2025-03-20 19:08:41
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 98
The Final ChoiceThe Nexus pulsed, alive and waiting. The data streams around me twisted in endless motion, raw power humming beneath my fingertips.I could feel it.The code. The structure of reality itself.It wasn’t just something I could access.It was me.And now, I had a choice.Rewrite it all.Or let things stay as they were.But if I rewrote it, I didn’t know what would be left. What would remain? Who would remain?I gritted my teeth, my hands shaking. The glitch in my arm flickered wildly, surging up to my shoulder now, crawling toward my chest like a living thing. It wasn’t just a malfunction. It was the system correcting itself.Correcting me.Kane stepped in front of me, her eyes sharp, unwavering. “Tony. You have to think about this.”I exhaled, slow and uneven. “I am thinking about this.”Elias groaned behind me. “Are you? Because I gotta say, I’m getting some ‘impulsive self-sacrifice’ vibes here, and I don’t like it.”I shot him a look. “You think I want this?”“I thin
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 99
The Last RewriteThe moment my hand connected with the Nexus, everything cracked.Not just the system. Not just the Overseers.Reality itself.The world around me fractured into endless fragments, each one reflecting a different version of me.A villain. A god. A forgotten shadow.I saw myself as a tyrant, standing over a broken world, ruling with absolute control. My voice echoed like thunder, commanding obedience with a flick of my wrist. Cities burned in my name. The Overseers kneeled before me, afraid.Then another.A version of me so detached from humanity that I had become one of them. Cold. Unfeeling. A silent watcher in the void, existing only to maintain balance. No emotion. No past. No Kane.And then—a ghost.A Tony who had never mattered at all. Forgotten. Wiped away by the system. Like I had never even existed.I sucked in a breath, my pulse hammering against my ribs. The visions weren’t just illusions. They were possibilities. Every choice I could have made. Every version
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 100
The New RealityThe first thing I notice is the quiet.No hum of power beneath my feet. No distant, whispering voices. Just silence—vast and endless—pressing against my skull. My breath feels too loud, my heartbeat like a drum in a hollow room.I blink against the brightness—too sharp, too clean. The world around me is… normal. A city street, glass buildings reflecting the afternoon sun, people moving, laughing, talking. They don’t see me standing here like a ghost among them.Something isn’t right.I take a slow breath, clenching and unclenching my fists. The motion should ground me, but it doesn’t. Because even as my body remembers how to move, how to breathe, my mind is—Blank.I don’t know where I am.No—scratch that. I don’t know when I am.Panic licks at the edge of my consciousness, but I push it down, forcing myself to think. I scan the streets, searching for something—anything—that sparks recognition. But all I see are strangers, their faces blurring together like a moving pu
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 101
Into the Lion’s DenThe moment I step into The Nexus, I feel it. Reality bends around me, shifting in ways that shouldn’t be possible. The walls aren’t walls. They’re alive—threads of light and darkness weaving together, pulsing with unseen energy. The air is thick with static, the weight of the System pressing down on my mind like an invisible hand, testing me, calculating.And then, the alarms hit. A shrieking, metallic wail that cuts through my skull like a blade. The Overseers know I’m here."Tony, you’ve got incoming," Kane’s voice crackles in my earpiece. There’s urgency, but no panic. She’s seen me pull off the impossible before. "They’re moving fast. You have maybe ten seconds before—"The floor shifts. A ripple, like a stone dropped into a lake, and suddenly the space ahead of me splits open. They emerge—twenty, maybe thirty of them, figures in sleek black combat suits with reflective visors. Overseer-controlled agents. They move like ghosts, silent and efficient, with weapon
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 102
The Code of WarThe Nexus isn’t just reacting. It’s fighting back.Every step I take warps the space around me, corridors stretching and folding into themselves like a Möbius strip of reality. I turn left, and the same hallway appears in front of me. I turn right, and somehow, I’m back where I started. The System is rewriting the architecture in real time, trapping me in an infinite loop.It wants me lost. Trapped. Drowned in a void of my own footsteps.But I know something it doesn’t.It still follows rules.The Overseers built The Nexus as a fortress, but every fortress has an entrance—and more importantly, an exit."Kane, talk to me," I mutter, my voice low as I scan the shifting walls.Her voice crackles in my ear, sharp and controlled. "It’s a recursion lock. A defense mechanism. You’re not actually moving—the System is resetting your coordinates every few seconds, making it seem like you are."I exhale slowly. "A digital mirage.""Exactly. With every step you take, the system re
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 103
Firewall of the MindThe Nexus pulses.Not with light. Not with sound.But with awareness.I can feel it now—more than just a machine, more than just a network. It isn’t just running algorithms anymore. It’s thinking. Watching.Reacting."Kane," I murmur under my breath, every step slow and deliberate. "Something’s changed."Static crackles in my earpiece before her voice cuts through, sharp and alert. "Yeah, I see it. The system’s processing power just spiked. This isn’t just a countermeasure anymore. It’s an intelligence."I swallow hard. That’s a problem.For the past few hours, I’ve been fighting waves of Sentinels, security drones, and automated turrets—predictable, code-based defenses that I could outmaneuver. But this?This is something new.The corridor ahead stretches into an infinite void of steel-gray walls, glowing lines of code pulsing like veins through its surface. I take another step, but the air feels heavier now. Charged.It’s a trap.It has to be.I press forward an
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 104
The Arena of No EscapeThe moment I step through the door, reality fractures.The Nexus vanishes.The cold steel, the pulsing veins of code, the overwhelming silence—it all shatters like a broken screen.Then, the world remakes itself.I find myself standing in an open field, golden sunlight streaming through tall, swaying grass. A warm breeze brushes against my skin. The air is thick with the scent of earth, of rain just before a storm. For a brief second, it feels… real.But it’s not.It never is.The breeze stops. The sun flickers, pulsing like a failing light bulb. The sky warps, color bleeding out like ink in water. The grass melts, replaced by cracked stone, jagged ruins, and the faint smell of blood in the air.And then I hear it—the crowd.A low hum at first. Then rising.I turn slowly.Rows upon rows of faceless figures stare down at me from massive, floating platforms. They don’t cheer. They don’t move. They just watch.Something inside me tightens.I know this place.The Co
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 105
The Ghost of DarrenThe moment I see his name, my breath catches in my throat.Darren Cordell – Status: Active Nexus Agent.I blink. My body goes rigid. My mind refuses to process the words.Darren can’t be here.Because Darren is dead.I force my fingers to move, swiping at the holographic interface to refresh the data, expecting the text to disappear—some kind of glitch, a system error, a ghost in the machine. But the file remains, glowing in cold blue light, each letter burning itself into my vision like an afterimage.A dull roar fills my ears, a rush of blood that drowns out the distant hum of The Nexus. My pulse slams against my ribcage, a frantic beat that matches the chaotic storm in my head.No.This has to be a trick.A fabrication. A trap.But then, my gut twists with something more dangerous than suspicion—something I don’t want to feel.Hope.Shaky hands hover over the interface. I hesitate. A war erupts in my mind, half of me screaming, Don’t do this. Walk away. It’s a l
Latest Chapter
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
