops. Nyx ran behind, slinging a hacked transmitter.
"He needs signal jamming!" she shouted. "If we reach the old relay tower, I can block the control waves!"
Mark nodded, lungs burning.
Behind them—footsteps. Dozens.
A squad of Nyra's cyber-fighters flooded onto the rooftops. Red eyes glowing. Weapons drawn.
Nyx stopped cold. "Too many."
Mark set Caden down.
And cracked his knuckles.
"I'm done running."
Final Scene – Rooftop Brawl
It was chaos. Metal against bone. Sparks lit the night.
Mark snapped a soldier's leg, spun, elbowed another into a vent. He moved like lightning. Brutal. Focused.
But he was bleeding.
A cyber-fighter slashed his side. Another hit him with a shock-baton.
He dropped to one knee.
Caden groaned beside him, clutching his head. "Mark…"
Mark growled, blood dripping from his nose.
"Wake up, brother. Or we both die."
Suddenly—
Caden stood.
His eyes clear.
And the real fight began.
TO BE CONTINUED…