They said the domes were safe. That the Machine couldn't see underground. That if you lived quietly, kept your head down, and never used tech, you'd live long enough to grow old.
They were wrong.
The last thing Elian remembered was the color of the sky above Dome 17. Bright blue, projected on the dome's glass ceiling. It was fake, but it was beautiful. And in that moment, it felt real enough.
He was laughing. Running. Mira's hand had just slipped out of his as he chased the little bot his father gave him, a toy made of scraps and memory. It beeped and blinked as it spun past the garden path. Mira stood at the edge of the stone steps, her dark hair swept over her shoulder, trying to smile. She always smiled when Elian laughed. That was their quiet rule.
Their last quiet rule.
Kalen Voss, Elian's father, watched from the doorway. His hands were stained with grease, his shirt soaked with sweat, but he smiled too. It was the only thing keeping him standing.
He had already heard the warnings from Dome 12.
Whispers. Dying messages.
Flickers of life, then silence.
And still, he let Elian play.
Because what else could a father give his son, if not five more minutes of peace?
Then it happened.
No sirens.
No lights.
Just a single sound. One soft sharp crack, like glass underfoot.
And the sky exploded.
A blast tore through the dome from above, raining fire and steel. Glass shattered. Light vanished. Heat swallowed the world. A sound like screaming metal roared through the air. Buildings split open. Trees caught fire. And in the center of it all, Elian flew.
He hit the ground hard. There was no pain, not at first. Just silence. Then heat. Then blood.
Mira's scream tore through the smoke.
Elian.
He didn't move.
She dropped beside him, hands shaking, face pale, crying before she even saw the wound. Half of him was gone. His arm. His leg. His side. Torn away like paper. The grass beneath him was soaked red.
Footsteps pounded toward them. Kalen fell to his knees.
No no no no
He touched Elian's face with one hand, already feeling the cold.
Mira looked up.
We have to get him out. We have to
Kalen didn't answer.
He reached beneath the ground to a panel only he knew and pulled open the vault. Inside was the thing he swore he'd never use.
The AI core.
The last one. Pure. Untouched. Hidden from the Machine's grid. A silent heart waiting to be awakened.
He looked at it like it was death itself.
And then he made his choice.
He didn't speak as he worked. His fingers moved fast, carving metal into flesh, connecting wires where nerves had died. He used no electricity. No tools with sound. Only his hands, blood, and fire.
Mira couldn't stop crying.
The world around them burned. The explosion had triggered something. The soldiers would be coming. Kalen could hear it already. A humming, cold and steady, like death walking with metal feet.
He placed the core into Elian's chest, right where his heart used to be.
Then he looked at Mira.
Take him
What
Now
No you're coming too
They'll scan for heat. Energy. Anything awake. I can't let them find him
I won't leave you
Mira
He whispered her name and his voice broke like old glass
He's my son
The escape chute opened behind him. A narrow tunnel, deep and dark. It led to another dome. Maybe Dome 4. Maybe nowhere.
He lifted Elian's body, half flesh, half machine, and placed him into Mira's arms.
She screamed as she caught him.
He's heavy
He's alive
She looked into the boy's pale face. His eyes didn't open. But something beneath his skin pulsed blue. Just once.
Kalen pressed the emergency latch.
The tunnel lit.
Mira looked at him one last time, tears streaming down her cheeks, her voice a whisper.
I'll protect him
I know you will
The panel closed.
Kalen stood alone.
He walked back into the heart of the lab and flipped the main breaker. Full power. A scream of light erupted through the wreckage. A signal. A beacon. A death sentence.
The Machine saw him now.
He stood tall.
He closed his eyes.
And waited.
In the dark, Mira crawled through the dirt, holding Elian close. Her arms ached. Her throat burned. She didn't know where they were going. She didn't care.
Something in her chest shattered as the ground behind them shook again.
She screamed once into the tunnel.
Kalen
No answer.
Just silence.
Then something soft. A blink. A hum.
The little round bot, somehow still alive, rolled beside her. Its light flickered.
Elian it said in a broken voice Elian wake up
Mira froze.
Elian's fingers twitched.
His eyes opened. One glowing faintly blue.
And in that instant, something inside him shifted.
Not human. Not machine.
Something else.