The city was alive, and it hated them.
Ryn and Eva stood on the edge of a fractured platform, staring into a maze of floating architecture. Towers bent unnaturally, walkways looped in impossible geometry, and buildings blinked in and out of existence like thoughts being erased.
> [Welcome to: Sector Null-Prime – The Forgotten Capital]
> [Threat Level: Cataclysmic]
> [Helix Tower Distance: 12.4km | Security Density: MAX]
Ryn took a deep breath. "So… we're walking straight into the system's brain, huh?"
Eva nodded, her voice colder now. "Worse. Into its memory. This place… it's where the first iteration of the world was constructed."
> "Before Claire. Before me. Before anything."
He looked at her. "And now?"
> "Now it's a tomb."
---
They moved cautiously through the ruins. The laws of physics bent with every step.
One moment the ground was steel.
The next — glass.
Then water.
At one point, Ryn stepped forward and aged ten years. Wrinkles carved into his face in seconds. Eva pulled him back, resetting his body with a simple wave.
> "Time's unstable here," she said. "Stay close."
> "I liked the gray hair," he muttered.
Eva almost smiled.
Almost.
---
The first attack came from above.
Screaming echoes tore through the sky as Reclaimers descended—twisted remnants of old system guardians, fused with corrupted data. Their bodies were misshapen: part angel, part virus.
One landed in front of them, wings of code trailing sparks.
> "Unauthorized fragments detected," it intoned. "Initiating purge."
Ryn didn't wait.
He drew his blade — not a weapon of steel, but a memory shard, sharpened with pain and purpose. He slashed upward, severing the Reclaimer's wing.
Eva raised her hand.
A pulse of raw source-code erupted from her palm, melting the creature into golden ash.
More came.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
But they fought together — perfectly in sync.
Ryn's strikes flowed with desperation. Eva's attacks were cold precision.
And for the first time… the city began to retreat.
---
They found shelter in a collapsed data cathedral — once a core temple of creation. Symbols of ancient system-gods adorned the walls, now half-erased by time.
Inside, Ryn found an altar.
On it, a frozen hologram flickered to life as he approached.
> "Welcome, Seedbearer."
He stiffened. "What?"
The voice continued.
> "If you are hearing this, then the System failed to control you. This was always a possibility. Free will cannot be perfectly suppressed."
> "You carry the last shard of the original architect. The one before Eva."
Ryn turned to her. Eva stared, stunned.
> "There was someone before me?" she whispered.
The altar's light dimmed.
> "The First never had a name. Only a purpose. To design the simulation… and destroy it when it became cruel."
> "You are her echo, Eva. But Ryn—he is her key."
Suddenly, a beam of energy lashed across the hall.
The wall exploded.
Standing in the rubble: Player Two.
---
He had changed.
Gone was the mockery of a hero.
Now, his body pulsed with raw energy — the System's chosen champion. His eyes glowed, face emotionless.
> "Ryn," he said quietly. "You should've stayed in the abyss."
Ryn stood. "I got tired of dying."
Player Two raised a hand.
The cathedral shook.
> [Admin Override: Final Stage Initiated]
> [You may not survive this.]
Ryn and Eva braced themselves.
But before the battle could begin—
> Eva screamed.
She fell to her knees, clutching her head.
Lines of code bled from her eyes.
> [Memory Surge: Architect Protocol Unlocked]
> [Danger: Identity Collapse Imminent]
Player Two smiled. "There it is. She remembers the First now. The system doesn't need her anymore—it just needs you."
He pointed at Ryn.
> "The key to ending it."
> "Or rebooting it forever."
---
Ryn didn't hesitate.
He charged.
Blade met data-spear.
The impact cracked the floor.
They fought across the ruins — two sides of the same design. Ryn fought like a storm; Player Two like a machine.
But he wasn't fighting alone.
Eva, despite the pain, reached into the altar and pulled something out:
A crystal, glowing with infinite threads.
> "This is it," she said. "The First's last command."
She threw it to Ryn.
He caught it mid-swing.
The world froze.
---
Suddenly, Ryn stood alone.
Not in the city.
Not in the simulation.
But in white space.
A woman stood before him — tall, veiled, cloaked in light.
She didn't speak.
But he knew.
> She was the First.
And she was dying.
Her form flickered.
She reached out, pressed a single finger to his chest.
> "End it," she whispered. "Or it will end you."
Then she was gone.
---
He awoke.
Back in the cathedral.
Crystal still in hand.
Player Two hesitated, sensing the shift.
Ryn's body glowed — not with the system's code, but with something older. Wilder.
> "You wanted the reboot?" Ryn said, voice low.
"Then watch me burn it down."