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/-\
The city trembled with the aftermath of Aiden's last broadcast. Across District Seven, the drip of corruption revealed by the red memory-waves had set minds aflame some with hope, others with dread. Now, beneath towering steel girders and bleached advertising holos, Aiden prepared to step into the open again.
Gathering Under Neon Sky
They chose the crumbling shell of Unity Plaza, once a civic space for festivals, now half-submerged under flickering floodlights. Kiera, Luro, Drey, and Nikko their small crew assembled amid rusting fountains.
Crowds clustered at the edges: protestors emboldened, bystanders wary, soldiers in riot gear creeping forward despite last night's paralysis. All eyes turned to Aiden when he ascended a shattered stage.
He carried the shard embedded now in a sapphire talisman built from the orb's remnants hung on a cord over his heart. The new symbol of his power glowed beneath his open jacket.
A thousand whispers greeted him. Not hostility, not cheers. A precipice of uncertainty.
He spoke quietly:
"Last night, you saw the truth. Hidden histories. War crimes. Cover-ups."
Heads nodded. Cameras tilted to catch every expression.
"You felt the same cloud lift from your heart. The same name run cold through your spine."
He held up the shard.
"This is not a weapon. It's an amplifier of memory. Of choice. With it, I can show you not just what was lost but what we can regain."
He paused, scanning the crowd.
"But I can't do it alone."
Aiden took a slow breath. Blue-white scanners descended from drones above.
He locked eyes with the technicians.
"Activate."
The Shard's Beacon
The talisman flared. Crimson light bled from its core, painting the plaza in wavelengths that cut through concrete and magnetism alike. The crowd winced as red coruscated across metal and skin.
Yet it didn't burn them. Instead, it resonated.
Aiden closed his eyes, chakra spiraling outward.
The shard responded pulse syncing to his heartbeat. Tendrils of red traced over his palms, swirled through his chakras, and reached into the crowd like threads weaving a tapestry.
A sigh passed through the plaza less gasp, more collective exhale. People's heads lifted. Their eyes cleared.
He reached behind him, pulling a fragment of the old shield they'd found with Mandara. It glowed faintly with chakra ruin patterns.
As Aiden meditated, scenes began unfolding from the light: a helmet-burned protestor at the Fire's end, a peace rally buried under cover orders, a suppressed report showing a survivor count buried in ARASHI data.
Each flash lasted only seconds but felt eternal. People gasped, cried. Others stiffened, faces hardening with anger. And a few stared into the light, eyes drained, mouths open.
He had the shard, he had the power.
But now he had their attention.
III. First Response
The broadcasters above didn't know what to do.
They fell silent mid-sentence as the red light cascaded onto them. Footage cut between Aiden's eyes and the crowd falling still.
Then the broadcast shifted tone: global satellite monitored the red glow. Union overseers convened screens. Political chevrons blinked over capital data.
Soldiers snapped out of paralysis. Luro counted two beats in his ear.
Drone scans end.
Grid access adult.
Kiera squeezed Aiden's shoulder.
He opened his eyes slowly.
"We remember what we deserve to remember." He paused for impact. "We deserve better."
The crowd erupted.
Some cheered. Others wept. Many stood in stunned silence.
He nodded to Luro. The red light dimmed to embers.
"Safe shutdown," Luro whispered.
The talisman's glow faded but the effect remained.
People's faces had changed. A wave of solidarity passed through them, stronger than gas or squads.
And behind the crowd, uniformed officials remained silent, unmoving, eyes shifting.
The Crack Within
They left the stage quickly. Kiera watched the soldiers mobilizing their lines.
"Dusk protocol already active," she said.
Aiden nodded. "Which means they were preparing for this."
Luro muttered: "They did expect you to activate it."
Drey carried the talisman. "Are we ready to share it?"
Aiden swallowed. "It's not mine. It's ours."
As they moved off the stage, a single explosion popped at the plaza edge. Metal canisters tipped over, releasing wires and blinking coils.
A flap of light carried across the crowd. In seconds, armored riot bots surged in, using riot-barriers like shark teeth. Water cannons fizzled with red sand.
The crowd surged too caught between memory and crisis.
Aiden stepped forward.
"Join us!" he called. "This isn't just my memory it's all of ours!"
The shard glowed again. From him, through his voice, the red light washed over the bots.
They froze. Their servos locked.
But a stun ring erupted behind him.
He dived off the stage.
Aiden on ground:
He rolled under a riot bot's steel boot.
Kiera grabbed his hand. They retreated.
Collateral of Truth
They ducked behind a statue. Luro held a drone-disabler to the riot bots as they approached.
Drey crouched, watching the shard's glow in his palm.
Flames flickered across buildings.
Overhead, government choppers descended.
Aiden pressed the talisman to the cinder ground.
He closed his eyes.
"Stop."
A second wave of red.
This time the light did more: It passed invisibly into riot bots. Their optics shifted surfaces shimmered.
They turned. Not to pursue, but to stand – sentinel-like – behind the crowd.
Suspicious but still.
A circuit fracture.
Aiden opened his eyes. He saw the change.
"We can change the machinery," he said quietly.
They rose together.
Behind them, trapped riot bots.
In front, wavering citizens.
And beyond them, choppers coming for him.
The Council Responds
A flashcut of backing lights flooded the plaza screens.
A tense silhouette appeared on every feed.
The Minister of Integration, flanked by generals:
"This is City-Control.
The individual known as Aiden Uchiha is now considered a public enemy.
All nodes of Dusk Protocol will be reassigned. Ammunition authorized.
By sunset tonight, all broadcast shards must be surrendered."
The crowd let out a wordless howl.
Aiden swallowed.
He asked to pause.
"They think they can blackmail us with war," he whispered. "We're showing our own."
Kiera placed a hand on his chest.
"Let's give them something they can't contain."
VII. The Breakout
The choppers landed. Black-geared soldiers dismounted. Wires hissed around the riot bots as they powered down again. Control seemed suppressed.
Luro punched at a drone-feed. "They're being told to stand down."
A ripple of tension
Women braced each other
Children clung to parents
Citizens held stone statues in silence
Aiden raised the shard again.
"This city is ours."
He pressed its edge to the ground. A second red wave.
This time, deeper.
Unspoken memories raised across the crowd:
The Fire rebuildingThe burned children receiving aidThe criminals pardoned in massThe family welcoming a lost Uchiha refugee
He watched tears rise in every face from pilgrims to hooded wanderers.
But there, at the edge of the crowd, a lone figure in a suit watched.
He didn't move.
And the talisman's glow faltered.
VIII. Cliffhanger: A Hidden Threat
The figure stepped forward smiling.
"Nice trick, Aiden Uchiha."
Aiden flinched.
Everyone froze. The shard's light dimmed to a pulse.
The man removed his helmet.
Under the neon drizzle, his eyes burned
Gray with iron veins pulsing hydraulic red.
"But memory isn't power."
"Control is."
Luro spat.
"Who the hell are you?"
Kiera whispered:
"No protocol tag. No construct echo."
He smiled.
"I'm someone who remembers why you were forgotten."
The shard flickered in his hand.
He lifted it.
"And I'm the reason this city will crumple tonight."
Aiden pressed his fingers to the stone.
The light flared red
The ground under them trembled
The watchers gasped
And everything froze
…except him.
His eyes burned as reality bent.
And the echo of his smile promised a darkness that neither memory nor hope could pierce.
/-\
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my Patreon at
" https://www.patreon.com/Its_Zack/ "
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want.