Category: Echo Saga

The L-Rig could enhance strength, speed, and reaction time. It could connect a shooter’s brain directly to his weapons. But when Atriya trained with Verus, none of that mattered. No tech. No gear. Just breath. Just awareness. Verus wasn’t teaching him how to fight harder. She was teaching him how to become something else.

Benson held out his hand. The ring of the Judge gleamed under the streetlight — a silent command. Kiss the ring. Atriya had grown up outside the Jury’s protection. He knew exactly what “reverence” looked like when it was forced on people who didn’t belong. He shook his head. Not a chance.

Three men were already down. One crying. One clutching a shattered wrist. One bleeding from his eye. Atriya stood in the middle of the street, breathing evenly. The fight was over. Real control wasn’t the violence — it was what happened after.

Atriya hated the moments before a fight — the talking, the posturing, the empty threats. But when the first strike landed, all of that disappeared. Violence was simple. Broken bones. Blood on pavement. Bodies moving to survive. Then Atriya moved, and the alley exploded into motion.

The linkup enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes. What it didn’t enhance was longevity. Crew shooters burned bright and burned out — nervous systems fried, bodies worn down by years of artificial stimulation. The system produced legends. It rarely produced survivors.

Benson thought the knife made him important. The Judge’s emblem gleamed on the crosspiece, demanding reverence. Atriya had seen real plasma blades before — weapons built for war, not theater. This one was just a symbol. So Atriya kicked it into the gutter and watched the emblem disappear into the dark.

Every other shooter kept their linkup active. Atriya kept his locked in a cabinet. Sometimes he would open the door and stare at it — the promise of easier strength waiting inside. All he had to do was put it on. But something inside him refused.