Chapter 26 – Core Floor: The Heart Engine
By Dorian Blackthorn
In a tower that breaks the soul, only monsters climb to the top.
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The Heart Engine pulsed like a dying star, embedded deep in the metallic bones of the Core Floor. Crimson light bled from the walls, and the air itself thrummed with a rhythm older than language. Erevan stood alone before the engine—though "alone" was never truly accurate. The Tower was always watching.
He hadn't expected to reach this floor so soon. Not after what he had done.
The battle on the Avatar's platform still echoed behind his eyes. The revelation of his betrayal—of her—was a weight that hadn't lifted. And yet, there was no time to dwell on guilt. Guilt was a luxury for the weak. Monsters didn't get to cry over broken promises. Monsters moved forward. That was the rule.
The System had learned to fear him. But now, it would learn something deeper: regret.
A voice echoed from the Heart Engine, smooth like oil but threaded with static.
> "Welcome, Erevan. You are not authorized to access this floor."
He stepped closer. "I wasn't authorized to break your Avatar either. But here we are."
The room darkened as the Heart Engine responded, the temperature dropping. From the shadows, twelve mechanical limbs extended, each ending in cruel instruments: drills, blades, injectors, data tendrils. They swayed, analyzing him, testing his resolve.
"Scan complete. Evolutionary instability detected. System override: Engage Oblivion Protocol."
That name—Oblivion Protocol—made Erevan smile faintly.
> They're scared.
They should be.
He didn't wait for the limbs to strike. The ground beneath his feet erupted as his suit shifted, fractal plates of blackened starlight hardening across his limbs. Each movement shimmered with the memory of dead galaxies. The suit—made from the remains of destroyed universes—responded to his rage with something close to hunger.
Blades met armor. Sparks flew. One tendril lanced toward his chest, but his skin turned translucent, intangible. He phased through it, then reappeared behind the limb, grabbing it with a crushing grip. With a twist, he ripped it free, and the Heart Engine screamed.
The battle wasn't just physical. The System launched waves of code at him—logic loops, false memories, emotional distortions. One illusion struck deep: her face, eyes filled with betrayal, lips trembling with the question she never got to ask.
"Why?"
Erevan paused.
It wasn't real. But the pain was.
That was the System's cruelest trick: turning memory into a weapon.
He slammed his palm against the Heart Engine's surface. The suit pulsed, devouring the data, converting light into understanding. The stat Remembrance flared.
> Remembrance: 7% — Fractured Identity Sync Initiated.
He staggered, vision flickering.
A different memory surfaced now.
Not the betrayal. Not the rebellion.
But the beginning.
A soft voice. A hidden chamber. A promise whispered in the dark:
> "We'll destroy the Tower together. Not for revenge. For freedom."
He had forgotten her name. The System made sure of that.
But the stat... Remembrance was fighting back.
The Heart Engine howled as Erevan pushed deeper. Systems collapsed. Data broke. For the first time in centuries, the Tower's core registered something impossible:
> "Error. Core Integrity compromised. Unauthorized access: irreversible."
He knelt beside the Heart Engine, the glow of destruction illuminating his face. For a moment, he looked... almost human.
Almost.
But then the light of stars returned to his eyes, swirling with chaos and control.
"I remember now," he whispered. "You made me forget. But I remember her. I remember why I started this war."
He pressed his hand deeper into the core. The Tower's true name flickered in his mind, layered beneath thousands of decoy systems. Knowledge that should've killed him.
But Erevan had already evolved beyond death.
With a roar, he triggered the override.
> [SYSTEM ALERT: TOWERBREAKER PROTOCOL – PHASE TWO INITIATED]
The Heart Engine shattered.
And the Tower, for the first time in its long, immortal life... began to bleed.
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To be continued in Chapter 27 – "Ashes of Protocol."