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Chapter 17: The Core Beneath Reality
Author: Wonderful65
last update2025-06-10 05:01:46

The descent began at midnight.

Ilsa led them through an abandoned magrail tunnel below Sector V. The air was damp with old circuitry decay, and the walls shimmered faintly with residual charge—like they remembered being alive. Rhea checked her sidearm. “You sure this is it?” Ilsa didn’t look back. “It’s not on any map. But this path predates the Overnet. Built during the first system experiments. Before the Council.”

Aiden’s system hummed in anticipation.

[Target Zone: Deep Echo Core – Council Nexus]

[Warning: Reality Phase Instability Imminent]

He exhaled slowly. “Then let’s meet our makers.” They reached a sealed vault door at the tunnel’s end.

Aiden inserted the red key chip. The door didn’t unlock. It judged.

[IDENTITY CROSS-CHECK: SYSTEM SYNC 71.3% — ACCEPTED]

With a low hiss, the gate slid open. And beyond it—a spiraling descent into an impossibly vast underground city. Floating data towers. Bridges made of raw code. And at its heart: a temple of light suspended mid-air by gravi
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