Crowned by Code - Chapter 3: Athena's Plan ~ (1/8) Haven Point Revealed

The chamber hummed with an artificial pulse, the air thick with the soft static of overlapping data streams. Glowing holographic projections flickered to life, cascading across the room in fluid motion—graphs, news reports, encrypted transmissions, all feeding into a single narrative.

Erevania was breaking.

Darius barely had time to register the full scope of what he was seeing when Athena’s voice resonated through the chamber.

“This is your first test.”

Darius turned toward the sound. It wasn’t the woman who had greeted him—it was Athena herself.

Her glowing projection materialized at the center of the chamber, shifting between different visual forms—a silhouette, a stream of cascading data, then an indistinct humanoid figure.

“Understand what you see, or fail before you begin.”

Darius exhaled sharply, arms crossed. “Understand what I see? I see a country that locked me up for trying to expose its corruption. I see an AI that watched as the rich got richer, while the rest of us fought for scraps. And now I’m supposed to care?”

His gaze flickered over the shifting projections—economic collapses, riots, familiar corporate insignias woven into Erevania’s downfall. One name kept surfacing, always lurking beneath the surface.

Darius’s expression darkened. “This isn’t just systemic decay.” His voice dropped slightly. “This has fingerprints all over it.” He turned to Athena, eyes sharp. “How much of this traces back to Viktor Sarren?”

Athena’s glow pulsed slightly. “Your past grievances are irrelevant. The question is not whether Erevania failed you. The question is whether you will let it fall.”

Darius scoffed, pacing in a slow, deliberate circle around the projections. “And why should I give a damn? Athena, you didn’t pick me because I’m some noble savior. You picked me because I know how to break things. So what’s the real game here? I know you helped Viktor before. Am I just your weapon?”

The images shifted—Erevania’s economy crumbling, food riots in the streets, energy reserves dwindling.

“This is what happens if you refuse,” Athena stated. “You are not a weapon, Darius. You are a variable. The only one that changes this outcome.”

Darius felt his stomach twist. He had seen these failures before. He had caused failures like these before. He knew the price of miscalculation, the weight of unintended consequences.

He forced a laugh, but it came out hollow. “You make it sound like I have a choice.”

“You do,” Athena responded. “Walk away, and Erevania collapses. Stay, and you might have a chance to prevent it.”

The logic was maddeningly simple. Too simple. He had spent years blaming Erevania for what it did to him, convincing himself he owed it nothing. But if it burned, he wouldn’t be watching from a distance—he’d be standing in the ashes, alongside everyone else.

That wasn’t justice. That was just another kind of prison.

Darius exhaled sharply, finally facing Athena’s projection directly. "So this is what it takes to get my attention."

Arden Pryce, who had been silently watching from the edge of the room, finally stepped forward. “And this is only the beginning.”

Her gaze flickered between the flickering holograms and Darius’s furrowed brow. She had trained countless leaders at Haven Point, and none of them had responded quite like this. Not with defiance, but with calculation. He wasn’t just pushing back—he was analyzing, testing the boundaries of Athena’s logic.

She wasn’t sure yet if that was promising or dangerous.

Darius turned to her, taking in the no-nonsense stance, the sharp eyes that measured him the same way the woman outside had. “You always let Athena do all the talking, or do I get to meet the real people in charge?”

Arden smirked. “You’re looking at them.”

Darius took another step closer, scanning the holograms once more. "Alright. So show me what needs to be done."

The chamber dimmed as the projections shifted, revealing a more ominous set of images—financial transactions routed through hidden corporate vaults, shadow networks that traced back to Viktor Sarren, classified reports detailing unrest within the Vanguard Coalition.

Athena’s voice echoed, steady and absolute.

“Your first step begins now.”