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THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 61
Breaking InThe wind howled through the desolate corridor as we approached the Deep Vault’s outer perimeter. Shadows stretched long and distorted beneath the flickering overhead lights. Every step we took was a calculated risk, every breath measured against the weight of what we were about to do.I tightened my grip on the pulse rifle strapped to my back, feeling the sweat forming on my palms despite the cold. The walls around us hummed with unseen energy, a quiet warning that we were stepping into something far bigger than ourselves.Kane moved ahead, her gaze sharp, scanning for entry points. “The main security grid is live,” she whispered. “We’ll need to override it, but this place has its own intelligence. If we trip the wrong wire, it won’t just alert the Overseers—it’ll trap us inside.”“Sounds fun,” I muttered, pressing my fingers against the cold steel of the access panel. A green pulse flickered across its surface, reading my presence. “We go in quiet, fast. No mistakes.”Fro
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 62
The Vault’s GuardiansThe door yawned open, and cold, sterile air rolled out like a breath from something ancient and waiting. My fingers tightened around my rifle as my instincts screamed that we had just made a terrible mistake. Kane stepped in beside me, her face lit only by the soft red glow pulsing from the walls.The space beyond was massive—too massive. Vaults weren’t supposed to have horizons. But this place stretched far beyond what should have been possible, the walls shifting and reforming like liquid metal. It was as if the structure itself was alive.And then I heard it. The low, rhythmic thrum of something waking up.Kane sucked in a sharp breath. “Tony—”A shape moved in the darkness. Then another. And another.Metal groaned as towering figures emerged from the shadows—machines, unlike anything we’d faced before. Humanoid in shape but too smooth, too perfect. Their bodies gleamed under the dim light, reflecting us in their mirrored surfaces. Their heads tilted in eerie
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 63
Cracking the CoreThe sound of our footsteps echoed through the desolate corridors as we sprinted toward the heart of the facility. My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Not when we were this close.Kane ran beside me, keeping pace despite the slight limp she had tried to hide. Blood trickled down her arm from a graze she’d picked up during the fight with the constructs, but she hadn’t said a word about it. That was Kane—always pushing through the pain, never giving in.We reached the central data hub, an enormous chamber lined with towering servers pulsing with a soft blue light. In the center stood a single, reinforced terminal—the core of the entire system.Kane sucked in a breath. “This is it.”I scanned the room, my heartbeat still erratic from the fight. “No guards. No automated defenses.” I didn’t trust it. “This feels too easy.”She shot me a look. “After what we just went through? Call it a damn miracle and move.”I stepped forward, but the m
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 64
A Ghost in the SystemWe barely made it out of the data hub before the system locked down. The halls pulsed red with emergency lights and sirens howling behind us as we sprinted through the abandoned corridors. Every shadow felt like a threat. Every flickering light held the promise of something watching.We found a storage room and ducked inside, sealing the door behind us. My breath came in ragged gasps as I leaned against the wall, pressing my forehead to the cold metal. Kane paced, one hand gripping her side where a deep bruise had already begun to form."That thing back there—it knew you," she said, her voice tight with exhaustion.I swallowed hard. "I know."She turned to me, eyes sharp, assessing. "You want to tell me what the hell was in that file?"I didn’t answer right away. My hands clenched into fists as I forced myself to relive what I’d read. Temporal inconsistencies. Event foresight. Memories of the future. Fragments of a life that didn’t belong to me—because, according
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 65
The Reality DivergenceThe room was filled with the low hum of ancient servers, their rusted casings blinking with failing light. Kane sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes locked on the decrypted data flashing across the portable terminal. The glow reflected in her sharp features, her lips pressed into a thin line.I stood near the doorway, gun in hand, my mind still trying to process what we’d just uncovered. The words on the screen refused to fade from my thoughts. "Subject 0915-T. Temporal anomaly. Failed identity realignment. Recommended termination."I wasn’t supposed to be here. Not just in this facility. Not just in this moment.I wasn’t supposed to exist at all.Kane exhaled sharply. "Tony."I turned to her. She hesitated, tapping a few more keys before looking up. "This isn’t just some anomaly. This is…" She trailed off, searching for the right words, but I could see it in her eyes—something close to fear.I swallowed hard. "Say it."She rubbed a hand over her face before lock
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 66
Escaping the VaultThe ground trembled beneath us, a deep, guttural roar shaking the walls of what remained of the Deep Vault. The air reeked of burning metal and ozone, a byproduct of the facility tearing itself apart from the inside.Kane pushed herself up, wiping dust from her face. "We need to move. Now."I barely heard her. My head was pounding—no, splitting—as a flood of images surged through my mind. Too fast, too chaotic.A city skyline drenched in golden light—A hand gripping mine, smaller, familiar—Gunfire in a place I’d never been—I staggered, gripping my skull as the visions pulsed through me like an electric current.Kane grabbed my arm. "Tony! Snap out of it!"I gasped, my knees buckling, but she held me steady. "What—" My own voice felt distant. "What is happening to me?"She didn’t answer; she just scanned my face with a mixture of worry and determination. "Not here. We don’t have time."She was right. The Vault was coming down around us.Overhead, support beams gro
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 67
HuntedWe ran until our lungs burned.The Overseers didn’t stop hunting, and we didn’t stop moving. Every alley, every tunnel, every shadow felt like a trap waiting to spring. Their searchlights carved through the city ruins, sweeping past broken buildings and forgotten streets. They weren’t searching for someone. They were hunting for me.Kane pulled me into a side passage, pressing a hand to my chest to keep me still. I barely breathed. Footsteps echoed in the distance—sharp, methodical. They weren’t in a hurry. They didn’t have to be.The Overseers knew they’d catch us eventually.Kane’s eyes flicked to mine. Her breath was steady, but I saw it—the tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers clenched the grip of her knife.She was calculating. Always calculating.A single nod, barely visible. Move.We slipped deeper into the ruins, the once-great city now nothing but crumbling towers and shattered glass. A forgotten sector abandoned even before the war. It was a graveyard of conc
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 68
Echoes of a Forgotten PastThe files loaded sluggishly, flickering onscreen as if resisting exposure. Each line of code was fractured, pieces of a reality that no longer existed, broken but not completely lost. Kane sat beside me, her fingers drumming against the console in sharp, anxious beats. The glow of the monitor painted her face in cold blue light, casting long shadows under her eyes.Then, the first image appeared.My stomach clenched.It was me.But not this me.A different version, standing in a world that wasn’t shattered. The skyline in the background was whole, glass towers untouched by decay. The air looked…clean, untouched by the filth we were used to breathing. The sky wasn’t gray, but blue—a deep, endless shade of blue.And there—beside me—was a woman I knew.Except I didn’t.My breath caught. She was smiling, her hand casually resting against my chest, as if she had done it a thousand times before. She looked at me with familiarity, with love. I felt something tighte
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CHAPTER 220
Old Meets NewA cold feeling went down my back. It wasn't just cold; it was because everything around us felt wrong. Outside Kane's strong room, the city looked twisted, like a snake moving in a weird way. Buildings leaned at crazy angles, the sky was a purple bruise, and the air buzzed with a power that felt old and very wrong. My head hurt, a slow beat against the loud strangeness of this new world.The world went crazy, and we had to try and fix it.Kane looked hard at the glowing pictures above the table. Lines of code, a language I used to know well but now felt like a lost one, moved on the clear screen. She bit her lip, something she did when thinking hard. Her usual strong energy was still there, like a small fire that wouldn't go out in the dark. But I could see worry lines around her eyes.“Anything, Darren?” Her voice was rough and tired.I ran my hand over my thin hair. I could almost feel the old wires that used to connect to my brain. “Bits and pieces, Kane. L
CHAPTER 219
Seeing Things DifferentlyShaky light on worried faces around the bright map. Red lights flashed, showing trouble spreading. Kane looked hard, telling people what to do, a bit worried.My clear memories showed a scary pattern Kane didn't get. She saw now; I remembered long ago.Kane stopped talking. "Another dark spot, Tony. No why, no answer... gone." Her upset voice made me feel bad. I knew that lost feeling."Kane," I said, my quiet voice was clear. Everyone looked. I usually just helped, but the memories needed saying.She turned, tired but a bit sharp. "What, Tony? No time.""Not just happening, Kane," I said carefully. "It's happened before."People didn't believe me. Petrov laughed. "Before? Nothing like this in the books.""Books not complete," I said back, looking at Kane. She looked unsure. "Some truths hidden. Some things are forgotten.""Forgotten things?" Sarah looked surprised. "What are you talking about?"I went to the map, pointing at a dark spot. "Look ho
CHAPTER 218
Echoes in the GlitchThe cold voice in the small well-house felt like icy fingers touching my skin. Next to me, Kane held my arm so tight her knuckles were white. The strange key in her other hand glowed, making her scared face look even more so."Elias... Darren... they need to see this," she whispered, her voice shaky.My mind was racing. Elias, so quiet but always noticing things, and Darren, who first saw that things weren't right – they had to know about this. We weren't the only ones in this messed-up world, even if it felt like it."We go together," I said, trying to sound brave even though my heart was pounding. Whatever was behind that disappearing wall, we'd face it together.Kane nodded, her eyes looking strong. She was still scared, but she was also determined. We walked towards the shimmering opening. The buzzing sound got louder, and the air felt strange, making the hairs on my arms stand up.When we stepped through the wall, it was like being swallowed by darkne
CHAPTER 217
Pieces of a Lost WorldThe blue mark on Gareth’s arm disappeared, but we were all still scared, Kane. It felt like a cold weight in our stomachs. The strange things happening weren't just whispers anymore; they were shouting at us.I watched Darren. He’d been quiet since the motel, always looking worried, like he was fighting something inside his head. His broken memories seemed to bother him a lot. Now, when Gareth told us what happened, Darren looked far away, like he could see something we couldn’t.“Did it… feel like anything you’ve felt before, Darren?” I asked. Maybe his weird remembering could help us understand this.He blinked and looked back at us slowly. He shook his head, looking confused. “No… not really. But… there’s something… a feeling…” He stopped, rubbing his head.“Like what?” you asked softly, but your eyes were looking right at him.Darren waited, looking around. “Like… a lost rule. Something… broken.”A lost rule? Something broken? That sounded strange an
CHAPTER 216
Echoes of the Past, Seeds of OblivionMy head hurt bad, like something was trying to get inside. Pictures flashed in my mind – faces I didn't know well, cold white rooms, and a scary feeling of losing something important. This remembering… it felt wrong, like they were forcing it. I sat on the bed, my hands shaking. Each memory that came back was like a punch, not a friendly hello. A cold voice giving orders… a big empty feeling inside… the taste of fear. Who was I supposed to be? The me that wanted to keep you safe, Kane, felt weak, like a dream that could disappear.My stomach turned as a strong memory hit me: a bright room, straps holding me down, and a light shining in my eyes. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out in the memory. Had they done this to me before? I felt sure – this wasn't helping me remember; it was taking me back."Darren," Sarah said, her voice not kind like before. She looked worried. "This is hard. Try to stay calm."Calm? How could I be calm when
CHAPTER 215
Putting the Pieces TogetherSeeing Ben’s empty, blue eyes were stuck in my head. Martha, Elias’s kind Martha, moved like a puppet with those strange figures… it was a real nightmare. The ground still shook, and the twisted trees looked like monster hands reaching for the sky. We had to get away, but seeing our lost friends made us freeze, a scary warning of what could happen to us.“We can’t fight them here!” I shouted over the weird noises of the changing world. “We need to go back, get ourselves together!”Tony, looking pale but determined, nodded. “He’s right. They’re too strong for us here.” He pulled Elias, who was just standing there, looking at Martha. “Elias, come on!”We ran back to the part of the woods that still looked normal. The blue light went away behind us, like a bad eye closing. The air here was still, the trees looked like they always did, but we all felt really scared.Back in the mess hall, it was very quiet and sad. Elias sat with his head down, crying.
CHAPTER 214
Seeing What's Not RealThe memory of the starry ceiling stayed with me, making me feel cold and scared. Our world, the ground, the sky – was it all a lie? It made my head spin.Elias looked at me looking at the metal thing. “You didn’t sleep, Kane.” He knew.I shook my head. How could I explain seeing something that wasn’t possible?Darren looked serious. “Did anything… happen with that thing last night?” He looked at the metal thing carefully.I waited a moment, then nodded slowly. “The ceiling… it changed. For a second. I saw… stars. Not our stars.”The room got quiet. Everyone looked worried. The strange things before were bad, but this was unbelievable.Tony looked confused. “Stars? Kane, are you sure you’re okay? Maybe it was a dream.”“It felt real, Tony,” I said, my voice shaking a little. “Too real. The metal thing… it did something when I was near it.”It was scary to think about. If what we thought was real could change so easily, what else wasn’t true? Our memories
CHAPTER 213
The Enemy's MarkSleep was just seeing glowing eyes and hearing a voice in my head: You are the key. Morning showed tired faces.I walked around, giving tea and saying quiet things. My mind was trying to put the strange things together. The doll, tools, tree… there was a line connecting them. The Old Man looked at the cold fireplace. “The birds, girl,” he said quietly. “They don’t sing right. Like the song is wrong. And some songs… I never heard them before.”It was a small thing, but Hemlock knew the woods well, so it felt important. Another piece.The woman was giving out food and told me something else. “The water, Kane. When I went to get water, it looked shiny. Like oil, but with rainbow colors. Then it was gone.”Rainbow shine. Glowing tree. Light from the ground. Colors that weren’t normal.A pattern was starting: small changes to what was real, weird things mixed in with what we knew. Not just things disappearing; things were changing.Michael, still quiet, pointed at
CHAPTER 212
Strange WhispersThe old woman's face was wet with tears in the flickering light. Her hands shook as she held a mug. "The doll, Kane," she whispered, her voice weak. "Porcelain eyes... they looked right at you. Then... gone. Michael said it blinked."I leaned closer, the table hard under my arms. Outside, the wind howled. The woman, usually strong, was scared. Her fear made me feel cold."And then?" I asked.She swallowed hard. "It just disappeared. Like it was never there. Michael..." I looked at the big mechanic, his eyes empty. He saw a tree with blue leaves that turned to dust fast."Anyone else?" The Old Man nodded slowly, his face full of lines. "My wrench. Right here. I looked away to fix the fire... poof. Gone. Found it in the waters later, dry."A shiver went down my back. Quick pictures, seeing things together, stuff vanishing... it felt like what was real was breaking. We thought it was just stress, but it happened too much, and it was too weird.Yesterday, I saw
