Vox was in the Glitch Core of the VoxTech Tower. Inside lies Vox's personal sanctum: a zero-gravity chamber where his human decoy interfaces directly with the Resonance Foundation, his heterochromic eyes glowing as he glitches through virtual realms to prototype new horrors. Deeper still, concealed behind false walls and glitch-secured vaults in the apex level, resides the true heart of VoxTech—the opaque tank housing Vox's bioengineered shark form, its massive cables snaking into the tower's infrastructure like veins feeding a colossal brain, processing the empire's data with effortless precision while the "pet shark" ruse deceives all who glimpse its red-eyed gaze through carefully curated exhibits.

  He was currently looking over the footage of Hikari and Lila. It had only been two days since they left the UNoA and went back to Japan. Multiple holographic screens pulled up all around him, one screen displaying the footage, another showing readings of Hikari and Lila's aura signatures.

  "So Mistress Sam was correct. These were apostles. Very powerful ones." His shark form began processing data at immense speeds while his decoy form continued to look over the footage. "Not only that, but the brown-haired girl is an Orionis and Katsuki clan member." He placed a hand on his chin. "And yet the church still had the nerve to send someone like her into my territory."

  As he was in the middle of his thought, a screen appeared that read: Vox Police Department Incoming Call

  Vox answered the call. A middle-aged man with a VoxLink implant appeared on screen. He looked... worried.

  "What is it? I'm in the middle of something."

  "Um, well, Glitch Overlord, I think you're gonna wanna hear this."

  "Well don't waste my time. What is it."

  "Those two apostles that went to save that daughter of the Horsewoman of Death, well... I think they might've been helped by Jecka and... I... I think she snuck into the country."

  The tank went still.

  Vox's shark form stopped swimming. Stopped moving entirely. All six red eyes went wide, focusing on a single point in space. The decoy body's heterochromic eyes mirrored the reaction, electric blue and crimson red both blazing with sudden intensity.

  Electricity crackled around his head. Inside his blue eye.

  The air in the Glitch Core hummed with building voltage.

  "...How do you know?" His voice was too calm. Too controlled. The kind of calm that preceded catastrophic system failures.

  "After she left, me and other Red-Eye Enforcers scanned the area and... we found tech from Jecka in a decoy house. Though it was destroyed, it was still technologically from her."

  Silence.

  One heartbeat.

  Two.

  Three.

  Four.

  The shark's plasma veins pulsed brighter. Data streams accelerated through the cables. Processing. Calculating. Confirming the nightmare.

  "And how long did you know this for?"

  The man hesitated. "Since they left."

  CRACK.

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  A surge of electricity exploded from the decoy body in all directions, arcing through the Glitch Core's systems like a digital scream. The power spike didn't stop at the tower. It cascaded outward, riding the District Nexus infrastructure, bleeding into Night City's grid.

  "SO YOU KNEW SHE WAS HERE AND DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!?"

  [CUT TO: Night City Streets]

  The lights flickered.

  Every screen in a six-block radius glitched simultaneously. Holographic billboards stuttered, their advertisements fragmenting into pixelated chaos. Streetlights surged bright enough to hurt, then dimmed to near-darkness.

  A woman walking home from her factory shift stopped, staring up at the malfunctioning displays. "What the hell..."

  Her VoxLink implant buzzed. Static filled her vision for three seconds. When it cleared, her hands were shaking.

  In an apartment complex, a man's television exploded with white noise. His neural interface screamed warnings directly into his brain. He clutched his head, gasping, as the surge passed through him like ice water.

  Traffic control systems went haywire. Automated vehicles jerked to sudden stops. Horns blared. Someone screamed.

  The entire district felt it. That pulse of raw, unfiltered rage transmitted through every connected device, every implant, every piece of technology that bore the VoxTech logo.

  For exactly 6.66 seconds, Night City experienced what it felt like when their god was afraid.

  [CUT TO: VoxTech Tower, Glitch Core]

  The man on the call flinched, his face pale. "We wanted to make sure it was actually her and not some Anti-Vox lunatics just using tech she left behind."

  Vox's decoy body moved. Fast. Too fast. His fist drove into the nearest wall with enough force to shatter the glitch-resistant alloys. Sparks flew. Something expensive exploded in a shower of components and plasma.

  He didn't know what it was.

  He didn't care.

  All he cared about in this moment was that Jecka was back. Jessica Smith. Guest 666. The woman who had made him bleed. The woman who had seen his actual shark form and broadcasted it simultaneously across every screen in District 5 for exactly 6.66 seconds. Too brief for official censorship. Long enough for hundreds of thousands to see.

  And now she was back.

  Not only was she back, but she had the nerve to sneak into HIS territory again.

  "I don't give a FUCK if you aren't sure!" His voice was a digital roar, distorted by the electricity still crackling around him. "If you were even 40 or 70% sure it was her, you treat it as 100%!"

  He took a deep breath. Forced his systems to stabilize. In the tank, his shark form began swimming slower, the massive body undulating with deliberate calm that contradicted the fury burning through both forms.

  His decoy body ran its hand through his hair. "Alright. I'll take care of it."

  He waved his hand. The call ended.

  The screens went dark.

  Vox turned away, staring at his shark form through the quantum-shifted glass. Both sets of eyes met. Human and leviathan. Decoy and truth.

  "FUUUUUCK." The word echoed through the empty chamber. "That dumb bitch is back. What made her think she can just walk back here and I wouldn't know!"

  His foot tapped against the floor. Rapid. Agitated. A tell he'd never fully suppressed.

  The fear was there. Buried deep beneath layers of processing power and technological superiority, but there. Guest 666 had done the impossible once. She'd hurt him. Exposed him. Made him look weak in front of his own Nation.

  And if she could do it once...

  No.

  No, he was stronger now. Smarter. He'd upgraded every system she'd ever touched. Patched every vulnerability she'd exploited. He was ready for her this time.

  But his legs were wobbly when he took that first step. Just for a moment. Just long enough to notice.

  He got over it quick.

  "I should probably tell the Director of Area 51 that their little engineer is running around with apostles." His smile returned, sharp and predatory, masking the unease. He waved his hand, pulling up a secure encrypted channel.

  The call connected.

  Director Victor Ashford's face appeared on the holographic display. Cold. Clinical. Annoyed at being contacted.

  "Vox. What do you want?"

  Vox's smile widened, showing too many teeth. His voice dripped with false sweetness, the kind that promised violence wrapped in courtesy.

  "Victor, I've found the creator of your technology~"

  END.

  Created by Figures

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