Code Nexus

"Why, Karl?" Reed asked, feeling a tad terrified. "How did this happen to you? You were never like this before."

The malice in Karl's gaze changed to something deeper as he reveled in the moment.

"You're that eager to hear my tale, huh?" he replied with mockery. "Very well! Gather 'round. All good stories begin at the start."

That did little to help the tension in the room. While the board members' instincts were screaming for them to flee, where could they run?

"Let's take a step back, shall we?" Karl's voice dropped. "Oh, how the years have passed…"

The atmosphere shifted as Karl began his tale, pulling them from the Reen estate into the halls of SolTech Industries.

In the city, SolTech stood as a titan, reflecting the aspirations of thousands of workers within. Inside, Karl Miller, a board member held in high regard, loved this cutthroat environment.

Every morning, he was the first to arrive—always on time with his suit pressed like no one else's. He was the epitome of dedication, tirelessly working his way up the ranks.

The company's stock consistently climbed, inching up by several percent each week. Few could claim such success; even fewer could claim it with that level of hard work.

Despite his achievements, by nightfall, even he had to retreat somewhere—his home, where his wife and young son were.

"Dada!" his son would call, rushing to greet him every night. "Can we go to the park tomorrow?"

"You ask me that right before my day off, huh?" Karl laughed. "Just how'd you get my schedule, buddy?"

He spent almost every weekend with his family. Yet it was the mind-binding pressure of his professional work that kept him tethered to SolTech.

He often brought papers home, just to ensure he'd complete all his assignments on time—always striving for fineness, yearning to stay on top.

One evening, after driving from a dinner at a fancy restaurant, Karl suddenly froze. A thought plagued him—a crucial report. He'd forgotten to submit an essential document vital for the upcoming board meeting. And the deadline was twelve hours from now.

"Leave it for tomorrow, Karl," his wife gently advised. "You've had a long day."

"No, I can't. It won't take long," he insisted.

"Really, you can handle it in the morning," she pressed.

Despite her being right, he valued the company and its demands far more than his own comfort.

As such, he turned the car back toward SolTech, driving through the empty streets.

Once inside, he unlocked the doors and logged in, focusing on completing the report. He was entirely consumed with meeting expectations.

When he finally finished, he returned to his family.

"See," he said, feeling confident. "I was fast, wasn't I?"

"Can we go home now, dada?" his son urged. "I'm getting sleepy."

"Sure, son!"

He exited the company's driveway. But just as he turned onto the road, everything changed in an instant.

With a sudden, jarring impact, a car collided into his vehicle—metal against metal—sending his world spiraling into disarray! The sound of glass pierced his senses as his car rolled over. He didn't immediately understand what had happened; all he knew was the crash and the pain that followed.

He could barely comprehend the horror as he struggled to escape, his world aflame with confusion. Fire licked at the edges of the wreckage, consuming it.

"Help!" he screamed, desperately clawing against the metal confining him, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

As heat threatened to pierce his skin, he felt consciousness slip away. In the final moments of darkness, he glimpsed something—or someone.

When he awoke, he found himself standing several yards away from the crash, strangely unscathed but trembling violently as the situation set in. He turned, heart pounding as he began to grasp what had happened.

The charred remains of his family and the sounds of sirens in the distance—his world had gone mad.

"Oh no! Please, no!" he fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

His wife, his son—gone in an instant. He screamed into the night, an unending shout merging with the sirens, crying out for help that would never come.

"Why?" Karl whispered.

Before he could fall further into despair, he saw a figure—a silhouette against the shadows of the moonlight. It was like a haunting presence. The man's face remained obscured, shrouded in darkness.

A week later, he attended his own funeral, surrounded by only a few mourners who believed him dead.

The sight should have comforted him. Instead, it was suffocating. A sad procession of hollow expressions.

Then he saw someone he thought could change his view on things: Reed, his former colleague, the only one who deigned to show up from SolTech.

Reed's attention was elsewhere, preoccupied. His phone rang, disrupting the brief moment.

"I'm at Karl's funeral," he hastily said. "Is it important…? Alright, I'll be there."

With that, Reed abruptly left. No flowers and no words of condolence.

There had always been something in the company's culture—a façade of importance, an unforgiving machine integrating lives like gears turning behind steel.

The car that struck Karl, that vanished without a trace, the moment turned his life into a farce, a dark comedy of fate.

He felt betrayed, isolated from a world that continued while he faded into nothingness.

When he returned home—his actual home—no solace awaited him. Everything felt hollow, empty.

"Why didn't anyone care? Why did it happen? Why wasn't justice served?"

He was swallowed in a pit of despair and fury, and with every unanswered question, resentment grew roots deep within him against SolTech.

Then, the man reappeared. The figure from the accident. Had it not been for this man, Karl would have been dead by now.

"They left you, Karl," he said. "That makes them real monsters, don't you think? Have you made your decision?"

"I have…"

"Are you planning to take revenge?"

"No, not revenge," he countered.

"Oh…"

Karl had surrendered to darkness, trapped in a world where vengeance felt like the only answer as he declared, "What I want is retribution…. What must I do?"

"Take this," the man said, offering what looked like a metallic bracelet—there was power in it, power only white collars could only dream of. "Do as you wish with it, but try not to let it consume you."

Karl grasped the Band and felt the cold weight against his palm. Now he understood what he had to do.

Back at the estate.

The tension in the room was still evident as Karl shifted his gaze back to the board members before him. Their faces were pale and stricken with disbelief.

"So now you know," he said. "You're all the reason for my suffering, the inhabitants of a world that robbed me of everything I held dear. Now it's time to return the favor."

Each word fell like a stone, sinking into the board members' hearts. Their minds were torn between fear and sympathy. To them, Karl had every right to be upset.

"You don't have to do this, Karl," Eliza implored, her voice trembling. "We didn't cause your family's death!"

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Eliza. You bought into the system. Your names are all across the pages of SolTech's ledger. You contributed to the wheel that crushed me and my family!" Karl's voice rose. "I know the tastes of despair! And I'm gonna savor every moment of your demise!"

Reen tried to stand tall as he announced, "This isn't justice! You're throwing away your life for a promise fueled by vengeance! How can you find peace in bloodshed?"

Karl's laughter rang out, harsh and cruel: "Peace? I'm not after peace, you simpleton. What solace do you think I can find in a world shaped with injustice? The only thing left is to tear it down, brick by brick!"

The board members became fearful.

"Don't even think about apologizing," Karl sneered. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment! It's time to—"

"That's enough," Cassian interrupted. Of everyone in the room, only his heart and mind were unmoved. "I heard your story, and you have a solid reason for having gotten angry." He then flexed his fingers. "But the moment you took a life for self-righteous endeavors was the moment you crossed the line."

He then stepped forward and cracked his neck. Whoever the man in front of him thought he was, there was no way he was going to let him get away with things.