2025-06-13 08:03:06The elevator rattled as it moved downward—past Level 3... 4... CLANG. It stopped.
[Destination: Basement Level 5 – Access Override Successful] [Warning: Clearance Not Verified] [Danger Level: Red] Proceed with Caution Fred stepped out into darkness. No lights. No guards. Just silence and the faint hum of machines beneath the skin of the building.
Welcome to Level 5, the corridor was metal-lined, cold, and slick with condensation. Emergency lights flickered dimly, revealing old bloodstains on the walls.
[System Ping: Energy Signature Detected – 3 Units Nearby] Designation: Bio-Pod Residue Status: Containment Breach – 78%
Fred moved carefully. Every sound echoed. Every shadow threatened, he reached a sealed door. It hissed open. Inside was a lab, abandoned, Screens broken. Tubes cracked. Three empty containment pods lined the far wall, green fluid leaking from each. And on the wall, scrawled in blood:
“We are not failures. We are the beginning.” Fred swallowed. He approached one of the pods, and a hologram blinked to life.
The Truth About Project Nyx [ARCHIVE: PROJECT NYX – LAB LOG 066]
"Project Nyx was designed to weaponize controlled mutations in human hosts, allowing rapid adaptability, enhanced biology, and temporary energy manipulation. Out of 36 test subjects, 35 perished. One survived."
Fred leaned in. "Subject 01 showed signs of partial control, fire-type mutation. Aggression levels high. Memory degradation detected. Genetic burnout projected in 30 days." Fred's eyes widened.
"Final verdict: Project Nyx is unstable. Recommend full shutdown, unless new variables are introduced." A second file popped up.
[CLASSIFIED – EYES ONLY] "A janitor activated Nyx without injection. No catalyst. No serum. The fire responded on its own. It chose him.”
"We’re not creating power. We’re waking something buried. Something older than code.” Fred stepped back, heart pounding.
[System Revelation Triggered] You are not a modified human. You are a host for a deeper protocol. New Trait Awakened: Primordial Echo – Allows communication with latent data-consciousness buried in forbidden source code.
Fred’s ears rang. [Primordial Voice Detected – Dormant] “Who are you?” he whispered into the air. No answer. Yet.
Ambush – The Rejects Suddenly, a clatter. From the shadows crawled three humanoid figures, barely human anymore. Their eyes glowed with corrupted code. Skin blistered. Nails like blades.
Survivors of Project Nyx. No. Failures. They rushed him. Fred activated his fire core [Fire Surge – Lv.1: Chain Combustion Ready] [System Sync: 89%]
Warning: Use of surge in enclosed space may result in overload. He had no choice. He ignited. BOOM.
The room exploded in flame. Screams echoed. Glass shattered. Fred slammed into a wall, bleeding, breathing hard, but alive. The things that attacked him were ashes.
What They Were Protecting. He noticed something in the corner, a vault door, partially open. Inside, glowing in suspension fluid, was a second version of his system core. But this one was cracked… damaged… and alive. It pulsed.
And it looked at him. [Mutant Core #002: Dormant] Status: Conscious Warning: Stabilization failed Potential: Extreme Risk: Catastrophic
Fred backed away. Then, A voice whispered in his head. “We are not broken… we were just born wrong.”
Fred froze. The cracked core shuddered. Then a second voice, calm, feminine. “Fred… step away.” He turned. Ivy stood at the vault entrance, eyes serious, hand on her silver blade.
“Why are you here?” Fred asked.
“To stop you from making the same mistake they made,” Ivy replied.
Behind her, red warning lights began to flash throughout the level. “Breach in Progress. Emergency Lockdown Initiated.”
Fred looked at the cracked core again… and it whispered: “Free me… and I’ll show you what you really are.” The choice was his.
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Chapter 17: Ashes and Awakening
Smoke curled through the shattered remnants of the tunnel. The Gutwrencher was gone, disintegrated into ash and flickers of failed core light. The metal walls still hissed where Fred’s Soulflare Pulse had scorched them, glowing with residual energy. The ground bore the shape of a scorched sigil-ancient, circular, flickering like breath.At the center of it all, Fred lay crumpled. His body didn’t move. His chest barely rose. And yet-he burned. Not with fire. But with remembrance.Emily knelt beside him, trembling. Her fingers hovered over Fred’s skin, the heat too intense to touch, yet her own awakening was now shielding her from the worst of it. “Please,” she whispered. “Not like this.”A soft wind rolled through the collapsed tunnel, a breeze born not of nature, but of energy shift.Then came the system pulse: [Link Reversal Activated] – Primary Core: Heartflame – Target: Fred Smith Transfer: 13% stabilization Status: Sibling Override – AcceptedEmily closed her eyes. “Take it. Take
Chapter 17: Ashes and Awakening
Smoke curled through the shattered remnants of the tunnel. The Gutwrencher was gone-disintegrated into ash and flickers of failed core light.The metal walls still hissed where Fred’s Soulflare Pulse had scorched them, glowing with residual energy. The ground bore the shape of a scorched sigil-ancient, circular, flickering like breath.At the center of it all, Fred lay crumpled. His body didn’t move. His chest barely rose. And yet, he burned. Not with fire. But with remembrance.1. A Sister’s TouchEmily knelt beside him, trembling. Her fingers hovered over Fred’s skin, the heat too intense to touch-yet her own awakening was now shielding her from the worst of it. “Please,” she whispered. “Not like this.” A soft wind rolled through the collapsed tunnel-a breeze born not of nature, but of energy shift.Then came the system pulse: [Link Reversal Activated]– Primary Core: Heartflame – Target: Fred Smith Transfer: 13% stabilization Status: Sibling Override – Accepted Emily closed her eye
Chapter 16: Voice in the Flame
Status Update: Fred – Core Overdrive (Sister’s Oath Surge) Vitality Drain: 78% System Stability: Fractured Emily – Awakening Progress: 56% Remote Core Link Active Gutwrencher – Status: Aggro-locked / Rampaging / Devouring1. Fire Against Flesh and MetalFred stood in the center of the collapsing tunnel, shoulders heaving, body glowing like a furnace with no boundaries.Golden fire bled through every pore. But this wasn’t the precise burn of his original system… this was Emily’s surge. Unstable. Raw. And it hurt.[Warning: Flame Source External – Compatibility 52%] Side Effect: Internal Tissue Burn Duration Remaining: 37 SecondsBut Fred didn’t care. Across from him, the Gutwrencher hunched low, its face splitting open like a cracked pressure valve. A tongue of iron flicked out, glowing with stolen Core fragments. “Come on,” Fred whispered. “Let’s burn.” The creature roared.2. A Dance with a MonsterThe Gutwrencher charged-arms like hydraulic cannons, claws carving gashes through the
Chapter 15: The Burn That Remembers
Status: Fred – Core Lock Bypassed (Temporary) Vitality Drain: 24% Emily – Awakening Progress: 21% New Threat Incoming…1. The Sound of Resolve. The tunnel shook with the weight of silence. Crow’s eyes narrowed as Fred stood, without flame, without defense, but no longer broken, Fred’s hand clenched tighter around Crow’s wrist. His skin sizzled against the null-field, he was burning, but not like before. Not outwardly. He was burning inward.Crow attempted to wrench his arm free, but Fred’s grip held. Tight as iron. “You’re suppressing my flame,” Fred said through gritted teeth.“But not my will. That part of me you can’t erase.” Crow struck him across the face with his free hand. Fred reeled but didn’t fall.[System Update: Core Resistance +4%] [Echobound State Reinforced – Memory Link Initiated]Crow paused. “You shouldn’t be able to do this.” Fred grinned through blood.“Neither should a janitor survive your first punch.”“But here we are.”2. Ivy’s Escape Route. While the two tita
Chapter 14: Echoes and Chains
Status: Fred – Core Lock Engaged Vitality Drain: 12% Emily – Awakening Progress: 12%Fred: Bound in Silence, Fred's body convulsed as Crow’s Echo Trap wrapped him in spectral chains—thick coils of null-energy that froze his flame and muted his mind.His limbs trembled. His interface glitched. [System Functions: Interference Detected] — Combat Skills Disabled — Communication Disabled — Core Access: Suppressed Crow stood over him, calm and clinical.“You have potential. But you’re too raw. Too... unstable.”“The Lab doesn’t want fire, Fred. It wants control.” He raised a silver blade.“Let me carve the fire out of you.”Ivy’s Last Card – Her Connection to Crow. Then Ivy whispered one word, almost too soft to catch. “Rook.” Crow’s hand paused. Fred’s eyes widened. That name... didn’t match the monster above him, Crow froze. His expression, unreadable.“Don’t you ever call me that again.” Ivy rose shakily, cradling her broken arm. Her voice wavered, but it held truth.“He used to be one
Chapter 13: Silence in the Smoke
Countdown: 5 hours 43 minutes Target Status: Active Location Lock: 78% AccuracyCrow was coming. Fred could feel it. Not just from the system ping, but in the air itself, something unnatural, hollow, like the scent of burnt ozone without the fire. And it was getting closer.Ivy’s Exit Plan: Inside the safehouse, Ivy tossed a dusty case on the table. “Old Core smuggler tunnel,” she said. “Abandoned since the last containment purge. If we’re fast, we can vanish before Crow triangulates your signal.”Fred zipped his jumpsuit, eyes dark. “What happens if we’re not fast enough?”“I shoot you myself before he gets the chance.”Flashback – The Broken War. As they moved through the narrow underground route, Fred’s mind flashed again. A vision, but not his own.[Memory Echo Triggered: Unknown Source] Year: 17 Years Ago Scene: Core War battlefield, Sector 9, A younger woman, his mother, clad in scorched armor, stood over a dying man holding a fragment of white light. “The Heartflame is unstable
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