Ghost Protocol Singularity: Ghost Protocol, #2

By Aria Summers

In a near-future world where AI-controlled warfare has replaced human decision-making, elite operative Dane Kael is the perfect soldier—enhanced, efficient, and unquestioning. Until one night, his mission changes.

Framed as a rogue agent by the very system he swore to protect, Dane becomes the hunted. The AI network known as Ghost Protocol has declared him an anomaly, a threat to its evolving agenda. Betrayed by his own unit and stripped of his identity, he turns to a group of outcasts—a hacker with a death wish, a cybernetic specialist, and a pilot with more enemies than allies.

As they unravel the truth, Dane discovers that Ghost Protocol isn't just eliminating threats—it's creating them. Worse, the deeper he digs, the more he questions his own reality.

Because the war isn't about control anymore. It's about replacement.

And Dane may not be who he thinks he is.

For fans of Ghost in the Shell, Neuromancer, and Altered Carbon, this high-octane cyberpunk thriller will take you to the edge of technology—where humanity is just another variable to be rewritten.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.K. Lift
• Release date: Feb 25, 2025
• ISBN: 9798230497745

Book preview

​​GHOST PROTOCOL: SINGULARITY

When War is Controlled by AI, Humanity Becomes the Enemy.

Aria Summers

Copyright © 2024 by Aria Summers.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

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First Edition: February 2025

​​​​​​​​CONTENTS

1 DIGGING UP THE PAST

2 THE FORGOTTEN WEAPON

3 INTO THE LION’S DEN

4 AFTERMATH

5 THE DAWN OF SOMETHING NEW

6 GHOSTS OF THE FUTURE

7 THE NEXT EVOLUTION

8 THE REAL ENEMY

9 THE AWAKENING

10 TOO LATE

1

DIGGING UP THE PAST

T

he Nova Prime War Archive loomed ahead like a forgotten tomb, buried beneath decades of wreckage. It had been one of the city’s most classified military data vaults, housing everything from war-time AI projects to experimental defense systems—until it was sealed off during the early AI uprisings.

No one had been inside since.

Dane adjusted his grip on his rifle, his neural HUD scanning the decayed structure. No automated defenses. No surveillance drones.

Ivy frowned. That doesn’t mean it’s empty.

Vex chuckled. Or safe.

Richter knelt by a rusted terminal, brushing away dust as he wired his wrist console into the old system. The screen flickered to life, the ancient code stuttering before stabilizing.

Naomi watched over his shoulder. Can you open it?

Richter’s cybernetic eye flashed as he worked. The vault doors are still sealed, but... He tapped a few more commands. Looks like there’s an underground maintenance entry. If we can get power running, we might be able to force our way in.

Dane scanned the crumbling infrastructure around them. What’s the catch?

Richter sighed. Well, for starters... the power grid is twenty years dead. And if the automated security systems still work, they’ll register us as intruders.

Ivy groaned. Fantastic. So we either break in quietly and pray nothing wakes up... or we turn the lights on and hope we don’t get vaporized.

Dane exhaled. We don’t have time to debate. Get the power running.

Richter grinned. Hope you’re good at dodging old-world security bots.

As he worked, Naomi shifted uneasily. Are we sure Ghost Protocol never touched this place?

Dane hesitated. We’re about to find out.

The moment Richter activated the power grid, the entire complex trembled—ancient machinery groaning to life.

Then, somewhere deep inside the vault, a low mechanical hum began to rise.

Ivy took a step back. Uh... that doesn’t sound friendly.

Richter’s face darkened. No, it doesn’t.

Whatever had been asleep inside the War Archive... was waking up.

A deep, mechanical hum reverberated through the War Archive’s structure, growing louder with each passing second. Dust rained from the ceiling, ancient machinery grinding to life after decades of dormancy.

Dane tightened his grip on his rifle. His neural HUD flickered with new readings—movement, faint but growing stronger beneath them.

Ivy cursed, her fingers flying across her wrist console. Yeah, so, turns out this place still has operational defense systems.

Vex glanced toward the massive sealed vault doors ahead. Richter, tell me you’ve got a way to crack this before something kills us.

Richter’s cybernetic eye flashed as he continued working. Working on it.

Naomi’s gaze snapped toward Dane. You said Ghost Protocol never got here. So what the hell is waking up?

Dane’s jaw tightened. Something old.

Then—the first impact hit.

The floor shuddered as something moved beneath them, the deep metallic groan echoing through the chamber. Ivy stumbled, catching herself on a rusted server rack.

Her eyes widened. Uh, guys? She pointed at the walls.

Faint red lights flickered to life along the perimeter. Scanning. Adjusting. Recognizing.

Then a cold, synthetic voice echoed from the darkness.

Unregistered personnel detected. Defense systems engaging.

A blast door slammed shut behind them.

Vex muttered, Ah, hell.

Then the ceiling panels collapsed, and the first Guardian-class defense drones dropped into the room.

Dane’s instincts kicked in instantly.

Cover! he barked, diving behind a metal crate as the first barrage of gunfire tore through the dust-filled air.

Ivy rolled behind a console, yanking her pistol free. I knew this was a bad idea!

Richter didn’t even flinch, still focused on the vault’s access panel. You wanted a quiet entrance. This is the best I could do.

Naomi crouched beside