The route the System unveiled wasn't a path in the traditional sense. It was a network of rusted catwalks and collapsed service tunnels buried beneath the main infrastructure of Grid-6. This area, long forgotten by the surface world, pulsed with old tech—sleeping servers, flickering lights, and cold, humming machines that hadn't felt human presence in decades.
Kai moved quickly, his senses on high alert. His brush with Core Node 3 had left a buzz in his head—an uneasy tension, like his thoughts weren't entirely his own anymore. Flashes of the memory fragment kept surfacing: the white lab, the obscured faces, the child floating in the containment pod. And the name.
Kairos-07.
He didn't know what disturbed him more—the idea that he might've been a clone, or that he was once a scientist involved in something so deeply unethical.
[System Notification: Environmental Anomaly Detected – Residual Omega Energy][You are approaching: Archive Nexus – Access Level: Key Required]
"Of course," Kai muttered, scanning the sealed bulkhead at the end of the corridor. The door was ancient, reinforced, and engraved with the same glyphs he'd seen on Core Node 3.
He pressed a hand to the center. Nothing happened.
[Error: Omega Key required. Attempting decryption...][Override in progress… 12%]
Kai's eyes narrowed. "You're pushing it, System."
The System hummed in response, almost amused. As the percentage climbed, a sharp scraping noise echoed behind him. He spun, blade in hand, and ducked into cover behind a broken console.
Out of the shadows came two figures. Not monsters. Not machines. People.
Humans.
Both wore sleek, matte-black armor marked with a red insignia—an abstract spiral enclosed by triangles. Kai recognized it instantly. It was the symbol of The Reclaimers—a covert faction rumored to be salvaging and weaponizing pre-collapse technology for their own ends.
"Scan shows an energy signature inside," one of them said, speaking into his helmet's mic. "Residual Omega traces. Someone got here first."
Kai's mind raced. If the Reclaimers were here, they weren't just scavenging. They were hunting the same thing he was: access to the Omega Protocol.
He moved silently along the perimeter, crouching low and circling behind them. His boots made no sound thanks to a [Silent Step] buff, and his System highlighted potential ambush points.
[Decryption: 84%... 89%...]
He waited.
"Something feels wrong," the second Reclaimer said. His voice was distorted, but tense. "We should call for—"
Kai struck. In a blur, he closed the distance and drove his blade into the nearest target's leg, severing critical tendons before disabling his rifle with a second strike. The man went down with a choked grunt.
Before the second could react, Kai was on him—using his momentum to disarm and pin him against the wall with one arm while holding his blade against the visor.
"Talk," he growled. "Why are you here?"
The man struggled but didn't speak. Instead, a dull click sounded. Self-destruct.
Kai cursed and kicked the soldier away. A micro-burst of energy detonated in the man's chest—non-lethal, but enough to fry any traceable intel. The first was already unconscious, his armor locking him in stasis.
[Decryption Complete.]
The massive door behind Kai groaned and hissed as ancient hydraulics awakened. The glyphs pulsed once, then split the metal down the center. The Archive Nexus lay beyond.
It was like walking into the nervous system of the world.
Rows upon rows of floating data shards hovered in controlled stasis, light pulsing through veins of crystalline memory cores. Each shard contained a fragment of history—encrypted, hidden, long abandoned. A central control pedestal stood at the heart of the chamber.
[System Sync: Archive Compatible. Begin Download?]
Kai approached and placed his hand on the pedestal.
The room lit up with projections—ghosts of the past dancing across the walls. He saw technicians, researchers, and guards moving through a clean, sterile facility. One scene caught his attention: a recorded argument between two figures.
One was blurred, voice filtered.
The other… clear.
Kai flinched. It was him. Or rather—Kairos-07.
"Project Ascension is flawed," his past self was saying. "Subject Zero isn't stabilizing because they weren't born into this. They were made for it. That distinction matters."
"You're too attached," the blurred figure replied. "Your empathy compromises the mission. You named the subject, Kairos."
Kairos slammed his hand on the desk. "They're a child. Not a variable!"
[Memory Fragment Stored: Echo-2][Archive Nexus now unlocked. Data Stream will resume in background.]
Kai stepped back, breath short. The more he uncovered, the more tangled everything became. Not only was he involved in the creation of Subject Zero—he had fought for them. Protected them.
That changed everything.
As he stood there, absorbing the weight of the memory, the System flickered again.
[Incoming Transmission – Source Unknown]
The interface stuttered, then cleared.
A hooded figure appeared, face obscured by a digital mask shaped like a smiling porcelain face. The voice was genderless, synthetic.
"Greetings, Kairos. Or should I say… Kai. You've woken up at last."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
"I am a Custodian," the figure replied. "And I've been waiting for you. The Reclaimers are pawns. The true game begins now. Find Subject Zero before they do… or this world dies a second time."
The transmission cut.
The room returned to silence.
Kai exhaled slowly, stepping down from the pedestal. Every answer only led to more questions—but at least now, he had a direction.
He turned toward the far exit as the System highlighted a new route.
[New Objective: Seek the Custodians. Locate Subject Zero. Uncover Omega Thread.]
The shadows beneath the grid were shifting, and Kai was finally learning why.
He just hoped he wasn't already too late.
End of Chapter 15