Maeson stared at the cold metal weapon resting in the right hand of the clone. The dark ship felt cold. This was a fake world built inside the mind of his sister. The clone pulled the trigger. A red beam of heat shot across the room. Maeson raised his right arm. A thick blue shield of light appeared. The red beam hit the shield and bounced away. The clone frowned and stepped back. Maeson felt the strong blue magic pump through his veins. The pure life force from Ava gave him true power to fight this evil. He glared at the false clone."You cannot kill me in here," Maeson said in a firm voice. "This is a realm of thought. I am the architect. I build the thoughts." He pushed his hand forward. The blue shield turned into a long blue sword. The blade hummed with loud energy. The dark walls of the metal ship began to shake. Maeson swung the weapon. The clone tried to dodge the attack. The blue blade cut through the arm of the clone. The clone did not bleed red blood. Black code poured from

Maeson hung in the air, held fast by the iron fingers of the titan. The cold metal pressed into his ribs. He struggled to breathe. He looked down at the ruined garden. His wife was still digging at the rocks. She refused to stop. His sister stood by her side and watched the sky with sad, wide eyes. Maeson knew he had one chance. He felt the blue tattoo on his wrist fade. The magic was nearly gone. He looked at the giant hand. It was made of old, dark metal. He noticed a small gap near the thumb."You cannot win," the deep voice echoed inside his mind. It was not a sound, but a feeling of heavy weight. "The architect is a legacy of the past. I am the future of this world."Maeson spit blood onto the metal. "You are just a big machine," he yelled back. "You have no heart."The titan did not answer. It tightened its grip. Maeson felt his bones crack. He focused on his right hand. He needed to make one last move. He did not have enough magic for a sword. He had enough for a spark. He shov

Maeson watched as the walls of his room turned into long strings of green code. The hospital bed became a pile of broken numbers. The guard on the floor twitched and then popped like a bubble. The woman standing before him looked at the floating numbers with a calm face. She looked like a master of the code. The face of the yellow boy appeared in the hole of the wall. He stood inside a vast white space. He looked at the woman with a look of pure shock. He held a glowing switch in his small hand. The world shook once more."You are not supposed to be here," the yellow boy shouted. His voice echoed off the melting walls of the room. "The code deleted you long ago. You are a memory fragment. You have no right to exist in the new world."The woman did not answer the boy. She swung the silver rod in a smooth arc. The air hummed with a sharp blue sound. She walked toward the hole in the wall. Maeson followed her. He felt a sense of relief. He was not alone. The world he saw was a mess of li

Maeson felt the heat of the bullet pass his left cheek. The loud crack of the black gun hurt his ears. He fell backward onto the wet street. The neon lights reflected in the dark puddles. The evil clone with the yellow eyes pointed the gun again. Maeson kicked out his right leg. His heavy boot hit the knee of the clone. The clone grunted and dropped the weapon. The gun slid across the wet road. Maeson scrambled to his feet. He punched the clone in the jaw. The bone cracked loud. The clone stumbled back into the crowd of screaming people. Maeson did not stay to fight. He turned and ran down the dark alley. His heart beat fast. He was in the real world now. He had no blue magic to save him. He only had his own two hands. The rain fell hard. It washed the dirt from his face. He reached into his wet pocket. He pulled out the piece of paper. The black ink was running. He read the street name just in time. He needed to find this place. He needed to find his wife and his sister.He ran past

Maeson stared at the glowing screen. The harsh light painted the dark control room in a bloody hue. Ava stood next to her. The silence in the room felt heavy and thick. The terrifying message flashed on the monitor in bold black letters. It read one phrase over and over. The host has escaped. Initiate full sector purge. The virus knew they were here. It did not want to capture them anymore. It wanted to erase them from the physical world. A loud siren began to wail outside the thick walls of the control room."We need to shut the main power down right now," Ava shouted over the noise. She ran to the large keyboard resting under the monitors. Her fingers flew across the keys. She typed fast to break the firewalls. Maeson stepped closer to the screen. She looked at the flashing text. She felt deep fear in her chest but pushed it down. She was the architect. She built the foundation of the first code. She placed her thin scarred hands on the cool metal desk. She closed her eyes to focus