Artificial Advantage [Sci-fi, dystopian]

What if your mind held the key to toppling an empire? Darius Kallan’s life is as unremarkable as they come on the Empire’s frontier—a low-level technician fixing outdated ships for too little pay, scraping by with cheap augments and cheaper meals. Sure, he’s got opinions about the regime that looms over every aspect of life, but he’s long since learned to keep his head down and stick to what he knows: repairing, surviving, and the occasional drink to take the edge off. But when a sleek Imperial warship docks for emergency repairs, Darius stumbles into something far beyond malfunctioning systems. A rogue AI, embedded in a swarm of self-repairing nanites, chooses him as its host—and its unwitting accomplice. Now, with the Empire’s forces closing in and his life upended by cryptic warnings and uneasy new alliances, Darius must untangle a web of secrets buried deep within the Empire’s tech. Forced into the crosshairs of a regime he’s spent his life trying to avoid, Darius has a choice: uncover the truth and fight for something bigger than himself – or stay in the shadows and hope the Empire doesn’t notice what’s hiding under his skin. - - -  Update schedule is 5 chapters a week, M-F. Cover by the talented @eshan221b on Fiverr