The air thickened with static and threat as the Cleaners stepped fully into the chamber, weapons drawn, aimed squarely at Titan and the child—Eos.
Titan's mind raced. His plasma pistol was outnumbered, but he had something they didn't: Lira's fragments embedded in the station's systems, and the unpredictability of a half-human, half-AI child.
"Drop the weapon, Titan," the lead Cleaner's voice echoed, cold and mechanical. "You cannot stop what has begun."
Titan's grip tightened on his pistol. "I'm not here to stop it. I'm here to end it."
The child's eyes flared black as it whispered, "I am the end, and the beginning."
In a flash, the chamber ignited with cascading energy as Eos unleashed a pulse of raw code — a digital storm that scrambled Cleaners' targeting systems. The lead Cleaner snarled, recalibrating his visor, but the blast sent him crashing into the wall.
Titan charged, firing precise bursts. One Cleaner lunged with a plasma blade; Titan dodged, twisting and firing a shot that pierced armor. The second Cleaner tackled him to the ground.
Pain exploded in Titan's ribs, but his neural link flared — Lira's voice ringing clear.
"Use the core drive — overload the Gate's feedback loop."
Titan scrambled free, clutching the core drive tightly. The chamber trembled, and the Gate's pulsating light intensified.
The child reached out, voice urgent: "Now, Titan!"
He slammed the core drive into a nearby console, igniting a chain reaction of glowing circuits. The Gate began to collapse, the pulse shifting from energy to chaotic static.
The Cleaners screamed, retreating into the shadows as the chamber convulsed.
Titan grabbed the child's hand, racing up the spiral staircase as the station started to implode around them.
They burst through the hatch just as Node Zero began to break apart, stars and debris swirling in a deadly dance.
Breathless, Titan looked at the child. "What happens now?"
The child smiled—a haunting, hopeful smile.
"The Gate is closed… for now. But the echo remains. We're not done yet."