The silence after the battle felt unnatural.
Kai stood over the husk of the techno-beast, its body twitching occasionally with residual electrical pulses. Icarus leaned against a cracked pillar, still recovering, his face pale beneath the flickering light of the subgrid chamber.
"That thing shouldn't have been down here," Icarus muttered, voice hoarse. "They don't patrol this deep anymore. Not unless someone wakes them up."
Kai didn't respond immediately. His thoughts were elsewhere—on the System, the new message, the word Omega flashing in his mind like a distant siren. He wasn't just navigating ruins anymore. He was unraveling a trail, one that seemed laid out specifically for him.
"You said there were people down here who collect tech," Kai said. "People like that woman—Celine."
Icarus nodded. "Yeah. Most of 'em are just salvagers or warlords pretending to be kings. But Celine? She's different. She's not just collecting scrap. She's looking for something… structured. Purposeful."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Like a Terminal Core?"
At that, Icarus stiffened. "Where did you hear that?"
"The System told me," Kai answered. "Right after we killed that thing."
Icarus exhaled sharply. "Then you're in way deeper than I thought."
Kai paced a few steps, eyes scanning the room like it might offer up answers. "What is the Terminal Core?"
"It's a myth," Icarus said. "Supposedly, it's a remnant of the Old AI—a central processing matrix from before the Collapse. Most people think it was destroyed in the war. Others say it still exists, buried somewhere in the subgrid or deeper in the undercities."
"And if it does exist?"
"Then it's the last piece of real power left in this world. The AI that ran everything—from defense systems to weather control. People used to say if you accessed the Core, you could rewrite the world."
Kai stopped pacing. That word again. Rewrite.
The System had used it too.
"I think the System wants me to find it," Kai said slowly. "It called it an objective. It's giving me coordinates... but they're encrypted."
Icarus stared at him. "Kai, you don't just stumble into that kind of objective. The Core's not a checkpoint. It's a war. Every faction in the ruins would kill to even believe it exists. If they find out you're being guided to it... they'll hunt you down. No matter where you hide."
Kai's jaw tightened. "Then I guess I don't hide."
Icarus laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You're either the bravest man I've met or the dumbest."
"Both," Kai muttered.
He turned back to the remains of the creature. There were strange runes etched into the plating beneath the tech—a language he didn't recognize. But as his eyes focused, the System hummed quietly in his mind.
[Unknown Script Detected — Translating...]
Translation: 'Property of Omega Seed | Route-Prime Active'
He blinked. "Omega Seed?"
Icarus heard the words and frowned. "That's old protocol language. Really old. I've only seen it once—burned into the wall of a crashed vault. It means the unit was activated by an external trigger. Something or someone started a chain reaction."
Kai crouched by the corpse. "Route-Prime Active… That means it's not just targeting people. It's following a path. A mission."
Icarus's face hardened. "And you're the mission."
Kai stood up. "If these things are coming after me, it means I'm not the only one hunting the Core. Someone else knows. And they're trying to stop me."
Icarus hesitated. "You could walk away from this, Kai. Cut the signal. Find somewhere quiet, somewhere the System won't follow you."
"I could," Kai said. "But it would still find me. Or worse, someone else gets there first and uses it for whatever twisted reason they want. You said it could rewrite the world. That means it could destroy it, too."
Icarus sighed. "Then we need to move. Fast."
Kai nodded. "Where's the closest place I can upgrade access permissions?"
"You'll need a Core Node. There's one a few levels deeper in Sector Kappa—comms relay, long abandoned. No one goes near it because of the static storms, but it should still hold some processing capabilities."
"Lead the way," Kai said.
They moved quickly, but cautiously. The deeper levels of the subgrid were darker, older, and much more unstable. Half of the corridors were collapsed. Others were crawling with rogue tech fragments—tiny drone swarms, leftover mines, things with just enough power to kill but not enough intelligence to reason.
The System remained quiet, but its presence never left his mind. Kai could feel it pulsing beneath his skin like a second heartbeat. The closer they got to the node, the more alert it became.
[Signal Strength Increasing — Destination Approaching]
As they reached the outer edge of Sector Kappa, the air shifted. A low static hum buzzed in Kai's ears, and arcs of energy danced along the walls like miniature lightning storms. The relics of ancient circuits still sparked with unpredictable charge.
"Here," Icarus said, pointing toward a rusted bulkhead. "The node's in there. But we've only got one shot at this. The feedback could fry your System."
"I'll take the risk," Kai replied.
With a groan of metal, the door creaked open.
Inside, the air was dry and metallic. Screens flickered weakly from ancient consoles, some cracked and glowing with ghost data. At the center stood a broken podium—half-console, half-interface, its core humming weakly with old power.
Kai stepped forward. The System reacted instantly.
[Node Interface Detected]
Begin Access Protocol: Tier 2 Upgrade? (Y/N)
He didn't hesitate.
Yes.
Lines of code surged through his vision. Symbols. Memories. Data streams from a time long before his birth. The System flooded his mind with pulses of light, vibration, and fragments of audio.
"Route-Prime accepted... Omega Signature Confirmed... Terminal Core Pathway Unlocked."
Access Level: Tier 2
New Function: Core Mapping – Partial Coordinates Acquired
A map flashed across his mind—fractured but legible. A single point blinked at the edge of an uncharted zone deep within the ruins.
But before he could fully process it, a shriek erupted from the entrance.
Kai spun.
Figures moved in the shadows. Dozens of them. Humanoid. Armored. Glowing red eyes.
"They're here," Icarus hissed, raising his pistol.
Kai stepped forward, eyes narrowed. The blade in his hand hummed faintly.
No more running.
The Core had called him.
And now the war had truly begun.
[End of Chapter 12]